A last-minute change to Monday's Wordle answer may have players seeing different puzzles, with one of them apparently linked to a controversy gripping the nation.
The new owners of the highly popular online game removed "fetus" from the daily puzzle in an effort to keep Worlde "distinct from the news." It comes on the heels of a leaked draft opinion that suggests the Supreme Court will strike down Roe v. Wade.
"Today, for example, some users may see an outdated answer that seems closely connected to a major recent news event. This is entirely unintentional and a coincidence — today’s original answer was loaded into Wordle last year," the New York Times said in a statement Monday morning.
Game organizers discovered the coincidence last week and swapped out the answer to Monday's puzzle -- but any players who didn't refresh their browser could still see the previous answer, the Times explained.
"At New York Times Games, we take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news," the company's statement read.
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Last week, a draft opinion was published in a Politico report suggesting the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case. The court has since confirmed the draft, with its chief justice vowing to investigate the leak.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case before its term ends in early summer.
The New York Times purchased the puzzle game from Josh Wardle more than three months ago as the craze over the daily puzzle reached peak frenzy.
