Late to the party, I finally jumped into the Wordle puzzle craze this weekend. I won’t embarrass myself by describing exactly how long it took me to solve the first one. My husband had to pitch in and solve it for me, but I’m not sure he’s going to be available going forward for the daily addiction that involves guessing a secret five-letter word in six or fewer tries. Did I mention it’s addictive? Let’s hope I improve.
If you are even later than I was to joining the legions of Wordle players, here are the basics: Wordle was created last fall by Josh Wardle, a software engineer who lives in Brooklyn, New York. There’s a new word every day. Players attempt to figure it out by filling in letter tiles, and the game provides clues at each try. A green tile means the letter typed into that spot is correct. A yellow tile means the letter is correct but not in that spot. And a gray tile means the letter is not in the word at all.
The number of online players grew from around 90 in November to roughly 300,000 by the first of the year. Now millions of people every day try to crack the word secret.
The New York Times bought Wordle from the creator in late January. The price was “in the low seven figures,” the newspaper reported. For now, Wordle is still free to play. I can imagine the outcry if The Times ever puts up a paywall between Wordle and its fans.
Several years ago, I learned about the popularity of word puzzles — albeit on a hyperlocal scale — when a Western Kentucky man created a few Hopkinsville-themed word puzzles and asked me to share them with Kentucky New Era readers when I worked for the newspaper. Then I created a couple of puzzles myself. Readers loved it, and messages poured into my office phone’s voicemail.
Here’s a new Hopkinsville word puzzle that I created this weekend. It’s based on place names (think streets, neighborhoods, businesses, geographic features, local institutions, etc.) in Hopkinsville and Christian County. If you’ve lived in the area for a couple of decades, or used to live here, you probably have an advantage. In some of the sentences below, you’ll be looking for place names spread across parts of two or more words. (Ignore spaces and punctuation marks between words.) In a few others, you need to respond to clues about a place name.
If you want to play along, send your answers to me at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. We’ll announce a winner (or two or three) after y’all respond.
Word on Hoptown
- Middle Age warriors and modern feminist icons gather here.
- The teacher was weary of the rivalry between Hoptown and County. She told her students, “It’s time for some peace. Park your attitudes and let’s all be friends.”
- They used to sell candy downtown for a penny. Royal Crown Colas were only a nickel.
- Go get the pilot. Rocky and Bullwinkle want to fly out to Hopkinsville tonight!
- Thoroughbred trainer Larry Jones was running out of time. “Get my horse! Shoe him now for the big race today,” he said.
- It’s a summer holiday. Burgers for everyone, said Mom.
- Don’t complain about the blistering hot Kentucky sun. Flowers love it.
- Sometimes young lovers go to Ferrell’s for midnight cheeseburgers and chili.
- Never forget to “Do or Die” for …
- A psychic, a trailblazing journalist, a tailor and baseball legends of old all endure at this location.
- This young royal was a hostess to moving pictures.
- From barbers and bent fenders to porters and stouts, this building has seen plenty.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
