New York Times shuts down unauthorized Wordle Archive site

It is a very popular product. WordleSince its launch in October last year, ‘words.com’, a web-based word game, was developed by Josh Wardle. It has been the subject of many offshoots, clones, and other projects. While this might have been cool with the game’s original creator, The New York Times — which acquired Wordle this past January — has signaled this laissez-faire attitude towards unofficial takes on the game is coming to an end.

Wordle Archive is a site that lets users play past Wordle puzzles. It was up since January. Ars Technica reported that the message has now been removed. Although the Wordle Archive can still be accessed in an archive format via the Internet Archive as of March 5, it has been removed from the website.

“The usage was unauthorized, and we were in touch with them,” a New York Times representative told Ars Technica. “We don’t plan to comment beyond that.”

Wordle Archive allows users to access archived Wordle puzzles. It is also not the only website that offers this function. The question is not whether or not these offshoots will continue to be permitted. It’s a matter of how vigorously The New York Times protects the copyright that it currently owns.