The New York Times newspaper has bought the online word game Wordle. The paper is well known for the games it publishes. Wordle is the latest addition to its list of puzzles. Wordle is a new online game. Its creator, Josh Wardle, only uploaded it in October. In the past four months, it has become a craze around the world. Social media sites are now full of posts from people playing the game and sharing their score. The New York Times said it paid "an undisclosed price in the low seven figures" for the game. A spokesperson was excited the paper would be able to publish the game. She wrote: "We could not be more thrilled to become the new home and proud stewards of this magical game."

Mr Wardle is a former software engineer for the website Reddit. He created Wordle for his partner to play. He released it in October. He was surprised after 90 people played it on the day of its release. It is now played by millions every day. Mr Wardle tweeted: "The game has got bigger than I ever imagined (which I suppose isn't that much of a feat, given I made the game for an audience of one)." Wordle players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word. After each attempt, the game gives the player feedback on which of the letters they have used are in the correct place, or are correct letters but are in the wrong place. The New York Times said that "initially" the game would remain free.