Did you see the BEE on today's Wordle 301 answer? It was NOT a bug, this is what

While looking for Wordle 301 answer was supposed to be a routine affair, many people reported a suspicious looking bee making an appearance at the end of today’s Wordle. Did NYT insert a sneaky ad to everyone’s favorite game?

Many players reported seeing their first NYT ad while playing today’s Wordle. After getting the Wordle 301 answer, people were greeted with a sneaky bee on the end tile of the game. (Wordle)

Many players who ritually play Wordle first thing in the morning, reported something different about today's Wordle. While the game itself was normal as usual, it was after they reached the Wordle 301 answer, they noticed a sneaky bee on the end title of the game where players share the game on social media. It turns out, the New York Times had placed an advertisement for another NYT game called ‘Spelling Bee'. While it is not unusual for online games to have multiple ads present, Wordle so far has been free of any banner or pop-up ads. Surprised, many users took it to Twitter to share their reactions on the first Wordle ad ever.

Many players were not pleased with the decision of NYT to place an ad on their beloved game as the game aesthetics have always focused on simplicity and minimalism. One of the users tweeted, “I see the NYT has decided it left wordle alone for long enough”, while another added, “I will quit #wordle so fast if I see an ad”.

Even going further, when Josh Wardle first released Wordle, it was intended as a fun game without any intention of taking over the world. The NYT's profile of Josh Wardle states, “Since Wordle was built originally for just Mr. Wardle and Ms. Shah, the initial design ignored a lot of the growth-hacking features that are virtually expected of games in the current era. While other games send notifications to your phone hoping you'll come back throughout the day, Wordle doesn't want an intense relationship”. It is easy to say that the screen after the Wordle 301 answer did not convey any of it.

A rude surprise for many

It was conveyed by many fans of the game that getting to the Wordle 301 answer was not as fun when they had to witness an ad at the end. However, in all fairness, the ad in itself takes barely any space on the page and redirects to another popular game by the NYT. However, the game Spelling Bee is not a free game and players would need to subscribe to Times Games in order to continue to play. Some users felt that NYT was trying to use the large player base of Wordle to get subscribers for its other games.

What is NYT Spelling Bee

Unlike Wordle, Spelling Bee is all about finding as many words as possible from seven letters given to you. The longer the word, the more you score. The objective of the game is to make the most number of words. It tests both your vocabulary and your spelling skills.