THIS MONTH
Some of the other things on our minds when we weren’t doing everything else
WEB GAME
Has any game in the last decade left as big a cultural footprint as Wordle? Betweenle We’re reminded of its impact during an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, as Larry and co react furiously to having the day’s solution spoiled before they’ve played. But it’s even more apparent in the frequency with which new daily puzzle games – of wildly varying kinds – simply borrow the -le suffix, however clumsy the result. has an elegance its name lacks, tasking you with teasing out a five-letter word with two percentages (and an orange dot) indicating how close it is alphabetically to the top and bottom guesses.
Splitting the difference with an M-word is the obvious opening play, but there’s a real tension when you’re low on guesses; over time you’ll be crushed when you don’t get it within five for a maximum score.
VIDEO
Street Fighter 6 may not have managed to break the one-onone fighter out of its niche as we thought it might, but it remains one of the most entertaining esports to spectate. Outside all the mirror matches, at least – Luke, it seems, is a very popular pick among elite players. Though that might soon change after this year’s event, with Taiwan’s unfancied Uma taking the million-dollar prize after putting on an absolute clinic with Juri against Chris Wong’s Luke in the grand final – finishing off the last round in spectacular fashion with a perfect parry followed by a devastating stun combo.
WEB GAME
There’s no finer way to put your cineaste credentials to the test than with Vulture’s new film-centric puzzler, which gives you a 3x3 grid of clues and just nine guesses to fill it in. You might, for instance, have ‘Meryl Streep’ in one row and ‘4+ Words in Title’ in a column: The Devil Wears Prada is our instinctive response, but with a little extra thought we plump for The Bridges Of Madison County, the postgame thumbnails revealing that our first choice would have been the most popular guess. It soon becomes an almost Pointless-like test to find the most obscure answer, since that determines your overall score. But be warned that you can’t use the same film more than once, while box-office tallies can easily catch you out: the figures are based on North American takings, not worldwide gros
