PLANE PASSENGER OUTS WOMAN FOR CHEATING AT WORDLE BUT FANS DIVIDED AS TO THE RULES OF THE GAME

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Plane Passenger Outs Woman for Cheating at Wordle on a Flight — but Fans of the Game Are Divided on the Rules

“Thank goodness for 9x zoom,” TikToker Alex Yanchura tells PEOPLE of capturing the viral scene on her flight to Dallas

By Natalia Senanayake|

Published on April 16, 2024 07:40AM EDT

 

An airline passenger says she watched a fellow flier seemingly “cheat” on Wordle during her flight to Dallas

 

She shared the scene in a TikTok that was first posted in 2023, but went viral this month when the TSA reshared it

 

Fans of the online word game appear divided in the comments as some argue the passenger is not cheating 

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An airline passenger is going viral after she appears to be caught doing the unthinkable — cheating on Wordle! 

 

Alex Yanchura, 35, was heading to Dallas from Santa Ana, Calif. when she says she caught the woman red-handed while playing the cult-favorite New York Times word game.

 

Her fellow passenger appears to be toggling back and forth between the Times app and a website of suggested words to figure out the correct answer, eliminating the challenge of the game

 

Yanchura, who’s based in Jupiter, Fla., originally shared the scene on TikTok in Feb. 2023 along with the caption: “If your wife was on flight AA2871 from SNA to DFW on 2/19… she cheats on Wordle.”

 

The TikToker tells PEOPLE, "As a daily New York Times Wordle player who takes the game more seriously than one should, I was shocked at what I was seeing — thank goodness for 9x zoom!"

 

The video got attention when Yanchura first posted it in 2023, racking up 1.6 million views and causing a frenzy among Wordle fans. 

 

Nearly a year later, the video is going viral for a second time after the official Transportation Security Administration (TSA) account reshared it on their Instagram on April 4 — leading devoted players of the game to get heated all over again.  

 

“Who cheats on wordle? Like where's the enjoyment,” one commenter wrote. 

 

Echoing a similar sentiment, another added, “I can’t imagine the rationale of cheating at a fun little game to exercise your brain. Why play if you don’t want to play lol?”

 

A different shocked user commented, “This is probably the worst thing I've seen done on an airplane.”

 

Meanwhile, others defended the cheater: “Not cheating. It’s called using your resources,” one wrote. 

 

Another added, “Checking to see if a word has already been played is not cheating. Who's going to remember hundreds of past solutions? 🙄”

 

Devoted Wordle fans believed the game was actually getting harder after it was acquired by The New York Times Games in Feb. 2022. Wordle was originally created by software engineer Josh Wardle for his partner Palak Shah.

 

The outlet’s communications director, Jordan Cohen, set the record straight during an interview with PEOPLE after they acquired the game. 

 

"Since acquiring Wordle, The Times has not made the puzzle harder. We have not added any words to the solutions list, which was already predetermined by the game's original creator," Cohen told PEOPLE.

 

He added that they actually removed a few obscure words "in an effort to make the puzzle more accessible."

 

"We will continue to review the solutions, and remove obscure or potentially insensitive words," Cohen shared.