Apple is forging a path towards more ethical generative AI – something sorely needed in today’s AI-powered world

Copyright is something of a minefield right now when it comes to AI, and there’s a new report claiming that Apple’s generative AI – specifically its ‘Ajax’ large language model (LLM) – may be one of the only ones to have been both legally and ethically trained. It’s claimed that Apple is trying to uphold privacy and legality standards by adopting innovative training methods. 

Copyright law in the age of generative AI is difficult to navigate, and it’s becoming increasingly important as AI tools become more commonplace. One of the most glaring issues that comes up, again and again, is that many companies train their large language models (LLMs) using copyrighted works, typically not disclosing whether they license that training material. Sometimes, the outputs of these models include entire sections of copyright-protected works. 

The current justification for why copyrighted material is so widely used as far as some of these companies to train their LLMs is that, not dissimilar to humans, these models need a substantial amount of information (called training data for LLMs) to learn and generate coherent and convincing responses – and as far as these companies are concerned, copyrighted materials are fair game.

Many critics of generative AI consider it copyright infringement if tech companies use works in training and output of LLMs without explicit agreements with copyright holders or their representatives. Still, this criticism hasn’t put tech companies off from doing exactly that, and it’s assumed to be the case for most AI tools, garnering a growing pool of resentment towards the companies in the generative AI space.  

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attends the artificial intelligence Revolution Forum. New York, US - 13 Jan 2023

(Image credit: Shutterstock/photosince)

There have even been a growing number of legal challenges mounted in these tech companies’ direction. OpenAI and Microsoft have actually been sued by the New York Times for copyright infringement back in December 2023, with the publisher accusing the two companies of training their LLMs on millions of New York Times articles. In September 2023, OpenAI and Microsoft were also sued by a number of prominent authors, including George R. R. Martin, Michael Connelly, and Jonathan Franzen. In July of 2023, over 15,000 authors signed an open letter directed at companies such as Microsoft, OpenAI, Meta, Alphabet, and others, calling on leaders of the tech industry to protect writers, calling on these companies to properly credit and compensate authors for their works when using them to train generative AI models. 

In April of this year, The Register reported that Amazon was hit with a lawsuit by an ex-employee alleging she faced mistreatment, discrimination, and harassment, and in the process, she testified about her experience when it came to issues of copyright infringement.  This employee alleges that she was told to deliberately ignore and violate copyright law to improve Amazon’s products to make them more competitive, and that her supervisor told her that “everyone else is doing it” when it came to copyright violations. Apple Insider echoes this claim, stating that this seems to be an accepted industry standard. 

As we’ve seen with many other novel technologies, the legislation and ethical frameworks always arrive after an initial delay, but it looks like this is becoming a more problematic aspect of generative AI models that the companies responsible for them will have to respond to.

A man editing a photo on a Mac Mini

(Image credit: Apple)

The Apple approach to ethical AI training (that we know of so far)

It looks like at least one major tech player might be trying to take the more careful and considered route to avoid as many legal (and moral!) challenges as possible – and somewhat surprisingly, it’s Apple. According to Apple Insider, Apple has been pursuing diligently licensing major news publications’ works when looking for AI training material. Back in December, Apple petitioned to license the archives of several major publishers to use these as training material for its own LLM, known internally as Ajax. 

It’s speculated that Ajax will be the software for basic on-device functionality for future Apple products, and it might instead license software like Google’s Gemini for more advanced features, such as those requiring an internet connection. Apple Insider writes that this allows Apple to avoid certain copyright infringement liabilities as Apple wouldn’t be responsible for copyright infringement by, say, Google Gemini. 

A paper published in March detailed how Apple intends to train its in-house LLM: a carefully chosen selection of images, image-text, and text-based input. In its methods, Apple simultaneously prioritized better image captioning and multi-step reasoning, at the same time as paying attention to preserving privacy. The last of these factors is made all the more possible for the Ajax LLM by it being entirely on-device and therefore not requiring an internet connection. There is a trade-off, as this does mean that Ajax won’t be able to check for copyrighted content and plagiarism itself, as it won’t be able to connect to online databases that store copyrighted material. 

There is one other caveat that Apple Insider reveals about this when speaking to sources who are familiar with Apple’s AI testing environments: there don’t currently seem to be many, if any, restrictions on users utilizing copyrighted material themselves as the input for on-device test environments. It's also worth noting that Apple isn't technically the only company taking a rights-first approach: art AI tool Adobe Firefly is also claimed to be completely copyright-compliant, so hopefully more AI startups will be wise enough to follow Apple and Adobe's lead.

I personally welcome this approach from Apple as I think human creativity is one of the most incredible capabilities we have, and I think it should be rewarded and celebrated – not fed to an AI. We’ll have to wait to know more about what Apple’s regulations regarding copyright and training its AI look like, but I agree with Apple Insider’s assessment that this definitely sounds like an improvement – especially since some AIs have been documented regurgitating copyrighted material word-for-word. We can look forward to learning more about Apple’s generative AI efforts very soon, which is expected to be a key driver for its developer-focused software conference, WWDC 2024

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Today’s Wordle answer #275 (with hints) Monday March 21

It's the start of a new week and how better to get a handle on it than slipping into the old familiar waters of Wordle? After last week's maelstrom of challenging solutions, Wordle #275 feels surprisingly straightforward – almost kind in comparison.

Though, should we trust this someone softer Wordle solution, or is it just the New York Times lulling us into a false sense of security? Time will tell.

Don't be hard on yourself if today's puzzle has left you stumped so far, it's a Monday, after all. Not only that, but after the challenges of MOVIE and CATER it's no wonder you might be suspicious of this solution.

Read on for some full hints and insight to tackle puzzle #275. 

Wordle March 21 hint

First up, the riddle:

Saying it aloud will add confusion,

Homonyms are key to this solution.

Not good enough? How about these then?

  1. There are multiple vowels today
  2. It’s a very common word
  3. It takes the form CONSONANT, CONSONANT, VOWEL, VOWEL, CONSONANT.

Today’s Wordle answer #275

If you went vowel heavy with your starting word then you'll likely have picked up quite a few letters, though they may have needed a shuffle around. Hopefully your streak wasn't endangered but, don't worry, if you're down to the wire – don't through your phone to ground, sweep your laptop off the table, or snap your Nintendo DS loaded up with a homebrew browser in half: the Wordle answer for today is THEIR.

Wordle answer #275

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today’s Wordle alternative

While you might have completed the original Wordle, the Wordle Classic, full fat Wordle, that doesn't mean your Wordling day has to be done. No, there are plenty of Wordle alternatives out there.

If you need another dose of Wordle in your life read on…

Wordle Unlimited

TechRadar winning a Wordle Unlimited game

(Image credit: Wordle Unlimited)

Beware, once you turn this tap, you'll never be able to stop the flow of Wordle. Wordle Unlimited is an unofficial spin-off of Wordle that has no limit to the number of times you can play in a day. Not only that, it has social features that let you craft Wordle puzzles for your friends. Here's how to use and play Wordle Unlimited.

The custom Wordle is the real highlight of the game, giving you a versatile tool for trolling your friends. Not that we'd encourage that sort of behavior…

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Today’s Wordle answer #275 (with hints) Monday March 21

It's the start of a new week and how better to get a handle on it than slipping into the old familiar waters of Wordle? After last week's maelstrom of challenging solutions, Wordle #275 feels surprisingly straightforward – almost kind in comparison.

Though, should we trust this someone softer Wordle solution, or is it just the New York Times lulling us into a false sense of security? Time will tell.

Don't be hard on yourself if today's puzzle has left you stumped so far, it's a Monday, after all. Not only that, but after the challenges of MOVIE and CATER it's no wonder you might be suspicious of this solution.

Read on for some full hints and insight to tackle puzzle #275. 

Wordle March 21 hint

First up, the riddle:

Saying it aloud will add confusion,

Homonyms are key to this solution.

Not good enough? How about these then?

  1. There are multiple vowels today
  2. It’s a very common word
  3. It takes the form CONSONANT, CONSONANT, VOWEL, VOWEL, CONSONANT.

Today’s Wordle answer #275

If you went vowel heavy with your starting word then you'll likely have picked up quite a few letters, though they may have needed a shuffle around. Hopefully your streak wasn't endangered but, don't worry, if you're down to the wire – don't through your phone to ground, sweep your laptop off the table, or snap your Nintendo DS loaded up with a homebrew browser in half: the Wordle answer for today is THEIR.

Wordle answer #275

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today’s Wordle alternative

While you might have completed the original Wordle, the Wordle Classic, full fat Wordle, that doesn't mean your Wordling day has to be done. No, there are plenty of Wordle alternatives out there.

If you need another dose of Wordle in your life read on…

Wordle Unlimited

TechRadar winning a Wordle Unlimited game

(Image credit: Wordle Unlimited)

Beware, once you turn this tap, you'll never be able to stop the flow of Wordle. Wordle Unlimited is an unofficial spin-off of Wordle that has no limit to the number of times you can play in a day. Not only that, it has social features that let you craft Wordle puzzles for your friends. Here's how to use and play Wordle Unlimited.

The custom Wordle is the real highlight of the game, giving you a versatile tool for trolling your friends. Not that we'd encourage that sort of behavior…

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Today’s Wordle answer #275 (with hints) Monday March 21

It's the start of a new week and how better to get a handle on it than slipping into the old familiar waters of Wordle? After last week's maelstrom of challenging solutions, Wordle #275 feels surprisingly straightforward – almost kind in comparison.

Though, should we trust this someone softer Wordle solution, or is it just the New York Times lulling us into a false sense of security? Time will tell.

Don't be hard on yourself if today's puzzle has left you stumped so far, it's a Monday, after all. Not only that, but after the challenges of MOVIE and CATER it's no wonder you might be suspicious of this solution.

Read on for some full hints and insight to tackle puzzle #275. 

Wordle March 21 hint

First up, the riddle:

Saying it aloud will add confusion,

Homonyms are key to this solution.

Not good enough? How about these then?

  1. There are multiple vowels today
  2. It’s a very common word
  3. It takes the form CONSONANT, CONSONANT, VOWEL, VOWEL, CONSONANT.

Today’s Wordle answer #275

If you went vowel heavy with your starting word then you'll likely have picked up quite a few letters, though they may have needed a shuffle around. Hopefully your streak wasn't endangered but, don't worry, if you're down to the wire – don't through your phone to ground, sweep your laptop off the table, or snap your Nintendo DS loaded up with a homebrew browser in half: the Wordle answer for today is THEIR.

Wordle answer #275

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today’s Wordle alternative

While you might have completed the original Wordle, the Wordle Classic, full fat Wordle, that doesn't mean your Wordling day has to be done. No, there are plenty of Wordle alternatives out there.

If you need another dose of Wordle in your life read on…

Wordle Unlimited

TechRadar winning a Wordle Unlimited game

(Image credit: Wordle Unlimited)

Beware, once you turn this tap, you'll never be able to stop the flow of Wordle. Wordle Unlimited is an unofficial spin-off of Wordle that has no limit to the number of times you can play in a day. Not only that, it has social features that let you craft Wordle puzzles for your friends. Here's how to use and play Wordle Unlimited.

The custom Wordle is the real highlight of the game, giving you a versatile tool for trolling your friends. Not that we'd encourage that sort of behavior…

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

Read More

Today’s Wordle answer #275 (with hints) Monday March 21

It's the start of a new week and how better to get a handle on it than slipping into the old familiar waters of Wordle? After last week's maelstrom of challenging solutions, Wordle #275 feels surprisingly straightforward – almost kind in comparison.

Though, should we trust this someone softer Wordle solution, or is it just the New York Times lulling us into a false sense of security? Time will tell.

Don't be hard on yourself if today's puzzle has left you stumped so far, it's a Monday, after all. Not only that, but after the challenges of MOVIE and CATER it's no wonder you might be suspicious of this solution.

Read on for some full hints and insight to tackle puzzle #275. 

Wordle March 21 hint

First up, the riddle:

Saying it aloud will add confusion,

Homonyms are key to this solution.

Not good enough? How about these then?

  1. There are multiple vowels today
  2. It’s a very common word
  3. It takes the form CONSONANT, CONSONANT, VOWEL, VOWEL, CONSONANT.

Today’s Wordle answer #275

If you went vowel heavy with your starting word then you'll likely have picked up quite a few letters, though they may have needed a shuffle around. Hopefully your streak wasn't endangered but, don't worry, if you're down to the wire – don't through your phone to ground, sweep your laptop off the table, or snap your Nintendo DS loaded up with a homebrew browser in half: the Wordle answer for today is THEIR.

Wordle answer #275

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today’s Wordle alternative

While you might have completed the original Wordle, the Wordle Classic, full fat Wordle, that doesn't mean your Wordling day has to be done. No, there are plenty of Wordle alternatives out there.

If you need another dose of Wordle in your life read on…

Wordle Unlimited

TechRadar winning a Wordle Unlimited game

(Image credit: Wordle Unlimited)

Beware, once you turn this tap, you'll never be able to stop the flow of Wordle. Wordle Unlimited is an unofficial spin-off of Wordle that has no limit to the number of times you can play in a day. Not only that, it has social features that let you craft Wordle puzzles for your friends. Here's how to use and play Wordle Unlimited.

The custom Wordle is the real highlight of the game, giving you a versatile tool for trolling your friends. Not that we'd encourage that sort of behavior…

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Today’s Wordle answer #273 (with hints) Sunday March 20

Hello Wordle Sunday traveller – welcome to another day of gaming, and this time we're on #274. Where does the time go, eh?

After the debacle of yesterday's word – which stumped many, we're back with another tough one – it's not really fair this weekend, is it? Or maybe this is what Wordle is all about, offering something impossible to then be beaten. Or maybe it's too early on a Sunday to be thinking such thoughts and we should be making pancakes instead.

So, you can either take a look at the Wordle answer archive to see today's solution (do bookmark it) or read on for some full hints and insight to tackle puzzle #274. 

Wordle March 19 hint

First up, the riddle:

Rip it all up and start again,
Make sure you extend things now and then.

Not good enough? How about these then?

  1. There’s only one vowel today…
  2. … but it’s twice
  3. It takes the form CONSONANT, VOWEL, CONSONANT, VOWEL, CONSONANT.

Today’s Wordle answer #273

Look, we all know how easy it is to break the streak. You've got a lot on, and you're only on the second guess… before you know it, you've thrown your tea all down your front, the car won't start and you're on the sixth guess. You can't let this be the thing that breaks you. So, let's solve that: the Wordle answer for today is RENEW.

Today's wordle answer on white background

(Image credit: TechRadar / NY Times)

Today’s Wordle alternative

So you’ve done today’s Wordle. Well done. So each day we’re going to recommend one of the best Wordle alternatives so the joy train of daily puzzling isn’t over for you.

Today, lean back and get ready for a longer Wordle session…

Wordle Unlimited

TechRadar winning a Wordle Unlimited game

(Image credit: Wordle Unlimited)

Love a bit of Wordle but annoyed it only lasts one day? Well, why don't you try Wordle Unlimited, the hugely unofficial game where you can play as many times as you like – and we've got all you need to know on how to use and play Wordle Unlimted ready for you.

One of the real highlights of Wordle Unlimited is you can create custom Wordle games to send to your friends. A versatile tool for trolling, not that we'd encourage that sort of behavior.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Today’s Wordle answer #273 (with hints) Sunday March 20

Hello Wordle Sunday traveller – welcome to another day of gaming, and this time we're on #274. Where does the time go, eh?

After the debacle of yesterday's word – which stumped many, we're back with another tough one – it's not really fair this weekend, is it? Or maybe this is what Wordle is all about, offering something impossible to then be beaten. Or maybe it's too early on a Sunday to be thinking such thoughts and we should be making pancakes instead.

So, you can either take a look at the Wordle answer archive to see today's solution (do bookmark it) or read on for some full hints and insight to tackle puzzle #274. 

Wordle March 19 hint

First up, the riddle:

Rip it all up and start again,
Make sure you extend things now and then.

Not good enough? How about these then?

  1. There’s only one vowel today…
  2. … but it’s twice
  3. It takes the form CONSONANT, VOWEL, CONSONANT, VOWEL, CONSONANT.

Today’s Wordle answer #273

Look, we all know how easy it is to break the streak. You've got a lot on, and you're only on the second guess… before you know it, you've thrown your tea all down your front, the car won't start and you're on the sixth guess. You can't let this be the thing that breaks you. So, let's solve that: the Wordle answer for today is RENEW.

Today's wordle answer on white background

(Image credit: TechRadar / NY Times)

Today’s Wordle alternative

So you’ve done today’s Wordle. Well done. So each day we’re going to recommend one of the best Wordle alternatives so the joy train of daily puzzling isn’t over for you.

Today, lean back and get ready for a longer Wordle session…

Wordle Unlimited

TechRadar winning a Wordle Unlimited game

(Image credit: Wordle Unlimited)

Love a bit of Wordle but annoyed it only lasts one day? Well, why don't you try Wordle Unlimited, the hugely unofficial game where you can play as many times as you like – and we've got all you need to know on how to use and play Wordle Unlimted ready for you.

One of the real highlights of Wordle Unlimited is you can create custom Wordle games to send to your friends. A versatile tool for trolling, not that we'd encourage that sort of behavior.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Today’s Wordle answer and hints #273 (March 19)

Looking for some help with today’s Wordle answer, for puzzle #273? Of course you are – otherwise this is a weird article for you to have clicked on.

We’ve been bringing you the answers and insights for a while and you can check out our Wordle answers archive to see what’s been happening each day.

But it’s all about today, and we’re here to – first – bring you a hint to help save the streak, then it‘s straight to the answer.

And if you can't be bothered with even having to look at the hint, the just jump to the answer and get on with the weekend. We’ve all got better things to do, right?

Today’s Wordle hint and riddle

Wordle answer with no correct letters

(Image credit: TechRadar)

We’re trialling this daily riddle format – is it working? Is it useful? Hard to say, but they’re fun to write… so do email in and let us know!

Today's Wordle riddle:

Give permission to achieve a goal, but be ready – this one starts with a vowel.

OK, ’goal’ and ‘vowel’ don’t technically rhyme. It’s assonance, which is a poetry word for ‘I can do what I want because poetry’. How about some hints to keep this party rolling?

  1. There are two vowels today
  2. It has a double letter
  3. It ends with a W

Does that help? No? OK, fine… you can have the answer. BUT, do check out our Wordle solver tools below to see if they can help you instead – a quick scroll will jump you past the answer.

Today’s Wordle Answer #273

Today’s Wordle answer on black background

(Image credit: TechRadar / NY Times)

The Wordle answer for today is: ALLOW.

It’s already looking like a tricky one to start the weekend – and we often see this when a vowel is placed at the start of a word. A double letter as well… we can see this one running and running.

Google Trends suggests that this is proving to be the case – the UK saw a HUGE spike in Wordle Answer at midnight, although the usual 7AM follow up wasn’t there:

Wordle trends on a white background

(Image credit: TechRadar / Google)

With nothing trending today in Wordle, we expect this article to be read by people stumped through the A at the front – and maybe the double letter.

Today’s Wordle alternative

So you’ve done today’s Wordle. Well done. So each day we’re going to recommend one of the best Wordle alternatives so the joy train of daily puzzling isn’t over for you.

Today, it’s time to get your calculator out…

Nerdle

The starting screen to a game of Nerdle

(Image credit: Future)

Such a different game to Wordle, but it gives your brain a different workout. Consider Wordle your long, steady state run and then Nerdle being the HIIT workout you (inexplicably) do next.

You're asked to enter a sum of 8 numbers or symbols long… and apart from knowing it has to have some numbers and an equals in there, that's all you get.

It's a great play – plus there's an 'Instant Nerdle' that shows you one line of semi-correct entries in the wrong place… and it's up to you to get it. Lovely.

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Today’s Wordle answer and hints #273 (March 19)

Looking for some help with today’s Wordle answer, for puzzle #273? Of course you are – otherwise this is a weird article for you to have clicked on.

We’ve been bringing you the answers and insights for a while and you can check out our Wordle answers archive to see what’s been happening each day.

But it’s all about today, and we’re here to – first – bring you a hint to help save the streak, then it‘s straight to the answer.

And if you can't be bothered with even having to look at the hint, the just jump to the answer and get on with the weekend. We’ve all got better things to do, right?

Today’s Wordle hint and riddle

Wordle answer with no correct letters

(Image credit: TechRadar)

We’re trialling this daily riddle format – is it working? Is it useful? Hard to say, but they’re fun to write… so do email in and let us know!

Today's Wordle riddle:

Give permission to achieve a goal, but be ready – this one starts with a vowel.

OK, ’goal’ and ‘vowel’ don’t technically rhyme. It’s assonance, which is a poetry word for ‘I can do what I want because poetry’. How about some hints to keep this party rolling?

  1. There are two vowels today
  2. It has a double letter
  3. It ends with a W

Does that help? No? OK, fine… you can have the answer. BUT, do check out our Wordle solver tools below to see if they can help you instead – a quick scroll will jump you past the answer.

Today’s Wordle Answer #273

Today’s Wordle answer on black background

(Image credit: TechRadar / NY Times)

The Wordle answer for today is: ALLOW.

It’s already looking like a tricky one to start the weekend – and we often see this when a vowel is placed at the start of a word. A double letter as well… we can see this one running and running.

Google Trends suggests that this is proving to be the case – the UK saw a HUGE spike in Wordle Answer at midnight, although the usual 7AM follow up wasn’t there:

Wordle trends on a white background

(Image credit: TechRadar / Google)

With nothing trending today in Wordle, we expect this article to be read by people stumped through the A at the front – and maybe the double letter.

Today’s Wordle alternative

So you’ve done today’s Wordle. Well done. So each day we’re going to recommend one of the best Wordle alternatives so the joy train of daily puzzling isn’t over for you.

Today, it’s time to get your calculator out…

Nerdle

The starting screen to a game of Nerdle

(Image credit: Future)

Such a different game to Wordle, but it gives your brain a different workout. Consider Wordle your long, steady state run and then Nerdle being the HIIT workout you (inexplicably) do next.

You're asked to enter a sum of 8 numbers or symbols long… and apart from knowing it has to have some numbers and an equals in there, that's all you get.

It's a great play – plus there's an 'Instant Nerdle' that shows you one line of semi-correct entries in the wrong place… and it's up to you to get it. Lovely.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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Why today’s Wordle answer is so hard, according to the experts

Another day, another irksome Wordle conundrum. Like puzzle #265 before it, today’s Wordle is proving a particularly tricky beast for players around the world to reckon with – but not for the same reasons as its predecessor. 

Once again, TechRadar spoke to Dr Matthew Voice, an Assistant Professor in Applied Linguistics at the UK’s University of Warwick, to find out the granular details behind puzzle #270. We also heard from Shaun Savage, Editor in Chief at Try Hard Games Guides, for more on today’s troublesome term.

Naturally, we’ll be divulging the solution to today’s puzzle below, so turn back now if you’re committed to weathering the latest Wordle alone. 

So, ladies and gents, today’s Wordle answer is CATER. Granted, that’s decidedly more obscure than WATCH (puzzle #265), but it’s not exactly a term that demands you dig out a dictionary. 

Dr Voice explained to us last week that WATCH was a prime example of an n-gram, i.e. a group of letters of a length (n) that commonly cluster together. Again, CATER is an n-gram with a length of four letters – a quadrigram – which presents similar problems, on top of some extra word-specific difficulty. 

It's all in the morphology

“Looking back at Project Gutenberg's list of common n-grams,” Dr Voice tells us, “you can really see why getting some of today's letters in place isn't necessarily narrowing down the possibilities. ER is the fourth most common combination of any two letters in the whole of the English language, it seems, and TER the twelfth most common combination of three.”

“That said,” he adds, “I also think it's interesting to think about why 'cater' might not seem like an immediately obvious option to everyone who's got the point of finding _ATER. The answer to this might be to do with our expectations about morphology – the way we combine together different parts of language to make new words.”

Morphology. Right, we’re following. 

“ER is a very common bigram partly because '-er' is a highly productive suffix in English. It can be added to the end of most verbs in order to make a new noun, usually to describe someone or something doing the original verb. So 'report' becomes 'reporter' and 'play' becomes 'player', for example.”

“So we might associate an '-er' ending with nouns in particular. The data for the eleven options to fill the last slot in _ATER bears this out, too: nine of them are nouns, with one adjective ('later') and our solution, 'cater', being the only verb in the group. Players caught thinking of 'verb + -er' words might have overlooked this exception.”

So there you have it, Wordle-ers. CATER is tricking you with its sneaky bigram, which is subsequently encouraging the mind to think of 'verb + -er’ words (which, of course, does not account for the existence of ‘cater’). 

This is what we learned from Shaun Savage, Editor in Chief at Try Hard Games Guides, on the matter of puzzle #270’s internet infamy: “While we definitely see more traffic on days where people need help figuring out what possible words the answer could be – with _ATER, people have a few words that likely came to mind! – we have seen the answer post trend higher in these instances, same with 'watch' and 'dodge'.”

“This past week's words haven't been too offbeat,” Savage adds. “We have seen steady traffic, but no mega surges like we have for a few words (‘vivid’ comes to mind) that are harder to figure out. The situation with _ATER, though, is that there are lots of possibilities, and all of them fit without specifically trying to eliminate more consonants.”

Well then, that's two tricky terms in the space of five days. Come on, Wordle, give us and our broken streaks a break…

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