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Wordle? Not Wordle! Hit game spawns meme playing off its grid format

The Bat-Signal, a Spidey suit, Ted Lasso and more all show up on a Wordle-style grid.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read

To be, or not to be? Wordle, or Not Wordle? Wildly popular online game Wordle has spawned a meme playing off the game's colorful grid format, and some pretty famous names are joining in. 

It's a pretty simple format. The images begin with the words"Not Wordle," then displays a Wordle grid designed to reflect some joke or trend. 

Stormy weather

The Weather Channel tweeted one showing squares of blue and gray, reflecting the nor'easter winter storm that's expected to hit the East Coast this weekend.

Ted Lasso love

A fan account called Lego Ted Lasso, based on the hit Apple Plus show, showed a Lego figure of Jason Sudeikis' American turned English soccer coach sitting in a grid of blue chairs, similar to the show's opening credits.

The Force be with Wordle

One grid proclaimed "Not Wordle, just the rank of Grand Moff." (Star Wars fans will get it even without the photo.)

The way the cookie crumbles

Oreo Cookie's account formed the Wordle grid into a Double Stuf Oreo.

Lights, camera, action!

One grid looked a lot like the chart moviegoers see when they select a reserved seat, but with only one seat selected, and was labeled, "Not Wordle, just the perfect cinema experience."

Holy Wordle, Batman!

DC Comics got into the act, with a grid labeled "Not Wordle, just the Bat-Signal."

Web-crawling web game

The Spider-Man: No Way Home movie account delivered "Not Wordle just a Spidey suit."

Other Wordle grids that made their way into the meme include an Among Us crewmate, a chess board, and just about anything that can be creatively formed out of colorful squares. Hey, internet addicts need something to do while they wait for the next Wordle puzzle.

Also, check out our favorite starter words and tips on how to win, other word games, and even how to cheat at Wordle.

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