NBA Star Accused Of Cheating At Wordle

Considering how popular Wordle is at the moment, it can be tempting to cheat a little when it comes to posting your results to social media with the game’s trademark emoji grid. NBA star Karl-Anthony Towns has been accused of doing just that, after eagle-eyed fans noticed that something in his daily Wordle post didn’t add up.

The Timberwolves player posted a cheery morning Wordle result showing a successful answer in just three tries–on a word that many players struggled with. In the replies, fans soon pointed out that, with the Wordle 237 answer being “ULCER,” Towns’ second guess just didn’t fit, as no existing word contains the combination “UC_ER.”

After accusations of cheating flooded Towns’ replies, the NBA player soon had to post a follow-up proving that he was playing the game as intended, including a video of the actual guesses he used–usually a big no-no for Wordle fans, but required in this case to clear his name.

As you can see from the follow-up tweet, the grid is referring not to Wordle 237 “ULCER” but the previous day’s solution, “PAUSE.” For whatever reason, the game marked it with the wrong number when Towns posted his results to social media. In the replies, some users claimed that this can happen if players begin the daily Wordle before midnight, but finish it after the reset has already ticked over.

Not only did the NBA star clear himself of cheating accusations by posting the video, he also showed off some impressive stats. The record displayed at the end showed that Towns has so far guessed six of his nine completed Wordles by the third guess, with one win on the second guess. It looks like basketball isn’t the only thing Karl-Anthony Townsis a pro at.

Looking to up your own game? Check out our best suggestions for opening words to help you get ahead.