by Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Attention: "logophiles"--word lovers. "Wordle," the new word game byJosh Wardle, has more than 2 million players. The game was even bought bythe New York Times for at least $1 million.
It's not for those people labeled as being "lethologica"--the state of not being able to remember the word you want. It's on "the tip of your tongue." But if you know that Judge Judy's favorite word is "kerfuffle" (a fuss or commotion), you're ready for "Wordle."
Other new word games:
"Sedecordle" (which is played with 16 words at the same time.) "Dordle" (a slightly harder rendition of Wordle. Dordle asks you to solve for two "Wordies" at once, but with only one guess per turn across both games.) "Sweardle" (Uses 4-letter words that have a tendency to be inappropriate.) "Quordle" (a game four times harder than Wordle. You solve 4 Wordles at once and have 9 guesses to solve all 4 words) "Octordle" (Players have to guess eight five-letter words simultaneously and you only have 13 guesses. Some recent answers: broth, jerky, druid, belch, and crepe.)
And now there's a new Jewish-themed offshoot called "Jewdle." Created by Alon Meltzer, it's a cute game where all solutions are 6-letter words related to Judaism. Meltzer uses six letters instead of 5 because "five letters was a bit too limiting." Since so many Yiddish words start with "sch," many of the answers dropped the "c."
Are you qualified to play "Jewdle"? Let's see:
- Does "EKG" mean "estimated kvetch grade"--a term coined by Lisa Alcalay Klug ("Cool Jew")?
- Does "IBS" mean "Irritable Bowel Syndrome" or "Isaac Bashevis Singer"?
- Do you define a "mikveh" as a "Kosher Acquacade"?
- Do you define a "minyen" as an "Orthodox Stag"?
- Do you agree with Ellis Weiner ("Yiddish with Dick and Jane") that the word "Gotenyu" is an appropriate word for someone who says, "She ordered corned beef on whole wheat? Oy gotenyu!"
- Do you find these sign humorous?
LEAVING BROOKLYN: FUHGEDABOUDIT
LEAVING BROOKLYN: OY VEY!
- Do you define "minyan shleppers" as "those charged with the duty of draggIng (shlepping) a quorum of 10 ritually adult males into the synagogue so that the morning service can begin?
- Have you used the Yiddishism, "Enough Already! What Am I, Chopped Liver?" within the last month?
- Do you agree with Leo Rosten who said that "bagels were doughnuts with a college degree education--and the college is probably Yeshiva"?
- Are you aware that "charoses is not a liver disease"?
- Do you define "SBN" as "South Bronx Neshugedacht" (You shouldn't know from it!)
- Do you know that WEVD was a Jewish radio station in NYC and NOT a brand of Jewish underwear? (Thanks, Albert Vorspan!)
And so, if you're ready to play "Jewdle," here's a short alphabetic list of some possible 6-word answers:
aufruf
bankes
bracha
bulvan
bupkes
dumkop
chaver
freser
gezunt
gevalt
kibitz
kosher
krechz
kvetch
minyan
komike
matzah
mensch
pulkes
schlub
shluff
schlep
shalom
shanda
shaytl
shekel
shivah
shlock
shmate (other spellings include "shmatt
shmeer
shnook
simcha
shtibl
shtikl
tsuris
tzizit
yikhes
zaftig
zamler
Good luck with "Jewdle."
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MARJORIE GOTTLIEB WOLFE is the athor of two books on Yiddish: "Yiddish for Dog & Cat Lovers" and "Are Yentas, Kibitzers, & Tummlers Weapons of Mass INstruction? Yiddish Trivia."