Two competing British security agencies – GCHQ and MI6 – got involved in a playful exchange over online hit game Wordle, to the great amusement of social media users.On Tuesday, the head of foreign intelligence agency MI6, Richard Moore, took to Twitter to express his irritation with some Wordle fans.
“Thinking of unfollowing those who post their Wordle results…” he wrote.
Moore’s comment met mixed reaction from followers with some advising the MI6 head on how to hide the unwanted posts and others revealing today’s Wordle word and publishing their game results, apparently to upset Moore even further.
The online discussion culminated when the Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, retweeted Moore’s post, saying “sorry” - in Wordle’s letter boxes.
Many users did not understand the irony with some asking what the agency was apologizing for and others thinking that ‘sorry’ was a Wordle word of the day. However, many others found this post “genius,” celebrating it with “bravo” and calling it “top trolling” and “top level bants.”
It seems that Moore appreciated the joke as he later retweeted the GCHQ’s answer.
The Wordle game, created by a Brooklyn-based Brit Josh Wardle in autumn last year, was sold to the New York Times earlier this week for a seven-digit amount after taking the internet by storm. It exists in several languages and offers users six attempts to guess a five-letter word that is released every 24 hours.