Dear Tech Guru: Wordle

 Dear Tech Guru,

I am addicted to playing Wordle, Heardle, Nerdle, and so many of these other daily -rdle guessing games. Is there an easy way to access them without having to search for them every day on my smartphone's browser?

Signed: I Don’t Use a Set Starting Word

Hi Starting Word,

I, too, am addicted to some of these games and can happily report an easy way to access them every day on both iOS and Android devices. For both operating systems, you have the option to save websites to the home screen. It's like bookmarking the page so you can quickly return to that website. This creates an icon on your device's home screen that you can tap on, like an app. You then can group all your games into a folder so you can easily find and access them each day. I do this on my phone in a group/folder called -dles.

For iOS devices:

• To save a website to your home screen, click on the share icon, a square with an arrow pointing out of the top. Scroll down until you see Add to Home Screen. Then you can rename it before tapping the Add button to save it to your home screen.
• Drag one app onto another app. They will create a folder. You can rename this folder. Then you can drag your other apps to the folder to add them. To organize your icons into folders, touch and hold your screen until the apps begin to jiggle.

For Android Devices:

• To save a website to your home screen, click on the menu icon (the three dots in the upper right corner) and tap Add to the home screen.
• Drag one app onto another app. They will create a folder. You can rename this folder. Then you can drag your other apps to the folder to add them. To organize your icons into folders, touch and hold your screen until the apps begin to jiggle.

The library also has other resources that might interest you while waiting for the next day's games. 

Ancient Puzzles: Classic Brainteasers and Other Timeless Mathematical Games of the Last 10 Centuries by Dominic Olivastro

"Each puzzle is linked with insightful folk and scientific history that helps shed light on the mysterious purpose and origin of the problem. Fascinating clues for figuring out answers draw on modern problem-solving techniques and lead to ancient secrets that, before now, have rarely been understood. Whether you decipher them for their historical significance, classical wisdom, or just for the sheer, maddening fun of it, these delightful puzzles provide a unique, entertaining, and enlightening guide to the evolution of the human mind."

The Gödelian Puzzle Book: Puzzles, Paradoxes and Proofs by Raymond M. Smyllyan

"These recreational logic puzzles provide entertaining variations on Godel's incompleteness theorems, offering ingenious challenges related to infinity, truth and provability, undecidability, and other concepts. Written by a distinguished mathematician and creator of numerous popular puzzle books, this volume requires no background in formal logic."

Big Book of Family Games: 101 Original Family & Group Games That Don’t Need Charging! by Brad Berger

"Bring family and friends together for hours of entertainment and real social interaction. The Big Book of Family Games: 101 Original Group Games That Don't Need Charging brings people together for hours of hilarious, interactive, technology-free fun that requires virtually nothing more than pens and paper. This travel-friendly book guarantees hours of engaging entertainment with 101 original, rigorously tested games that challenge each player's ability to strategize, bluff, read minds, memorize, think quickly, solve puzzles, and more. No texting, tweeting, or web surfing allowed!"

It’s a Matter of Numbers. Brain Games (Launchpad)

"How good are you at solving puzzles and thinking strategically? Brain Games help train your mind by challenging memory, reaction time, problem-solving and observation skills, attention span and more."

The Mathematics of Games and Puzzles: From Cards to Sudoku (Great Courses)

"Whether it's chess, poker, or Sudoku, most games have this in common: Everything needed to win is rooted in mathematics. Now, using nothing more than a simple grasp of math, discover optimal ways to win games and solve puzzles with the speed and accuracy of professional players."

More on puzzles and games.

- by Amelia R., Information Technology Department