New York Times Reportedly Removes 'Fetus' from Wordle to Keep Game 'Distinct from the News'

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The New York Times published a note regarding its popular game Wordle on Monday, saying they removed a word from its answers to keep the game "distinct from the news." According to CNN, the Times later confirmed the word in question was "fetus."

Times representative Jordan Cohen tells PEOPLE the word change was prompted by an outdated answer in Wordle that "seems closely connected to a major recent news event."

"This is entirely unintentional and a coincidence — today's original answer was loaded into Wordle last year," Cohen added.

The decision comes on the heels of the bombshell United States Supreme Court majority opinion draft by Justice Samuel Alito that leaked last week, which, if finalized, would overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision protecting women's reproductive rights.

In the initial statement, the Times said it hoped to preserve its Games section as a place for user enjoyment.

"At New York Times Games, we take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news," Everdeen Mason, Games editorial director for the Times, said in the statement.

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"But because of the current Wordle technology, it can be difficult to change words that have already been loaded into the game. When we discovered last week that this particular word would be featured today, we switched it for as many solvers as possible," Mason said.

Wordle — formerly owned and created by Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle before the Times acquired it in January — gives players six chances daily to guess a five-letter word.

The Supreme Court draft, first obtained by Politico, rules that Roe and Casey must be overruled — which, if finalized, would quash Roe v. Wade's assurance of a federal constitutional right to abortion. Pro-choice advocates took to the streets to protest across the country following the leaking of the document.

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According to Politico, the draft was first circulated in early February, but the final ruling will not be published until at least June. Votes and language can change before rulings are finalized.

Supreme Court justices confirmed the authenticity of the document last Tuesday, but emphasized that it was not final. Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak an "egregious breach" of trust.