- Shooting, explosions in Jenin as Israel presses raid
- Spotlight on risk management as skiers tackle notorious Kitzbuehel downhill
- Rare wildlife species found in Cambodian national park
- EU Russia hawks back Trump call to boost defence spending
- Trump puts US govt diversity workers on leave, calls bishop 'nasty'
- Semi-finalist Shelton 'shocked' by 'embarrassing' Melbourne TV hosts
- Sinner races into semis as Swiatek closes on first Melbourne crown
- Syria's military hospital where detainees were tortured, not treated
- Prince Harry settles lawsuit against Murdoch's UK tabloids
- Sinner demolishes De Minaur to set up Melbourne semi with Shelton
- Stock markets diverge tracking Trump plans
- Sudan 'political' banknote switch causes cash crunch
- Malaysia's Anwar says don't single out China in sea tensions
- EU's top diplomat backs Trump call to boost defence spending
- Simmering anger as Turkey begins burying 76 fire victims
- Masa Son, Trump's Japanese buddy with the Midas Touch
- Borussia Dortmund sack Sahin after Champions League setback
- US govt workers in diversity jobs to be put on leave as programs ordered shut
- Shelton grinds past Sonego into Australian Open semi-final
- Borussia Dortmund sack coach Nuri Sahin after Champions League setback
- Markets rise after Trump AI pledge but China tariff fears return
- 'Did not push hard enough': Navalny lawyer speaks of regrets
- Bulgaria court ruling turns spotlight on gambling addiction
- Inoue focused on Korean with bright lights of Vegas on horizon
- Mauricio Funes: journalist turned El Salvador president
- Navarro urges rule change after double-bounce furore in Melbourne
- Asian traders cheer Trump AI pledge but China tariff woes return
- Lesotho's king pitches green energy to Davos elites
- Buttler rejects calls for England to boycott Afghanistan match
- 'I believe': Swiatek surges into Australian Open semi with Keys
- Indonesia rescuers search for survivors as landslide kills 19
- Triple-doubles for Jokic and James fuel lopsided NBA wins
- Five things about the 2025 World Rally Championship
- 'Love for humanity': Low-crime Japan's unpaid parole officers
- Indonesia rescuers search for survivors as landslide kills at least 17
- Trump targets opponents, faces criticism from cathedral pulpit
- S. Korea to overhaul some airports after Jeju Air crash
- Resilient Keys 'really proud' to be back in Melbourne semis
- Bloodied Welsford fights back from crash to win another Tour stage
- Swiatek sweeps into Melbourne semis, Sinner faces home test
- Rampant Swiatek sweeps into Australian Open semi-final with Keys
- Lanterns light up southern Chinese city ahead of Lunar New Year
- 'Worst ever' Man Utd turn to Europa League as saving grace
- Brazil saw 79% jump in area burned by fires in 2024: monitor
- Resilient Keys beats Svitolina to reach Australian Open semi-finals
- Most Asian markets rise after Trump AI pledge but China tariff woes return
- Djokovic mentally ready for Zverev but worried about creaking body
- As Trump takes aim at EVs, how far will rollback go?
- No home, no insurance: The double hit from Los Angeles fires
- Trump targets opponents, faces criticism from catherdral pulpit
Twitter suspends spoiler account for 'Wordle' answer reveal
Twitter suspended a bot account on Wednesday for spoiling the solution to the next day's Wordle, the wildly popular internet word puzzle.
The game, which only offers one puzzle per day, has amassed millions of players since it came online last year.
But the Twitter profile @wordlinator seemed determined to ruin the fun for participants posting their scores on the social media site.
"The account referenced was suspended for violating the Twitter Rules and the Automation Rules around sending unsolicited @mentions," a Twitter spokesperson told AFP.
The bot account automatically responded to accounts posting their Wordle scores with messages such as "Guess what. People don't care about your mediocre linguistic escapades. To teach you a lesson, tomorrow's word is" -- followed by the actual answer for the next day.
Twitter said it does not tolerate its platform being used to harass other users.
Its policy also notes that sending unsolicited, aggressive or bulk mentions, replies or direct messages warrants suspension from the platform or deleting of the account in question.
Though Wordle gives players six chances to guess a five-letter word, does not have a mobile app and is only available on a web browser, the game has quickly caught on, partly thanks to users' ability to share their scores in green, yellow and gray grids on social media.
It is likely the person behind the @wordlinator account found the upcoming winning words by simply looking at the Wordle web page's source code.
"Just what kind of sick, twisted person do you have to be to hate the sight of people enjoying a harmless activity so much you hack Wordle?" asked one player on Twitter Tuesday.
A.Jones--AMWN