This “Simple” Wordle Word Stumped Illinois Players in 2025

Are you obsessed with the word game Wordle? You know, the viral puzzle that still has millions of people logging in every single day, trying to crack the five-letter word of the day in just six guesses.

I’ll admit it, I’ve played plenty of times, but I can never seem to remember to log in every day to keep a streak alive. Apparently, I’m not alone. New data just revealed which Wordle word gave Illinois players the biggest headache in 2025, and honestly… it’s a little surprising.

This “Simple” Wordle Word Stumped Illinois Players in 2025

The folks at Unscramblerer.com put together a list of the hardest Wordle words for each state last year. For Illinois, it wasn’t tricky words like Minty (used August 10) or Gnome (used July 13). Nope. The word that stumped Illinois players the most was—wait for it—ROUGH.

Yep. ROUGH.

A word that seems pretty simple at first glance ended up causing major frustration. On June 1, about 1.6 million Illinois players needed a little extra help from Unscramblerer just to keep their Wordle streaks from ending.

Another Wordle Word Players Across the U.S. Missed

And ROUGH wasn’t the only troublemaker. Across the country, players in multiple states also struggled with the word DOWEL, which popped up on May 11 and went down as one of the hardest Wordle words of the year.

Read More: Meet the Illinois Olympians in Milan-Cortina

Let’s be honest, we love puzzles in America, but what we really hate is losing a streak, especially if it’s been going strong for more than a week. So is it cheating to get a little help when you’re stuck? Maybe. Does it still count as a streak if you peek at an outside source? Also… maybe.

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Either way, Wordle is meant to challenge your brain, and if you’ve got a good streak going, why risk losing it over a “simple” word like ROUGH?