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Do we really need to be coddled this much or is the NYT overreacting? Choosing to mess with and break the main feature of this game (everybody playing the same word) because of one US news story (which is still only speculation at this point) seems so extreme. On the other hand I can totally see Twitter going mad and this “triggering” people of both sides of the debate if it had been left as the answer.

Kang : Hmm... Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others.

No fan of the NYT. (or abortion) but I applaud this move on the grounds that the word is actually foetus no matter who says otherwise.

> Indeed the spelling fetus is the etymologically correct one as it derives from the Latin term 'fetus' meaning "offspring". The foetus usage is derived from the erroneous belief that the spelling fetus was an Americanism for which an original 'o' had been dropped.

(from https://radiopaedia.org/articles/fetus-vs-foetus)

If I was cynical, I'd say this was an attempt to generate publicity for a game which is slowly falling out of fashion.

New York Times drops ‘fetus’ as an answer to Wordle – but not for all players