Bikle: cycling version of Wordle 5 letter daily words puzzle game explained - and how to play it online

Think you know your pro-cyclists? Give ‘Bikle’ a go, a cycling-themed version of Wordle
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In the wake of the massive popularity of Wordle - an online puzzle game which has seen social media flooded with green and yellow symbols - a number of tributes and variants have sprung up.

Maybe your smutty mind isn’t satisfied with the base game’s innocent premise? Try Lewdle instead.

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Maybe you’ve mastered a Wordle strategy that regularly sees you finding the answer in three attempts (much more impressive than a lucky first or second try guess)?

But now a new version of the game has popped up, one that is sure to keep the wheels spinning in the minds of cycling fans.

Here is everything you need to know about Bikle.

What is Bikle?

Firstly, a little context on the game of Wordle, an online brain teaser which lies somewhere between a crossword and a sudoku puzzle.

Anyone who knows the game Mastermind, which employs the use of coloured pegs, will instantly be familiar with the premise of Wordle.

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The objective of the game is to guess the secret word in six tries, using a series of hints to figure it out.

  • If any of your letters are highlighted as green, that means that you’ve got the right letter in the right place.
  • If any of the letters are highlighted as yellow, that means that those letters are in the word, but they’re currently in the wrong place.
  • Finally, if any of your letters are highlighted as grey, it means that those letters aren’t included anywhere in the secret word.
A mobile phone shows the screen of the popular online game Wordle. Picture: Nick Ansell/PA WireA mobile phone shows the screen of the popular online game Wordle. Picture: Nick Ansell/PA Wire
A mobile phone shows the screen of the popular online game Wordle. Picture: Nick Ansell/PA Wire

For now, you can play Wordle on the Power Language website. (though its recent acquisition by the New York Times has fans concerned this may change in the future).

There is only one puzzle released each day, so you’ll need to check the website again the following day to continue playing along.

Bikle works in much the same way, only instead of random and innocuous words, each day’s answer is the surname of a male or female cyclist.

The difficulty of the solution varies from day to day.

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“It could be a legend from the past, a well-known name of the present, or a domestique who loves breaking away.”

Who created Bikle?

The game was modified from the code of Parole and Kasta, Italian-language versions of Wordle.

It was created by Bidon, an Italian cycling magazine which hosts the official podcast of the Giro d’Italia, Italy’s equivalent of the Tour de France.

“Bikle is the result of the cooperation of some members of Bidon’s Telegram group,“ explains the magazine, “which in the last week devoted a few hours to the creation of a game for all cycling fans.”

How can I play it?

You can play Bikle in your web browser here.

Can I share my results?

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Much like Wordle, users can share how many tries it took for them to crack the Bikle puzzle on social media, as, after it’s been solved, the website offers players the option to share their results.

This share option generates an emoji grid which replicates the colour pattern found on your completed puzzle, using the black, yellow and green emoji boxes.

Sharing like this allows players to share their results entirely spoiler-free. Users will also include what edition of Bikle it is and how many guesses they took, for example, “Bikle 2 4/6”.

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