Wordle just saved an 80-year-old woman from a hostage situation (VIDEO)

Feb 10 2022, 9:38 pm

For those who play Wordle religiously, your everyday routine might include boasting your results in the family group chat.

This daily habit is what saved 80-year-old Denyse Holt’s life after a naked stranger broke into her home in Lincolnwood, Illinois, and held her hostage.

“I didnā€™t send my older daughter a Wordle in the morning, and that was disconcerting to her,” Holt told CBS Chicago in an interview.

According to a report by CBS Chicago, a bloody, naked man entered Holt’s home and crawled into bed with her, scissors in hand.

Holt stayed calm and said the man told her that he would not “harm” or “molest” her. He ordered her to take a shower with him, and decided he wasn’t warm enough, so they took a bath together instead.

After the bath, the man dragged Holt around the house as he disconnected phones.

ā€œHe took two knives from my kitchen. He told me he liked those,ā€ she told CBS Chicago.

The man then locked her in a basement bathroom, barricading it with a chair.

“I didn’t think I was going to live,” said Holt, who was in captivity for 17 hours.

While the man was making himself at home, Holt’s daughter in Seattle had a hunch that something was off. She noticed texts weren’t being read by her mom and that she received no morning updates on Wordle.

This is what caused friends and family to call Lincolnwood police, which led to an hours-long standoff with the home intruder. The SWAT team used a stun gun through a hole in the door to subdue him, reported CBS Chicago.

ā€œI never thought in a million years this is what was happening, but it was,ā€ said Holt.

Police confirmed that the intruder was James H. Davis III. He is facing felony charges, including home invasion with a dangerous weapon, aggravated kidnapping while armed with a dangerous weapon, and aggravated assault against a peace officer.

Wordle gained popularity after it was released to the public last October. Since then, many iterations of the word puzzle have been created, including an R-rated version, a hockey version and an archive of past Wordles.

While the word game was bought out by The New York Times last month, its creator, Josh Wardle, probably never anticipated that it would save someone’s life.

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