In an effort to increase Town Meeting attendance, the Select Board has rewritten this year’s warrant articles in Wordle format. Wordle, the daily online word game, has become incredibly popular in recent months, so much so that town officials thought this was an excellent way to lure more residents to Harvard’s upcoming May Town Meeting. “The Harvard Press does a great job with its Warrant in Plain English,” said one Select Board member, “but we want to take it a step further.”
A full-page notice in the Press will advise voters that when they arrive at Town Meeting, they’ll be given a link to a special online warrant that they can access on their smartphones. The link will become live immediately after the town moderator leads attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance. Each warrant article will have been rewritten to consist of only five-letter words, each presented as a Wordle. Most attendees will want to take advantage of this to show off their Wordle acumen. Knitters, however, many of whom are rabid Wordle fans, will face a tough choice; only the most skilled will be able to knit and work on the Wordles at the same time.
“Won’t it take a really long time for folks to solve all those Wordles?” asked one town official. “Well, yes,” replied another, “but this way attendees won’t fall asleep and will stay longer, maybe even through discussion of the Planning Board articles.”
