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2022 was the year of Wordle.

This week, Google released the 2022 Year in Search, a statistical chart that shows the most prominent search terms and trends for the entire year. This year’s trends were a bit lopsided toward the latter half of the year, with high searches for the World Cup matches, the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the passing of Queen Elizabeth. However, one surprising search term managed to beat out all the major events through sheer ubiquity: Wordle.

““Wordle” was the top trending search globally, as guessing five-letter words every day became a way of life,” Google said in a companion blog post.

Originally launched in October of 2021 before being acquired by the New York Times earlier this year, Wordle took the world by storm with its simple and addicting nature. By allowing users to post their results swiftly and easily to social media and private chats, an entire network of Wordle-heads was swiftly established, brought together by a mutual enjoyment of word puzzles. Many players also found the game helpful in maintaining long-distance relationships with friends and family who have been separated due to work or pandemic conditions.

Admit it: You’ve probably either Googled the answer for Wordle, or at the very least searched to play it. Turns out, you’re not alone. https://t.co/nvT4J22xkY

— CNN (@CNN) December 7, 2022

Wordle has become one of the New York Times’ most popular games, likely due in no small part to remaining free-to-play instead of paywalled. The game has become so popular that the publication cut a deal with Hasbro to transform it into home board game. It’s likely that Wordle will remain a fixture of the publication, and internet culture at large, for a long time to come, right up there with other popular word puzzles like the daily crossword.