Wordle to the rescue!

 The headline on the Chicago Tribune story conveys the gist:

Wordle helped save suburban grandmother being held by armed home invader, cops say. Family was concerned woman didn’t text her daily score.

When 80-year-old grandmother Denyse Holt failed to text her daily score for Wordle, her two daughters thought it was strange, since she always shared her results from the popular online puzzle in which players try to guess a five-letter word.

When Holt failed to respond or even read their texts or answer the phone, the daughters, who live on the West Coast, got worried. When they had a neighbor check her house in Lincolnwood and her car was there but she didn’t answer, they knew something was wrong.

Police were called and found a broken window with blood on the scene, suggesting a break-in. Using the neighbor’s key, they entered, asking, “Is anybody home?”

“I’m here,” Holt called, from inside a basement bathroom where she’d been barricaded by a naked intruder threatening her with scissors. Police rescued her and arrested James H. Davis III, of Chicago, the man who they say held her hostage and in fear for her life for nearly 21 hours. Her daughter said it was her mother’s calm during the crisis that may have kept her alive.

Around 1 a.m. Sunday, police said, a naked man broke through a window to enter Holt’s home in the 4600 block of Morse Avenue, got into bed with her and threatened her with scissors.

It's an interesting story of the confluence of family love and concern, the role of social media in staying connected, and the five-letter game.  

The members of my family have started to text one another our daily Wordle scores over the last 1-2 weeks.  It's a nice little check-in from kids who are living far away.