AN online puzzle smash invented by a county farmer’s son is to get its own TV show.

Wordle was originally created and developed in 2021 by US-based software engineer Josh Wardle from Llandewi Rhyderch near Llanarth, to keep his girlfriend entertained during lockdown.

And filmed in Manchester and set to be shown in both the UK and US, the programme will be hosted by Savannah Guthrie, who anchors the American network's morning news show Today.

Episodes will last half an hour and the series, set to be broadcast on NBC and produced by US chat show host Jimmy Fallon’s company Electric Hot Dog, is expected to replicate the Wordle typeface and colour scheme.

The filming of Wordle – which will see contestants compete for a cash prize – was delayed after the disappearance of Guthrie's 84-year-old mother Nancy in February, who is still missing.

Guthrie, who returned to work in April, has noted how the word game has been a point of connection with her missing mother.

When first launched online, Wordle proved a global sensation and was soon bought by the New York Times from Josh Wardle in a million-dollar acquisition.

Production on the show is set to begin later this year and is scheduled to premiere in 2027.

Meanwhile, Josh has just launched a new game Parseword, a wordplay game inspired by cryptic crossword puzzles, where like Wordle, players solve one clue a day, with the game becoming progressively tougher.

Telling The Sunday Times that he hasn’t played Wordle since selling it in 2022, he revealed about Parseword: “I remember looking at (crossword) clues and feeling utterly flummoxed. Like it was completely impenetrable.

"They've become my favourite format, because hidden under all this complexity is this amazingly elegant puzzle."

Hoping he can help "folks who haven't been able to break into cryptic crosswords, to teach them the rules", he added: "I love language, this tool we all have access to, we use every day.

"I think I'm just trying to make games that I would want to play."

The original Wordle – a play on his own name which includes the likes of Countdown's Suzie Dent among its fans – involves guessing a five-letter word in six guesses.

Parseword and Wordle can only be played once a day and players can share their score with friends, family or on social media.

Wordle became the most Googled word of 2022, and its creator was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year.

It even helped end a 17-hour hostage ordeal when a Chicago grandmother failed to file a solution to the day's Wordle challenge, and her daughter in Seattle raised the alarm, with police finding an intruder in her mum’s house.

Brooklyn-based London University media arts graduate Josh described the success of his game as “a little overwhelming”, and said it had become “bigger than I ever imagined”.

Back in his home village, most well known for an ancient yew tree, farmer dad Chris reacted to his son’s success by telling The Guardian: “Josh had no idea it would take off like this. I think it’s come as a bit of a shock.”