Since The New York Times purchased viral word game Wordle on Jan. 31, some players have resorted to an unfortunate tactic to beat the game: cheating.

According to a new study by WordFinderX, Wordle cheating is at an all-time high, and we even know which states are home to the biggest offenders.

WordFinderX, a word search tool used to help solve troublesome word games, scanned Google Trends data to see just how many Wordle wizards have been consulting the internet to solve Wordle's daily puzzles.

What they found was surprising.

Ever since NYT acquired the free game, Google searches for "today's Wordle" have increased by 196 percent.

The search for the day's Wordle answer saw the most significant spike between Feb. 6 and Feb. 13, when interest jumped from nearly 70 to 100 on Google's popularity index.

Following NYT's acquisition of Wordle, players are convinced the viral brainteasers have become more complex than ever before.

While those claims remain unproven, the study proved that cheating at the game has become more prevalent since the NYT takeover, with words such as "aroma" and "swill" noted as top tricky word searches.

The study also indicated the "biggest cheaters" live in the northeast, where users typically play in the morning. Cheating most often happens between 7AM and 8AM.

States Most Likely To Cheat at Wordle:

New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont
Washington D.C.
Massachusetts
Maine

States Least Likely To Cheat at Wordle:

Alaska
Mississippi
New Mexico
Kentucky

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