Wordle

I suppose it should come as no surprise that I’ve been playing this with Kath. As long-time Crossword (even occasionally cryptic crosswords) and Spelling Bee fans, Wordle fits right in. And it takes only a couple of minutes per day.

In Wordle, you have to guess a 5-letter word. All guesses must be real words. The puzzle indicates letters that are in the right position with a green background and letters that are in the solution, but in the wrong position with a yellow background. It’s kind of like the old Mastermind game, but with letters and words instead of colored pegs.

Some examples are shown below.

Hole-in-one

Proud (15.06.2024)

A lovely coincidence that.

Lucky Punch

We guessed it in two or three tries, marching pretty consistently forward, without flailing about.

FloodScareCaterBrineChokeInferChordThirdSedanGhoulMerryEvokeDaisyThrewStoleTearyRealmGummyOrganSaucyBroadBossyJellyWitchHefty (18.12.2024)Stray (19.12.2024)Cloak (13.01.2025)Prose (17.01.2025)Reach (22.01.2025)Toast (31.01.2025)Roach (25,02.2025)Spite (10.03.2025)

Out of nowhere

We guessed three or more letters at once to finish the puzzle.

BayouInertCheekNymphVividKioskBoughRobotCrimpLightGlazeBonus

Lots of Gold

We guessed a lot of the letters, but in the wrong spots, but then guessed it pretty quickly.

GirthAtoneAlbumNastyHaterPleatAloftChantOtherBingeSushiWorstHeardNeverRidgeDevilSerumKneadInnerPrimpHyena

Ugh, finally!

It took four or five attempts, even after we already had three or four letters.

PintoForgoMoneyCommaChestClothTodaySkillShardValetCleanPrickProxyLuckyBirchUnzipAvailStageBlurbExcelExtraJudgeEnjoyMeantTrustQueueSharpGlobeChainBaconFunnyLearnBravoCrowdEagleSquid

Skin of our teeth

Sixth attempt was the charm. Some of these could just as easily be “out of nowhere” or “lots of gold”, as well.

PointShameFoyerNavalMateyKayakGnashBunchLeakyCableNorthFortySnortBrassBrawnRowerVerseQuota

I wrote the following to Ömer about “Quota”,

You’re gonna love our (OKOK MY) guesses on this one. A real nail-biter, right on the edges of our seats until the end, with Kath simultaneously having kittens, being mad at me for wild guesses that didn’t even seem like English words, and being hopeful that my madness would lead to success. The fifth guess was hers and I loved it immediately, which meant that (A) it had very little chance of being the answer and (B) Kath regretted even having said it.

Pretty?

These are just nice-looking with nowhere else to put them.

SevenDecry

As you can see, sometimes you get lucky and get it in three guesses (robot, crimp, light above) or you get unlucky and start chasing two letters (point, prick) or just one letter (skill, shard). Once we got lucky and solved “brine” in two guesses without first trying “twine” or “thine”.

We’re at almost a 2-week3-week4-week5-weak8-week12-week streak so far.

83-day Wordle Streak