A bit of fun -
Google WORDLE
and play the game. Only one word to guess each day so you aren't going to get drawn in for ages.
Dave
My family has been taken over by this game.
I'm hooked on Lellerle. Definitely more skill than luck with this one.
That was fun, happy to have got it in 4.
> I'm hooked on Lellerle. Definitely more skill than luck with this one.
🤣
(I actually got it in 4 and was left staring the screen wondering what happened and what was next but no, that was it!)
I don't see a return key, or how many letters to use, or what the rules might be.
Other than that, obvious!
4 guesses.
Thanks for those, never done one before.
Got the Wordle in 5, and the Sweardle in 3. My mind obviously lives in the gutter.
Got the sweardle in 2…!
I knew all those hours reading the Viz Profanisaurus would pay off one day 😂
Easier as you don't have to guess real words.
Today was the closest I've come to losing.
Confession! On line 5 I brought up a list of ALL the words that started with that sequence, discounted them one by one until left with the answer.
I assume that with only a couple of hours left, mild spoilers are acceptable. I knew very early which the only vowel was, and then somehow failed to figure out that a Y needed to be involved until quite late!
Moacs - crikey. Might I suggest that your next move is to go buy a lottery ticket?
I got which the vowel was, thought of Y as a sort of Schrodinger's vowel, and that made it a lot simpler.
I almost lost yesterday too.
But look at today! My best yet.
Wordle 214 2/6
🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Congrats! Not got a two-er yet, me.
Wordle 214 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Mine too, but I've only played twice. Quite lucky to get exact position from my first two trial words.
Do people have standard first plays. This is my second day, but something like INSET CORAL covers the 10 most frequent letters in 2 moves, although perhaps using all 5 vowels is redundant as you could infer the 5th depending on the other 4.
got it in 3 too but was very lucky with my first word
I was going to brag about my three but it seems like anything more than two makes you an also ran today.....
I tend to start with ARISE and see where that takes me. Haven't done today's yet - coffee #2 required first.
edit: got it in three. Fairly easy, I think.
Edit #2: if you've only just started, note that we found out a week or so ago that they're using a US dictionary. And, separately, that double letters are hard because there's no indication that a letter you've guessed is to be used twice.
I'm hoping not to become addicted. We'll see.
Wordle 214 2/6
🟩⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
A lot of luck. I always try to use two vowels and common letters in the first line
> I tend to start with ARISE and see where that takes me.
Great minds think alike. I've been starting with RAISE. Earlier I started with IDEAS then moved over to IRATE. I think A, E, and I are good starter vowels. S, R and T probably the best consonants. Anything that scores just 5 in scrabble really.
I've not got it in 2 yet though. Best is 3 and average 4 - no failures yet.
I'm hooked though.
Martin
I almost got it wrong, if that's possible, 25 shots!
3 today, complete fail on the first line but that in itself is helpful in a way.
5 for me
It would seem that my good run of luck hasn't yet run out.
Wordle 215 2/6
🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Got exactly the same on sweardle as that today
I use SCONE TRAIL, which has the added slight advantage of using an S as first letter (most frequent starting letter in English words)
5 for me too, i assume each row had to be a valid word, not just a string of numbers?
I've stuck with INSET CORAL, and then based on previous result something like DOUGH, but that isn't that useful and meant today took me 4 goes, when I solved it with only info from the first 2.
I've been going with ADIEU and STONY. Which I think covers the vowels and a few common consonants. Tis a good game! I was playing a version from the Google play store until yesterday, and was very confused by why the game numbers were different to everyone else.
So if you fancy 2 wordles a day, there is that option (app version contains ads unfortunately)
> I almost got it wrong, if that's possible, 25 shots!
That's as remarkable as a guess in one, although math is not my strong point, so is it?
ADIEU and STROP are my starters, then MANGY, BEACH & FLICK can be useful. Once a day not enough, coded a version in Excel
> I tend to start with ARISE and see where that takes me. Haven't done today's yet - coffee #2 required first.
I always start with ARSED, followed by CLIMB - but that's just me
Chris
Is it the same word for everyone each day? If so, todays word made me giggle....
> Is it the same word for everyone each day? If so, todays word made me giggle....
I assume so - starting with ARSED was quite appropriate today.
Chris
3 today (and it must be the same word for everyone as it gave me a chuckle too.
It could be in Wordle or Sweardle really.
Yes, a rather childish chuckle from me as well, got it in 3 also.
I can only reply with BRAVO. Come to think of it, that's not a bad starter either!
4 for wordle and 4 for sweardle today. 100% run on both after 4 days.
The tactics for getting a good sighting guesses to eliminate/identify the vowels are obvious, but wonder if there are any tactics for getting the guess first time? I presume they are unlikely to repeat any previous words used for some time. Beyond that, any ideas?
On sweardle I just can't help but start with the word c**t. It's my favourite word In real life so I'm always going to write it in a game if I get the chance 🤣
I've often got to ??ck and taken two more guesses. I need a better strategy for when that happens.
Just found out about this on Wednesday! 3 on Wednesday, 4 yesterday and 2 today. Whoopeee. It's addictive isn't it.
I'm now engaged in a death-by-wordle with one other person. The endless possibilities for suffering, retribution and victory dances are limited to once per day, a master stroke by the authors. No draws yet, but I'm going to suggest chess scoring.
Played twice, 4 yesterday and a very pleasing 3 today.
I thought this was quite hard today. Got it in 3 but really, it's harder to think of lewd words that it will let you use so I was sat there for some time trying to work out what it could be.
Sweardle is harder in that sense as you can't reuse a letter that has already been ruled out.
Climbing related today (and it still took me 5 bloody goes.
I got it in two, thanks to your clue.
Couldn't get the sweardle yesterday, I was a bit crap.
Don't clues kind of take the edge off it? Glad I solved it before looking on here (3)
Indeed - let's keep this thread spoiler free, at least until late afternoon?
I got today's in two - my starter was particularly helpful, along with that hint.
My batting average is still at 3.5. I like the way that no help provides a lot of negative help in this game.
I found it hard today, got it in 5.
I just realised I've been playing in "hard mode" all along (you must use previously guessed letters in the next word). I thought this was how you had to play until I saw people on here suggesting using two unconnected words as the first two guesses...
For extra hard mode, ask a 5-year-old to give you the first word 🙂
Just got it on my final try. Took me about an hour!!
Same here. I was certain of the last three letters by my final play, and then spent a looong time looking at some unlikely remaining letters.
That's pushed my average just above 4, damnit.
> I just realised I've been playing in "hard mode" all along (you must use previously guessed letters in the next word). I thought this was how you had to play until I saw people on here suggesting using two unconnected words as the first two guesses...
Same here. I'm sticking with it though. More fun. The other way precludes getting a 2er.
4er for me today, average 3.9.
A 2er !! Don’t know how to share that on here, you’ll have to believe me. Quite pleased.
> Just got it on my final try. Took me about an hour!!
Same here. I still punched the air and shouted "yes!" which made my wife raise her eyebrows.
It's an exciting day chez mountainbagger!
Same here. Final try. Doooh...
Final try for me too, relieved to get it…
Well done! To share you just click on the statsy looking icon at the top then press the big green share button. That copies your effort to the clipboard and you can paste it here.
Back to my usual form today. Didn't think I was going to solve it after the first two tries though.
Wordle 219 5/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Absurdle is just mean. Took me 16 guesses today
It was a tough one today. Took me ages to work out what it could be.
Wordle 219 5/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Far easier today!!
That's impressive. Were you able to discount most of the other vowels after your first guess? I suppose once you're sure you know the 3rd letter then that really limits the options.
First guess eliminated 3 vowels and gave me one consonant in the correct position. A good bit of luck and some thinking got me the end.
Today was much quicker in time but not as accurate
Wordle 220 3/6
🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟩⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
> Far easier today!!
Well, I got my third 3-er today, so not too bad. I'm averaging close to 4. But I can't work out how anyone gets it in 2 without a huge helping of luck.
Martin
Got my first 3-er off of just the one letter. Took a while to think it through but could only come up with one guess with what I had left.
Wordle 221 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
It's amazing how many non-words my brain comes up with to try and fill the gaps before I get to a sensible guess.
Wordle 221 4/6
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟩🟨
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
slightly disappointing 4 today. Feel robbed as guess 3 was between 2 words and I picked the wrong-un.
I suspect that you need a bit of luck to get it in 3 and maybe even 4.
I think, given a 'good' starting word, your second choice is the one that requires the most skill.
My wife got it in 4 and says it is not a real word, and I kind of get where she is coming from, bearing in mind she was 1 point behind me..........
222. First time it's taken 5, but the last two were a coin toss. Average down to 3.83.
Quickest one today, no agonizing over non-words this time! What a relief.
I got a couple of 6's this week so my average is down to 4.375
Wordle 222 3/6
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Just noticed the hardmode option, might turn that on for extra imaginary kudos tomorrow. Don't generally prefer the style of knowingly making a wrong guess just to maximize vowel/common letter usage. Watch this space for first failure!
a 5 for me today which trashes my average a bit. Brings me up from 3 to 3.5 It seems I’ve been playing hard mode all along by only allowing myself to use known letters. It seems that way takes more thinking time but potentially fewer guesses.
I didn't know hard mode was a thing - I just assumed you had to do it that way.... I'll carry on like that I think. Averaging 4.25 at the moment.
Wordle 222 3/6
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟨🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Only done 6 so far, average is 3.667 - not managed a 2 yet
What happens without hardmode (the default I believe) - I've not seen any hints, when/where do they arrive
Edit: just googled and found what hardmode does - once you've found a letter you have to carry on using it, presumably if it's in the right place you're not allowed to move it (why would you)
> Edit: just googled and found what hardmode does - once you've found a letter you have to carry on using it, presumably if it's in the right place you're not allowed to move it (why would you)
There's probably no point in moving it, unless it's the only way to introduce other letters you want to test - unlikely I think. But there are good reasons for not using it at all in the next line. You already know where it goes, so why not use its place to test out another letter? That way you get more information to help you get the answer on the following line.
Martin
> That way you get more information to help you get the answer on the following line.
This is what I try and do on the first 2 rows, but I believe it's exactly what hardmode doesn't allow you to do.
Yeah it stops you making unrelated guesses (usually on guess 2) to easily eliminate all vowels and/or important key consonants (or at least makes you work a little harder to think of a word that will use letters you guessed first). Examples above were given of combos of 'inset coral' and 'scone trail' to eliminate key letters on first 2 go's, that doesn't work in hard mode.
Anyway I tried it on hard for the first time and got it, but in 6.
Wordle 223 6/6*
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨
🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
> Technically could have got it in 2 today:
> Wordle 223 4/6
> 🟩🟨⬛⬛🟨
> 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
> 🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
> 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Did you start off thinking you were doing sweardle?
I found quite a few of the recent ones less than ideal, where after placing four letters in correct positions you were left with several options among the remaining letters that will each generate a valid word.
Having to pick one at random seems slightly pointless.
Is it possible to come up with a word that would never leave several options in the final steps?
Not as much as I did after a 3 yesterday...Phew!
Wordle 223 6/6
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Interesting. My mum has found this one:
https://wordle-play.com/
if you go into settings, you can change to 6 or 7 letter words. And you can have as many games in a day as you want. Just in time for people who ae going back into the office for work!
Wordle 223 5/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟩⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Not amazing, not terrible. I’ve taken to playing as fast as possible and not getting stuck on it for hours.
> Not amazing, not terrible. I’ve taken to playing as fast as possible and not getting stuck on it for hours.
Sometimes it takes a few minutes for me to find any word that will fit the previous rows, at which point I grab it regardless of whether there may be choices.
Four today. And I've got my wife hooked 😁
Wordle 223 5/6
🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
I could have got this in three but got it in five. After two I knew it must be one of three words. I guessed right on the last try.
Tried Absurdle? https://qntm.org/files/wordle/index.html
Got my first one in 6!
Tried it once, got a 6 but I don’t need anymore distractions from work so I’m not doing it. I’m not doing it I’m not, I’m not
> Tried Absurdle? https://qntm.org/files/wordle/index.html
> Got my first one in 6!
Yes, I posted about it further up. It's great in a different way to Wordle but now I get confused as to which one I'm playing!
Yes, a bit harder today. But I still got it in 5 moves.
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 224 4/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟨🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
If I had gone with my original idea I could have had it in three today. D'oh!
> I found quite a few of the recent ones less than ideal, where after placing four letters in correct positions you were left with several options among the remaining letters that will each generate a valid word.
Similarly here for the last couple of days. It's only fun, but it is a guessing bit of fun more often than I would like.
I liked this though, from the Australian Open
Wordle 224 4/6
🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩⬜🟨⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Hmph! I always find it funny when common words come out as the answer but when I'm typing them in they just don't look like that word until I look again and go "oh, that's ..."
> 4 guesses.
Me too.
Chuffed as it was the first time I played it but perhaps I got a bit lucky with the letters?
Will try Sweardle now 😂
Meh. Another 4/6.
3 with none on first line. Bit of a fluke, I think.
> 3 with none on first line. Bit of a fluke, I think.
Good luck explaining that to those that believe the feat is purely down to their superior powers of deduction and extensive vocabulary
> Good luck explaining that to those that believe the feat is purely down to their superior powers of deduction and extensive vocabulary
I suspect that wizard levels of vocabulary and deductive power will play an increasing role as you go on through each try. They won't guarantee a win on any one day as I have discovered recently (whatever my levels are), but in the long run they will help.
When we all get to at least 50 goes each, lets compare average scores and argue about levels of wizardry.
Another 4 for me today. 3 green letters in positions 2, 3, and 4 in line 2. Only two possible answers. I chose the wrong one (thinking the commoner word was more likely).
Martin
> I doubt it will remain interesting to me for that long
Oh, I don't. It's fun, requires thought and is quick to do. Timing allowing, it will fit neatly in first place atop a hierarchy of very early morning things that put off the serious business of the day, the first of those things being taking my wife her morning cup of tea. I try to get some serious wordplay in before I do that. Following Wordle there are crosswords, usually the Guardian Quick one, then trying to catch up with my mother on this week's Everyman. A codeword might slip in there too.
4 steps for me too. Nice one. They are fascinating puzzles, just how well they work. BTW, I always start with the same word, with three vowels.
Same word start for me too, with a second word that covers the other 2 vowels if the first guess misses. A four for me as I too chose the more commonly used word rather that the possibly more obscure that was required.
Wordle 226 2/6
⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Same, I think about 20 seconds or so.
My first fail:
Wordle 226 X/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
With two goes left, it could be one of three letters. I guessed wrongly twice.
> My first fail:
> With two goes left, it could be one of three letters. I guessed wrongly twice.
I was very lucky. Chose the correct first letter first go for a 3-er.
Possible spoiler alert: I reckon there are actually 9 possible first letters, only 4 of which I'd eliminated.
Martin
> I was very lucky. Chose the correct first letter first go for a 3-er.
> Possible spoiler alert: I reckon there are actually 9 possible first letters, only 4 of which I'd eliminated.
Assuming that everyone is looking for the same answer I make it 10 and suspect that there are at least a couple more for the real word geeks
> Assuming that everyone is looking for the same answer I make it 10 and suspect that there are at least a couple more for the real word geeks
Crossword Solver lists 13!
Don't follow this link if you don't want a spoiler: https://tinyurl.com/2cnszd8t
> Crossword Solver lists 13!
4 of which are too obscure to have been used, I think.
I realise now that I was left with three guesses to get one of the five choices I had not by then eliminated.
How long before the word I start with every time is the right one and I get a one-er?
How many words are on the Wordle list? Anybody know that?
> How many words are on the Wordle list? Anybody know that?
On the Absurdle page https://qntm.org/wordle it says this:
(There are actually two word lists in Wordle: one is a list of 2,315 words which can appear as answers, and the other is a list of 10,657 rather more obscure words which are allowed as guesses but will never appear as answers.)
> All luck:
> Wordle 226 2/6
> ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
> 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Unbelievably improbable. How did you do that!!
> 4 of which are too obscure to have been used, I think.
But one of which was not too obscure for timjones it seems....
I would say that 3 are obscure, one of which I did know was a word the other but rated as to obscure to be on the list.
I'm guessing that our number 10 is the same word and I would tend to suspect that it should be on the list.
> But one of which was not too obscure for timjones it seems....
That's the beauty and fascination of language with all it's historic and regional variations
> How long before the word I start with every time is the right one and I get a one-er?
> On the Absurdle page https://qntm.org/wordle it says this:
> (There are actually two word lists in Wordle: one is a list of 2,315 words which can appear as answers, and the other is a list of 10,657 rather more obscure words which are allowed as guesses but will never appear as answers.)
... which, by my reckoning - assuming words are selected randomly and may be repeated - gives a period of almost 4 years and 3 months before a randomly selected starter word has a greater than .5 probability of being correct.
I will await Robert's post telling me why my figure is wrong!
Under your assumptions it is a geometric distribution with probability of success p = 1/2315.
The cdf of such a distribution is 1-(1-p)^k, where k is the number of trials.
by calculation and simulation I find that the average number of days to success, if lots and lots of us had a go at this, would be 1/p = 2315 days or 6 years and 4 months, while the time beyond which half of us would likely have got the answer in 1 guess is about 4 years and 5 months.
I might also be wrong!
> Unbelievably improbable. How did you do that!!
The correct word was my second word designed to eliminate common letters.
Hi, I'm having a part next week, and have a bit of a shortage of fun people to invite.
Do you know anyone?
Joking aside, that all sounds about right to me. And I'm also pretty pleased with today's effort:
Wordle 226 3/6
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
4/6 today, but I was lucky - it could have been 8/6 with the choices left.
> I would say that 3 are obscure, one of which I did know was a word the other but rated as to obscure to be on the list.
> I'm guessing that our number 10 is the same word and I would tend to suspect that it should be on the list.
Not true, I fear. Of the 13 words linked by John A above, I only know 9. All the other 4 are equally obscure to me. I couldn't have given a meaning for any of them, and would rather hope none are on the WORDLE approved list.
Martin
Don't know if this has already been posted, but here's an archive of all of them.
Ball isn't a swear word.
Enjoy it while it lasts, folks. It's been sold to the NYT.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/01/whats-a-five-letter-word-for-acquire...
They've promised it will still be free to play when it moves, which noticeably doesn't make any commitments much beyond that point.
> Not true, I fear. Of the 13 words linked by John A above, I only know 9. All the other 4 are equally obscure to me. I couldn't have given a meaning for any of them, and would rather hope none are on the WORDLE approved list.
Why on earth would you hope that only words that you know are on the list?
Wordle 227 3/6
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟩
⬛🟨⬛🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Very satisfying today. My usual starter got me 2 letters. My usual 2nd guess got me the other 3. Just an easy anagram to get the answer. 30 seconds or so.
My first 6/6 - Eek. Sweating it today....
Wordle 227 6/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
🟨⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
> Why on earth would you hope that only words that you know are on the list?
Well, now yesterday has gone I can reveal the four "obscure" words we are talking about. They are "Dight", "Hight", "Pight" and "Wight" . The remaining nine are "Bight", "Fight", "Light", "Might", "Night", "Right", "Sight", "Tight" and "Eight"). Eight of the nine are very common, and "Bight" has a reasonably well-known meaning in geography and (especially on this forum) in knotting. But assuming proper nouns for places etc are not allowed (So no Isle of "Wight") I don't know any of the first four. Would anyone else here think it fair if one of these four was the answer on a Wordle? I don't think I would, though, from what you have written I presume at least one of them is OK for you - you must know more words than I do.
It would be interesting to see the list of 2,315 five-letter words which can appear as answers, as opposed to the list of 10,657 five-letter words which also exist and are allowed as guesses. Given that ratio, yes, I would be reasonably confident of knowing the large majority of the 2,315, as I think would most reasonably educated people. Your "Why on earth..." is a bit strong I think.
Martin
Now we can play a game of ‘guess what my guesses were from the pattern of green and yellow squares’.
I was mighty cross about Monday. For the previous 3 days I'd been starting my Wordle with Fight.
Then for some inexplicable reason I went Token.
Grrrrrr
Yes, unlike yesterday's stinker which I luckily guessed at line 6, today was somewhat easier.
Wordle 227 4/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Why would it be unfair if wight was allowed as a word?
I've just checked and it is on the word list, is it fair if there is a genuine word on the list that is never going to be an answer?
Wordle 227 2/6
🟨🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
My 1st 2 - lucky first word (5 common letters) meant there was only 1 obvious choice
If I recall correctly, there are two separate word lists. The full list of words that are accepted as guesses is wider than the potential answers. I wouldn't cast that as fair or unfair, but I do think it's sensible game design. Having a word like "wight" as the solution, which many people haven't heard of, would probably cause a lot of frustration. Equally, for people who are aware that it's a word, it would be frustrating to be told they couldn't play it as a guess. I've definitely played guesses occasionally that I was fairly sure wouldn't be the answer, due to their obscurity, but still moved me a step closer to the answer because they contained a good combination of letters that I wanted to try out.
> I was mighty cross about Monday. For the previous 3 days I'd been starting my Wordle with Fight.
> Then for some inexplicable reason I went Token.
> Grrrrrr
Still a 1/3 chance that you'd have failed, even if you'd gone with Fight.
If you are going to allow guesses that cannot be the answer why would you insist that all guesses are real words?
Is it a bit of a con to keep people playing
> Why would it be unfair if wight was allowed as a word?
> I've just checked and it is on the word list, is it fair if there is a genuine word on the list that is never going to be an answer?
WORDLE works for me because I know I'm working towards a word which I know perfectly well, but which is challenging to work out. It would be a different, and less satisfying, game if any significant proportion of the daily answers were words I didn't know. So the authors were right in my view to split the totality of English 5-letter words into those which most educated players will know well (the 2,315) which can be chosen as answers, and those which a substantial proportion of players will not know (the 10,657) which can be used as guesses but will never appear as answers.
I would expect "wight" (if proper nouns - as in "Isle of Wight" - are not permitted) to be on the second list. I'd no idea the word existed, or what it meant, till following John Arran's link above. If you've checked and it's on the first list, then I'm surprised. I would think it's a bit of an outlier. If it is a common word, then it's one that I've somehow managed to miss entirely in my 71 years.
Martin
Wight is in the first list, of possible solutions.
It seems fine to me, but I've read Lord of the Rings a few times and played a little D&D. I would guess that (outside of sports that use rope work) it's more widely known then bight.
The possible solutions: https://gist.github.com/cfreshman/a03ef2cba789d8cf00c08f767e0fad7b
The allowed guesses: https://gist.github.com/cfreshman/cdcdf777450c5b5301e439061d29694c
Wordle 228 5/6*
⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
🟨🟩🟩⬛🟨
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Not very hard today but wasted some guesses with an annoying first letter could be one of many scenario.
I guess we are all different, a game that encourages me to learn new words and explore language is far more appealing to me than one that only uses common words.
Is wight used in Lord of the Rings?
I know it because I have a recollection of a line drawing of a wight along the bottom margin of a book or magazine.
I had the same but guessed it right first time, for once. This guessing aspect is a flaw in the game, unless you like that sort of thing.
Is it a flaw in the game or a feature of a rich language
> Wordle 228 5/6*
> Not very hard today but wasted some guesses with an annoying first letter could be one of many scenario.
Me too. 3 guesses for the first letter and I could think of at least 1 more
In reply to
Wordle 228 2/6
🟨🟨⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
> Is wight used in Lord of the Rings?
Fairly early on (before they meet Aragorn) the hobbits are attacked by barrow-wights. Tom bleeding Bombadil saves them.
They take a few things from the barrow once they are free, which is why Merry is carrying a ancient magic sword, and that's how he can cripple the Witch King in the defence of Gondor. It's a nice link that was lost from the films.
Me, a geek?
Nice!
a 3 for me today. Given I had 4 letters in the first 2 guesses the remaining one took far more thinking about than it should.
Wordle 228 3/6
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 228 2/6
🟨🟨⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Woohoo! Bit of luck involved of course. Now to stick the final word from Wordle into Absurdle as my starting word (my little routine!)
Wordle 228 2/6
🟩🟩⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Ditto. I'll take it - there was some consideration involved based on choice of yesterdays first word!
2/6, with some instinct involved.
Wordle 228 5/6
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟨🟨
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Even though it eliminated several letters, row 2 didn't really help
I think it's just good game design, as I said before really. Not restricting guesses to actual words would remove a lot of the challenge. First guess, all the vowels. Second guess, the most common consonants. Less fun, I reckon.
Restricting the actual answers to reasonably well-known words keeps it fun for everyone.
Allowing real words as guesses that are rare enough not to be actual answers makes the rule about only guessing real words less frustrating for those with wide vocabularies.
Wordle 229 5/6
🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Annoying, watched my 3 turn into a 4 and then to a 5 as I repeatedly picked the wrong word.
I agree - I think it's really well balanced. Were it me I'd move about 1000 more words from possible guesses to possible solutions (there are quite a few words in the latter list that seem reasonable to me - I counted 8 in the first 100 and then I got bored).
There are an awful lot of words in the latter list that I would never come up with! Clearly I didn't play enough scrabble as a kid.
> I think it's just good game design, as I said before really. Not restricting guesses to actual words would remove a lot of the challenge. First guess, all the vowels. Second guess, the most common consonants. Less fun, I reckon.
> Restricting the actual answers to reasonably well-known words keeps it fun for everyone.
> Allowing real words as guesses that are rare enough not to be actual answers makes the rule about only guessing real words less frustrating for those with wide vocabularies.
I would certainly find it less frustrating if they only had one word list even if it was the shorter list. That would not impact on anyone's "fun".
I think I'd find it quite frustrating if there were a word that I knew full well was correct, but that the game wouldn't accept as a guess.
I suppose you could have the 'official wordle dictionary' but this approach is less restrictive.
> I think I'd find it quite frustrating if there were a word that I knew full well was correct, but that the game wouldn't accept as a guess.
> I suppose you could have the 'official wordle dictionary' but this approach is less restrictive.
Discussing the game is certainly an interesting insight into the different ways that we all think.
I would be happy to have a word rejected, Google to check that it existed and check or learn it's definition and then move on a little wise for the experience.
Checking the 2 word lists, there are some obvious rules on excluded answers and some quite surprising words on both lists.
I may have to resort to reading the "manual" in order the check whether or not obvious rules are included in the instructions
Similar story here...
Wordle 229 6/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Was there "something fishy" about one of your guesses too?
Defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.
Very much so!
If I'm honest, one of my guesses was a waste as it contained a letter I'd tried before, got excited and didn't check properly...
Wordle 229 4/6
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Jumped the wrong way on 3 with an equally well known word
I know somebody who on their 1st go at Wordle got a 1 - complete luck of course
> Discussing the game is certainly an interesting insight into the different ways that we all think.
> I would be happy to have a word rejected, Google to check that it existed and check or learn it's definition and then move on a little wise for the experience.
I think the game is exquisitely well balanced as it is - a longer solutions list and you'd need to have more guesses allowed and more time to play, and reducing the allowed guesses to just the solutions list would mean you'd need to reduce the number of guesses allowed, and a more halting experience to play.
They've hit the sweet spot in the middle - a fun little game that only takes five minutes or so out of your day, often feels like it might be going awry after two or three guesses but somehow the word always seems to pop out in the end, and went viral and sold for a million... I don't think they'd have had that success if they'd set it up longer or shorter.
We would only need more guesses if we weren't willing to accept failure as an option
> I know somebody who on their 1st go at Wordle got a 1 - complete luck of course
On my second go on lewdl, I got a 1... Which must be significantly more likely than wordle of course, and still entirely down to luck, but still made me quite proud 😁
> We would only need more guesses if we weren't willing to accept failure as an option
It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if you regularly failed simply because they're were too many possibilities and not enough attempts available - it would feel more of a lottery, instead of feeling like a skill. People only like lotteries when there's something substantial to win.
Wordle 229 4/6
🟨🟨⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Frustratingly close!
Zero to world domination in 229 days 😁
Got it in 2 today and didn't feel like luck. Initial guess left me without immediately obvious options so had a good 10 minute ruminate until the answer presented itself.
Wordle 230 2/6*
⬛⬛⬛🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
My first in 2 today. Similarly careful thinking from first guess.
Wordle 230 2/6
🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Well done! But unless you had an unusual first choice (confirming the first letter of the answer) I think you must have had a bit of luck as I think you would have had at least the two options I was faced with on try 3. I was lucky on that try today.
Martin
Torrid time today, rushed my second guess and put yellow letters from the second back in the same spot in my third, 2 wasted guesses. Then got trapped with the final word having various possible starts and picked the wrong one, twice!
my first 6.
Wordle 230 6/6
🟨⬛⬛🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Me too!
Alas, I think you’ve still got a bit lucky: I also got the penultimate letter correct plus one other amber on my first go. But I then managed to go for a word on my second go that had all the right letters, with the correct penultimate letter position too (from first guess), but the wrong word... And to be honest, I think it’s a more common word than the correct answer!
> It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if you regularly failed simply because they're were too many possibilities and not enough attempts available - it would feel more of a lottery, instead of feeling like a skill. People only like lotteries when there's something substantial to win.
I refer you to my previous suggestion that we are all different
Where is the fun in a challenge when failure is not a distinct possibility?
A 6 for me as well and like you, 3 guesses for the first letter.
> Where is the fun in a challenge when failure is not a distinct possibility?
Each to their own, but I agree with Ciro.
The thing with Wordle is that it always starts out as a challenge, but often ends up being a lottery as to how many goes you will need to guess the final letter or two, which feels like a let-down.
I used that list of 2315 words to find those of them with the highest 'information'. I got it in 3 today.
> I used that list of 2315 words to find those of them with the highest 'information'. I got it in 3 today.
Each to their own indeed, but didn't looking at the list take a lot of the fun out?
It's never felt a bit like a lottery to me. You just home in on the answer in surprisingly few moves, just using intuition and logic (plus a love of the English language). It works so well because it eliminates so many hundreds of possibilities with each move.
No. It was just another bit of fun for me to work out which words on that list had the most information, and to muse about what on earth I meant by that. The top 10 would probably be familiar to most people here. It was to me. The game itself went as it normally did. I haven't actually looked at the whole list.
But you do often end up with a number of choices and nothing to do but guess. At that point it is a lottery. Unless you have some fiendishly clever scheme I haven't yet thought of to minimise the chance of it becoming so.
My first ever 2 today. Well pleased, even if it is only luck.
Wordle 230 2/6
🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
> But you do often end up with a number of choices and nothing to do but guess. At that point it is a lottery. Unless you have some fiendishly clever scheme I haven't yet thought of to minimise the chance of it becoming so.
The number of choices you get becomes surprisingly limited incredibly fast. Within one or two moves you're having to guess just one or two letters to try different words, and even then your choice is very limited. It's how you choose your first two words that matters. There is a technique to it that works for me quite well. It seemed fairly obvious to me from the outset how best to tackle it.
There are some very obvious things. Of course you try to get the vowels established right up front. My first word (always the same) has three vowels and two very common consonants. Then you've got to try and use the other two vowels in your second word ... and use another three very common consonants. After that, it's fairly plain sailing, because the choice of remaining words is always remarkably limited. Of course, it goes without saying that you have to rigorously note what letters are rejected, which are in the wrong place, and which are in the right place. Wallydom kicks in if you repeat a rejected letter, or repeat putting a letter in the wrong place.
It's a beautiful puzzle partly because, unlike a cryptic crossword or a sudoku, it can usually be done in about 5 minutes.
Without doubt it is a fun, quick game and I will be doing it so long as the NYT allows me. I'm just talking about the fact that, as several people on here have discovered, all this narrowing down through clever strategies sometimes still leaves you with several choices of the final letter or two and no way to get the answer other than guess. You may even fail as I have done once.
But hey ho. The big innovation of the game is to get us all doing the same puzzle each day and sharing our experience. That's what takes it beyond Mastermind and earlier paper versions of this game that seem to have been around decades ago.
As a counterpoint, I do now really enjoy the hour or two it takes me to do most of the Everyman cryptic crossword on a Sunday morning, then mopping up what remains with my mother whose been doing it herself in another country.
> Without doubt it is a fun, quick game and I will be doing it so long as the NYT allows me.
Don't worry, you can make it free forever: https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/1/22912711/wordle-web-save-download-webpage...
> It's never felt a bit like a lottery to me. You just home in on the answer in surprisingly few moves, just using intuition and logic (plus a love of the English language). It works so well because it eliminates so many hundreds of possibilities with each move.
So when I posted about it the day after it came out and I said, a bit of luck, a bit of skill, and you came back with, it's an enormous amount of luck (in an in the pub thread), you were only joking?
There's a lot of luck in what you guess in that second move. And of course, the more you do the better you get at doing them, and the amount of luck seems to diminish.
I'll have to confess that my favourite puzzle now is Codeword. Because it combines clever guesswork with a much broader knowledge of the English language than Wordle restricted to just 5-letter words.
Ah good, I'm glad you like it.