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May 3, 2024 · Here’s what to know. Read today’s Wordle Review, and get insights on the game from our columnists. The editor of Connections, our new game about finding common threads between words, talks ...
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4 days ago · The New York Times bought the game from creator Josh Wardle for seven figures in 2022. Wardle famously created the game for his partner, and let her narrow down the 12,000 five-letter words in the ...
- Overview
- All bets are off
- Dreaming of the right words
- Hat trick
- Making choices
- A flightless bird
- A guess that goes nowhere
- Stuck at three
- All the letters
- Buried this one
News
By Lance Ulanoff
published 3 March 2022
Let's get better at Wordle, together. Yes, spoilers lie within
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Gina Hsu)
Welcome back to my weekday Wordle Answer Diary, where I take you step-by-step through my own Wordle puzzle efforts. In this entry, we're tackling today's Wordle #257.
Yesterday's Wordle (Wordle #256) was nasty. No, I mean the answer was "NASTY," but the process of solving it was relatively straightforward. I didn't have any big, "What have I done?" moments.
It would be nice to get today's game in three, though. To do so, I may have to abandon the strategy of guessing a completely new word (all new letters) in the second round. That will require me making a much, much better first guess.
Your biggest leap will always be that first word. I can choose any five-letter word but, generally, dismiss anything with double letters, as per our guide on how to win at Wordle.
There are two goals: Get as many correct letters in the right spots as possible and miraculously guess the word on the first try. Thus far, I've never accomplished the latter.
As I mentioned above, I had a few start words in mind when I got out of bed: "ORGAN," "DIRTY," and "FLICK." They almost all lean heavily on the consonant side, which is never my preference, but at least there are no repeating letters.
I settle on "ORGAN" for the "O" and "A" possibilities.
Maybe I should sleep on Wordle more often. Three letters on the first guess is a pretty good result, and one of them is even in the right place.
With just two letters left, you might think I was in a prime position to guess Wordle in two. Maybe. It's enough material that I wonder if I can make an educated guess here and not resort to a letter collection/letter dismissal guess.
While I'd like to believe that "O" and "R" automatically move from the first to spots to the second two, nestling up against that "I found my home" "N," but I know that's probably not right. My solution could start with the consonant "R" or the vowel "O" could move to the second slot.
These are good letter options, though. How many five-letter words have "O," "R," and "N" in them?
In my head, I start word-wheeling through "RO"_ _"N" combinations. Rather quickly, I land on "ROBIN."
I can't recall if Worlde has ever had an animal answer. Is the name of a bird type the kind of word Wordle would accept, like "CHAIR?" Maybe, maybe not, but it is a word that will both eliminate two more letters and give me a better clue about where "R" and "O" belong.
That did not go well. Zero new letters. At least I know the location of the "O" and have eliminated one more sport for the wandering "R." Still, that was a tough blow, as I don't think I made much progress.
Maybe I went too fast on that guess. I have three letters and a lot of thinking to do. Here's what I don't know: The first letter of the word. What I do know is that its selection is driven by the O. That vowel needs a strong consonant in front of it.
I find myself back at "T." A lot of words start with "T," pairing it with the "O" makes sense. I quickly type in "TOKEN" and like how it looks. "Has that word been used before?"
Maybe it has, but guess what? It doesn't have an "R" in it. I'm more tired than I think.
"TORUN" is a word meaning grandchild, granddaughter, grandson, but that's just the kind of obscure word The New York Times scrubbed from Wordle when they bought it. Still, I am much further from a solution than I thought and may need to use it to get the answer in four.
Turns out even Wordle doesn't recognize it as a word. The whole board shakes to indicate the rejection. I still have a chance at three.
I am convinced that a hard consonant sits in the middle of this word. It's driving all my guesses. Also realizing that a vowel must come before the "N" at the end. With only a handful of vowels left, I'm struggling to figure this one out in three. But I refuse to give up.
[Time passes]
I shaved, took a shower, and returned to this problem-child word. I think it's time to try a different word with all new letters. I need a spark and doing a billion letter combos in my head and those I put in Wordle but do not commit to with an "Enter" is not working. It seems the "R" in space 3 or 4 is what's really throwing me.
Feeling slightly defeated, I go with "SERUM." It has the benefit of new letters, but also the answer to exactly where "R" belongs. Bye, guess number 3.
This worked out better than I thought. Not only do I now know the "R" must be in the fourth spot, but I collected the final two letters, "U" and "M."
Because I know where "O," "R," and "N" must be, the answer is obvious: "MOURN."
Yes, I'm a little sad I couldn't solve this in three tries, but nothing I had lit up my brain. Had I not tried a new word combo, but with that key "R" letter, " I might've wasted a guess on a completely wrong answer that included the letters I had, but with the wrong letter companions.
I won't "MOURN" the end of this round.
See you tomorrow.
•Need more Wordle each day? Wordle Unlimited is your (super unofficial) fix
- Lance Ulanoff
The Wordle Review is written by a New York Times Columnist, where they provide their own guesses, analyze the difficulty of the puzzle, and add other commentary. The Wordle Review is...
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Feb 28, 2022 · Welcome back to my weekday Wordle Solution Diary, where I take you step-by-step through my own Wordle puzzle efforts. Today, we're tackling Wordle #254.
