# "Wordle," a strangely compelling word game (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [December 24, 2021, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604 "2021-12-24T21:12:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/181 "2022-01-02T03:26:38Z")
The familiar list of most common letters is based on how common they are in written English prose where words like “the”, “to”, “it” etc come up a lot. A list of the most common letters in five-letter words would probably be different. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/182 "2022-01-02T03:38:33Z")
First time playing today. My inner 12-year-old decided to start with PENIS and I got 2 green tiles! Got it in three tries. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/183 "2022-01-02T03:41:55Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > > > If I know the first, third, and fifth letters of the solution, I want to type those in the boxes first. > > Yes! This frustrates me as well. Write them down on a handy piece of paper? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/184 "2022-01-02T03:50:20Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Write them down on a handy piece of paper? Yes, that works, but it’s incredibly poor design to make users do that. The box is already on my screen; I should be able to type in it. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/185 "2022-01-02T05:00:09Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > First time playing today. Could you please mention what date “today” is/was for you whenever you played it? The puzzle switches for each player at midnight in their local time, so “today” is ambiguous. We need to know when it’s safe to unblur your spoiler. === Here’s the path **hajirio** tried for the January 1st puzzle: > [@hajario](#): > > STARE > REAMS > RENOS > REEDS > RECKS > REFIS I never would have tried such uncommon words like RENOS, RECKS, and REFIS until I was stuck somewhere past attempt #4 and resorting to scanning down a list of words to try. I’ve never heard those words before; I won’t know what they mean unless/until I look them up. I would bet a bit of money on those words not being in the game’s list of target words it’s picking from but obviously they’re in the list of words allowable for guesses. See that article you linked upthread. 🙂 === > [@CairoCarol](#): > > It has occurred to me to try to play strategically in terms of what letters are most common, but I have a feeling that the distribution in this game is different. Your feeling is correct. That article **hajirio** linked upthread ( [The Best Starting Word in WORDLE | bertrand fan](https://bert.org/2021/11/24/the-best-starting-word-in-wordle/) ) said the letters from the real solutions word list ordered by descending frequency starts E,R,O,T,L,I,S, but the author didn’t bother including the entire results of their program, which would have been handy for our later guesses after using up the most common letters. – That’s my post; hope you liked it! ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/186 "2022-01-02T05:08:19Z")
RATIO TOKEN LOTUS SOOTY BOOST ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/187 "2022-01-02T05:11:21Z")
What date was that path for, @Isamu ? ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/188 "2022-01-02T05:38:10Z")
So today I picked a starting word using 5 of the letters from the E,R,O,T,L,I,S list and got 3 hits, and 1 exact placement, _woot_. For my second try, I couldn’t think of any good word that used my hits plus the remaining two letters in the list, so I went with one of them and a less common letter, and I got another exact placement. After that there was only one obvious choice left that fit. My 3-try path for Jan 2nd: _ST_ **O** RE **B** L **O** _TS_ **BOOST** ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/189 "2022-01-02T06:09:31Z")
1/2 Puzzle: _S_WEA **T** CH **O** IR **BOOST** ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/190 "2022-01-02T08:03:54Z")
4: TEARS BISON BUMPS BOOST ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/191 "2022-01-02T08:14:33Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > What date was that path for, @Isamu ? I’m sorry I don’t know where to find that info.. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/192 "2022-01-02T08:16:25Z")
For #197, I got it in 4. I still really hate the puzzles with duplicate letters. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/193 "2022-01-02T11:28:22Z")
Okay, elaborating: What was the current date in your local timezone when you loaded and solved the puzzle? That determines which puzzle you saw. Your current date changes at local midnight which is different depending on what timezone you’re in. It’s been mentioned a bunch already in this thread about how we need to know whether it’s safe to unblur any given spoiler. I wasn’t asking the puzzle number, which is hard to determine. Not everybody can see the puzzle number, including me. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/194 "2022-01-02T11:39:04Z")
OK I did that one on January 2nd. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/195 "2022-01-02T12:02:34Z")
Dates are inadequate too. My Jan 2nd puzzle in Australia was America’s Jan 1st puzzle. That’s why the Puzzle’s code number should be used. But it seems nobody can easily see that number, so that’s frustrating. It comes up for me when I hit Share to copy it into Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/196 "2022-01-02T12:41:30Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Dates are inadequate too. My Jan 2nd puzzle in Australia was America’s Jan 1st puzzle. That’s odd. Would you mind double checking by looking at my imgur pics link? It contains every puzzle and solution for each day, 12/24 to 01/02. Nine days, nine photos. I would like to think that WORDLE gives each of us the same puzzle for any given date. Also, @GuanoLad, please make sure your system’s date and time are accurate to your local time. Let us know. Thanks! (Not spoilered because it starts with the 12/24 puzzle.) [[Album] WORDLE 12/24 - 01/02 ![](https://i.imgur.com/T8iDSyM.jpeg?fb "WORDLE 12/24 - 01/02") ](https://imgur.com/a/dAOisaq) ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/197 "2022-01-02T15:45:06Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > That’s odd. But understandable, since Australia (and Japan) are about a 3/4 of a day ahead of USA. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/198 "2022-01-02T15:52:58Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Write them down on a handy piece of paper? It never occurred to me to be a problem, but I don’t find it difficult to visualize five tiles. Seems an easy enough programming thing to fix, but characterizing it as “poor programming” seems odd to me, as to me it just doesn’t seem necessary. And, bonus, it’s a slight extra challenge for this rather simple, repetitive game. Hell, the game already holds your hand enough by coloring in the keyboard with which letters you’ve used and whether they were right, right in wrong place, or wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/199 "2022-01-02T16:08:42Z")
Five tries. FINES STRAP CLOUT GHOST BOOST. I hadn’t realised earlier that duplicate letters were allowed. I find it more fun to not always start with the same word, rather to think of whatever comes to mind with unique letters. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2022, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/200 "2022-01-02T16:23:12Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Write them down on a handy piece of paper? Because I play first thing in the morning on my phone when I am still in bed. It’s not enough of an annoyance to bother with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=11)