# "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:** 115
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2281 "2022-03-20T04:23:55Z")
Wordle 274 5/6\* ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨 ⬜🟨🟨🟩🟨 🟨🟩⬜🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SHAFT ENURE GREEN NEVER RENEW ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2282 "2022-03-20T04:28:15Z")
Wordle 274 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛ ⬛⬛🟩🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 These are getting long; I think details might work better than blur. > **Click to expand** > > CLAPS > INERT > DONER > RENEW > > Ha! I just realized I spelled DONOR wrong. If I had realized that, I would have confidently played GONER for the win, having eliminated LONER with my opener and assuming BONER isn’t a valid answer. Nothing would have changed, though, as it wasn’t any of those and I’d have gotten the same intel. > > At first I was annoyed I had to settle for an S instead of M in my opener. I find it satisfying to follow up an all-black opener with STARE or STORE, but I couldn’t because I opened with the S. (Also a great follow-up to a lone yellow S at the end.) I really wanted to play the letters TRNEO for my second word, but couldn’t see anything. Finally thought of INERT, which I was super happy with. > > I never saw RENEW at all. After my two research words, all I saw was \_ONER. And, of course, like an idiot I thought donor was spelled with an E. I even briefly considered checking the spelling. Should have listened to that impulse. > > Fortunately the third word kind of locked in renew as the only choice that I saw. Tough one. I was never getting better than a 4 on this regardless of my opener or my spelling, but at least a 4 was essentially the worst case scenario. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2283 "2022-03-20T05:39:14Z")
Wordle 274 3/6 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 RATIO RUNES RENEW ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2284 "2022-03-20T05:45:46Z")
You may have spelt DONOR wrong, but you spelt DONER correctly. As in “doner kebabs” ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2285 "2022-03-20T06:25:13Z")
Wordle 274 5/6\* ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SPIRE REACT REBEL REFER RENEW ---
**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:** [March 20, 2022, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2286 "2022-03-20T07:10:23Z")
Wordle 274 5/6 ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛ 🟨🟩⬛⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 AIERY LOTUS MUNCH WEDGE RENEW ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2287 "2022-03-20T11:07:41Z")
Wordle 274 3/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 ⬜⬜🟩🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 TRACE MINER RENEW After my second pick I knew it was R\_NE\_… After I finished I checked the word list and RENEW is the only word on the list with R\_NE\_ ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2288 "2022-03-20T12:22:52Z")
Wordle 274 3/6\* ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ARIEL SHREW RENEW ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2289 "2022-03-20T12:40:19Z")
Fun one! Wordle 274 5/6\* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨 ⬛🟨🟨🟩🟨 🟨🟩⬛🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 > **Summary** > > Admit > Close > Green > Never > Renew ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2290 "2022-03-20T13:05:18Z")
Wordle 274 5/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨 ⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨🟨🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 STONE HAIRY CLUMP ERNED RENEW I knew that ERNED wasn’t a real word and couldn’t be the answer, but it had a lot of of placement i wanted to test. Still, it’s good that i didn’t see NEVER Or I would have guessed it instead of RENEW. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2291 "2022-03-20T14:13:35Z")
Wordle 274 4/6 ⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 HEART REPLY RESIN RENEW ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2292 "2022-03-20T14:19:20Z")
But if it’s not a real word it wouldn’t be on the Wordle list. Yet it doesn’t seem to be a real word at all or is it? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2293 "2022-03-20T14:24:07Z")
Wordle 274 3/6 ⬛⬛⬛🟦⬛ ⬛⬛🟧🟧🟦 🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧 PIANO TUNER RENEW I actually considered RENEW (along with NEVER) for the second word, so I had a chance at a two here. Again, though, I balked at doubling up so early. Very happy with a three on this one, however. (PIANO TUNER was completely unintentional; I didn’t even realize I had done that until posting here.) 😆 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2294 "2022-03-20T14:26:14Z")
Almost thought this would be my first miss because there were so many possibilities! Wordle 274 5/6 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 REACH REPLY RESET REFER RENEW ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2295 "2022-03-20T14:26:19Z")
Their “legal guess” list has a bunch of stuff that’s good for Scrabble, but not actually a word you’d use, or see in writing. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2296 "2022-03-20T14:33:39Z")
Am I the only one here who has absolutely no interest in looking at the answer list _or_ the guess list? It seems just a tad bit cheat-y, and I feel like it would take something away from the game experience. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2297 "2022-03-20T14:37:54Z")
Wordle 274 6/6\* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛🟨 ⬛🟩🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Close one for me. AUDIO BENCH PENNY SENSE TENET RENEW > [@EllisDee](#): > > I really wanted to play the letters TRNEO for my second word, but couldn’t see anything. TENOR ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2298 "2022-03-20T14:41:04Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Am I the only one here who has absolutely no interest in looking at the answer list _or_ the guess list? > It seems just a tad bit cheat-y, and I feel like it would take something away from the game experience. Yes, I feel this way, too. I kind of wish it was double spoilered when people mention things about what’s on the lists. I’m glad I know that plurals aren’t used for answers, but that’s about it. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2022, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2299 "2022-03-20T14:46:47Z")
Wordle 274 4/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩⬛🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 PRIME (came from an SD thread on photography I had just read) CHATS REFER RENEW I was really hoping it would have been the sneaky double double-letter REFER so I could feel all clever and all about myself for sussing it out with those first two guesses, but it was not to be. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2300 "2022-03-20T14:48:13Z")
I don’t look at word lists either. As far as I’m concerned, all five letter English words – whether they be American or British spelling – are fair game. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=114) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=116)