# "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:** 127
**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 28, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2521 "2022-03-28T16:44:09Z")
Wordle 282 3/6\* 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ORATE SPOIL FOUND I was just trying to eliminate more letters in my third guess, and got lucky ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2522 "2022-03-28T18:15:26Z")
I don’t like these “stem” words. Would be a better game if they limited it to a choice of three unusual initial letters. Took me five, but there were options left on the table. Enough! Enough with these rough, tough, cough-inducing hard-fought sloughs of a puzzle. (Yes, that is a little stretched.) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2523 "2022-03-28T18:43:11Z")
Wordle 282 6/6\* ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Barely made 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 28, 2022, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2524 "2022-03-28T19:17:32Z")
Then don’t play hard mode and eliminate them with a guess like FACTS, if you don’t want to roll the dice and take a stab in the dark. There is no need to make this game any easier, IMHO. I gambled and I lost. I could have gotten it in four, but decided to take my chances and wound up with six. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2525 "2022-03-28T20:09:02Z")
It’s obviously a good game if you are still playing it, like millions, and are discussing it with others. I’d be okay if they used tougher words. Maybe AALII, FIZZY, LYMPH ( which they almost did) or YUMMY? But I think they would prefer millions play and like it. ---
**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 28, 2022, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2526 "2022-03-28T20:30:54Z")
Wordle 282 6/6\* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛ 🟨🟩🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟨🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Phew. I should think longer about some of my guesses. STARE INDOW NODDY MONDO POUND FOUND ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2527 "2022-03-28T20:40:28Z")
Phew indeed. Was really a shot in the dark at the last. I just didn’t believe they would use the first word that turned up in the list of Possibles. What would have been their evil fun in that? Wordle 282 6/6\* ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 IRATE CLOUD SOUND MOUND POUND FOUND ---
**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:** [March 28, 2022, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2528 "2022-03-28T20:59:47Z")
Tomorrow’s. Unexpectedly got it right sooner than it started out like. Wordle 283 4/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ---
**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 28, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2529 "2022-03-28T21:34:01Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > I’d be okay if they used tougher words. Maybe AALII, FIZZY, LYMPH ( which they almost did) or YUMMY? But I think they would prefer millions play and like it. One of these things is not like the other. AALII? WTF is that? I would be surprised if the other ones are not on the target word list. I could check the original list – and I will – but I won’t post about it. Which actually brings me to an interesting idea: how about an Obscurdle, where the target word list is the allowable guesses words minus the current target words? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2530 "2022-03-28T22:36:15Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > [hard mode] just seems like the most optimal way to play. Otherwise you’re just wasting a guess. I think #282 is a good counterexample: I started off with my usual opening of ADIEU, followed by STONY. So I had the N in the right place, and also the O,U,D. I correctly surmised that I had a word ending in OUND. Okay, but which one? I’d used S, so SOUND was out. But BOUND, FOUND, HOUND, MOUND, POUND, ROUND, and WOUND were live possibilities. If I were allowed unlimited guesses in hard mode, I’d get the answer in somewhere between 3 and 9 tries, with an expected value of 6. Thanks, but no thanks: if I can find some words that _can’t_ be solutions, but _do_ use a lot of those initial consonants, I can wrap this up in five tries for sure, maybe four if I’m lucky or can tip the odds my way After some thought, I came up with FRUMP, which the game allowed: four of the seven consonants in one word gave me a .571 chance of getting it in four, assuming I was right about the OUND ending, and certainty of getting it in five. So I tossed away a small chance of solving it in 3 (though from a mathematician’s POV, I even did that, since my first 3 turns _proved_ what the answer had to be) but guaranteed that I’d solve it in 4 or 5, rather than having equal chances of taking anywhere between 3 and 9 turns to solve it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2531 "2022-03-28T22:45:56Z")
These are obscure words for Scrabble players which use lots of vowels. It is a type of tree in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2532 "2022-03-28T22:55:07Z")
Wordle 282 5/6 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 As mentioned I generally play as if I were in Hard Mode but don’t have HM activated, precisely for cases like today’s. Gotta have that ‘test word’ capacity available. OUTER POUND SMASH BEFIT FOUND ---
**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 28, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2533 "2022-03-28T23:14:10Z")
Ah. Or should I say AA? (Another obscure Hawaiian Scrabble word. That one I know.) Your other examples are pretty normal words, though. Like I said, I would not be surprised to see them in Wordle. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2534 "2022-03-28T23:41:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There is no need to make this game any easier, IMHO. I gambled and I lost. I could have gotten it in four, but decided to take my chances and wound up with six. Obviously we’ve got a philosophical difference here. For me, it isn’t about making the game _easier_, it’s about attacking a problem with _intelligence_. IMHO, if I can solve a problem more quickly by thinking it through intelligently rather than by trying a bunch of different things at random, that’s _good_. YMMV and clearly does, and that’s OK. ---
**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 28, 2022, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2535 "2022-03-28T23:45:32Z")
But I _am_ attacking it with intelligence by using a word that tests as many consonants as possible instead of taking a stab in the dark (except this time, when I did go the latter way.) What are you talking about? I’m saying in this instance I took a more gambling approach, rather than a reasoned approach. Eliminating “stem” words makes the game easier, rather than having people use logic and testing words to attack the various possible stem combinations. The _intelligent_ approach to a word like \_OUND is not to try FOUND POUND HOUND ROUND SOUND etc but rather use an interim word like HARPS to logically deduce the answer. That’s intelligence, too, and moreso, I’d say, than eliminating words with too many so-called “stems.” I mean, this game is already enough of a silly guessing game with little strategy as it is – why make it even easier? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2536 "2022-03-29T01:37:00Z")
So I’ve been trying, and finally solved, a game called semantle that gives you as many tries as you want to find a word based on its semantic connection to other words. Here’s a description of it. I don’t think I recommend it, but I enjoyed it. > **[Meet Semantle — this Wordle alternative is impossibly hard](https://www.tomsguide.com/news/this-wordle-alternative-is-impossibly-hard)** > > Semantle has you guessing the mystery word via semantic similarity, rather than spelling > I solved Semantle #59 in 80 guesses. My first guess had a similarity of 5.93. My first word in the top 1000 was at guess #26. My penultimate guess had a similarity of 15.64. [https://semantle.novalis.org/](https://semantle.novalis.org/) ---
**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 29, 2022, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2537 "2022-03-29T01:56:22Z")
**Tomorrow’s Wordle, Today** Wordle 283 3/6 ⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 > **Wordle 283** > > TEACH > SHARK > SHALL > > After the second guess, there were very few words that could have possibly fit. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2538 "2022-03-29T01:57:37Z")
That was… weird. It was hyper frustrating until I stumbled on a word in the top thousand on guess #46, and then I ended up getting the answer by guess #61. But yeah… I don’t think I’d recommend it. I didn’t feel accomplished in any way. Neat idea, though. ---
**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 29, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2539 "2022-03-29T04:05:41Z")
Wordle 283 3/6 ⬛🟨🟩🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CLASH STALE STALL I thought of STALL quickly, but then kept looking until I found STALE. Should have gone with my first instinct. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2022, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/2540 "2022-03-29T04:23:40Z")
Wordle 283 4/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟨⬜🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 RATIO LEACH SHAWL SHALL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=126) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=128)