# "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:** 23
**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 11, 2022, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/441 "2022-01-11T23:15:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Sorry I gave a clue everyone. I kinda enjoyed the extra info to see if I could work backwards and get it in one. The game is otherwise getting a bit boring for me. ---
**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 12, 2022, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/442 "2022-01-12T00:21:51Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > – I’ve occasionally resorted to writing possibilities down on a piece of paper. I’m tempted to go haul out Scrabble tiles and shuffle those around when I get stuck. I don’t think either of those is cheating, but the Scrabble tile idea feels like it, somehow. Opinions? (I’ll look at the thread again after I’ve done tomorrow’s.) I do not consider that cheating, not at all. ETA, I’m leaving this thread now! ---
**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 12, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/443 "2022-01-12T01:52:56Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > > [@GuanoLad](#): > > > > In fact, I’m not sure why I was first, I’m usually last. > > As above, we’re guessing you’re from Australia or New Zealand. But it used to be the other way around. For some reason UK and America were ahead of me, despite my timezone being first. I thought that meant GMT was the time when it tripped over to the new puzzle. But now it looks like it really is the antipodean dateline. Odd. ---
**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 12, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/444 "2022-01-12T05:24:28Z")
#207; first time it’s taken me all six guesses. D ~~R~~ INK TE ~~AR~~ S P ~~O~~ L ~~A~~ R ~~A~~ BHOR MAJOR FAVOR ---
**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 12, 2022, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/445 "2022-01-12T05:42:04Z")
I celebrated after step #2 at seeing so much green, then I came up with 6 different common words that could still fit! I carefully charted out each of those words before trying any of them and found a guaranteed tree that would solve it within 6, I happened to pick the branch that solved it in 5. So much for my 4 or fewer record, although I knew my luck was not going to last forever. Wordle 207 5/6\* Jan 12th ⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛ ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟨🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ST_OR_E L **A** B **OR** M **A** N **OR** _V_ **A** P **OR** **FAVOR** ETA: The other three words I didn’t have to try were MAJOR, MAYOR, and RAZOR. ---
**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 12, 2022, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/446 "2022-01-12T09:02:48Z")
This was a tough one. And I can understand @Richard_Pearse’s frustration that he mentioned in the other Wordle thread. But now that I recall, I think the game creator is American, not British. Wordle 207 5/6 ⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ 🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 My streak hit 20 today! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/447 "2022-01-12T09:21:05Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > I celebrated after step #2 at seeing so much green, then I came up with 6 different common words that could still fit! Yes, there are a lot, aren’t there? Wordle 207 5/6\* ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/448 "2022-01-12T09:52:11Z")
Reading this thread, I can only assume I somehow became aware of GL’s answer because… Wordle 207 1/6\* 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/449 "2022-01-12T10:20:25Z")
Thought I was gonna lose today: Wordle 207 4/6\* ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛ 🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 This being a US spelling not used by many English speaking countries almost threw me, normally I would spell it as “favour” ---
**Author:** ![SoToasty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sotoasty/32/2803_2.png) [@SoToasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoToasty)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/450 "2022-01-12T10:50:26Z")
Wordle 207 4/6\* ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ 🟩⬜⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ---
**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 12, 2022, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/451 "2022-01-12T11:29:06Z")
Wordle 207 3/6\* ⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SWEAR LABOR FAVOR @Ponderoid - I just typed the first word that popped into my head that fit. Got lucky… ---
**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:** [January 12, 2022, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/452 "2022-01-12T12:20:27Z")
Wordle 207 1/6\* 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 I’m amazing at this game. Or else I got spoilered from yesterday’s early reveal. One of the two. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/453 "2022-01-12T13:20:10Z")
Yes, [Josh Wardle](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/03/technology/wordle-word-game-creator.html) is a software developer who lives in Brooklyn ---
**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 12, 2022, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/454 "2022-01-12T13:30:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Wordle 207 1/6\* > > 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 > > I’m amazing at this game. > > Or else I got spoilered from yesterday’s early reveal. One of the two. Back on 12/27 I also got 1/6. We’re both amazing at this game! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/455 "2022-01-12T13:58:31Z")
Just started this yesterday. Very fun! Today : Wordle 207 4/6 ⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛ 🟨🟩⬛⬛⬛ 🟩🟩⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 S L A T E R A N C H F A I R Y F A V O R ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/456 "2022-01-12T14:15:38Z")
Five. Also not helped at all by the misspelling of the word, even though color had occurred to me as another misspelled possibility two guesses earlier, and I actually tried the equally misspelled valor as the fourth guess. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/457 "2022-01-12T14:34:22Z")
Wordle 207 5/6\* ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 D_R_INK → not an auspicious start… let’s knock out some common letters ST_AR_E → still not great, but most plurals are out - try something with an O P_O_L_A_ **R** → try something with O & A switched… M **A** Y **OR** → two guesses left… **FAVOR** → whew At two guesses left, but fortunately with the ‘M’ used, I probably should have analyzed things more like **Ponderoid** , but at least I didn’t use RAZOR and then have to guess between VAPOR or FAVOR for the last stop. Good thing I haven’t shaved yet this morning. This one was pretty fun. ---
**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 12, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/458 "2022-01-12T14:42:18Z")
I got 1/6 as well. However, I did have a couple of candidate words: With the clue about American spelling, I, like most of the posters above, it seems, figured it must be a word ending in -OR or -ER. Or very possibly -IZE. My guesses were FAVOR or SABER, but I guessed the first as an S was likely to have already been guessed, and, even if not, with GuanoLad’s last guess, his guess would have had to have been BALER or possibly BARER for that sequence of yellow-green-X-green-green, and those just seemed unlikely words, as well as having to have had to hold back on a word with “S” for the whole 6 guesses. So I’m guessing GL final guess was probably VAPOR. The two before that? Could be lots of things. MAJOR, LABOR fit the pattern. To be honest, I like this twist of a small clue, a sequence of guesses, and see if you can get it in one or two. ---
**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 12, 2022, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/459 "2022-01-12T14:58:59Z")
Jan 12, apparently 207: my most common number of tries, another 4. _A_B_O_UT N_O_M_A_D _OVAR_Y FAVOR Lots of yellow before I hit green. Not sure why I wasn’t trying harder to work the rest of the vowels into the guesses; but it worked out well for this round, as none of the rest of them were in there. ETA: for one, sorry about the momentary non-blurred posting! hope nobody was looking right at that moment. And for another: didn’t resort to either scrabble tiles or writing it down this time, just juggled the letters in my head. Maybe this game will get me better at doing that; I’ve been able to get most rounds without resorting to paper, but not all of them. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2022, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/460 "2022-01-12T15:06:55Z")
Just a bit of drama about the game > **[Guy brags about ripping off Wordle and charging for it, gets blasted off Twitter](https://www.pcgamer.com/guy-brags-about-ripping-off-wordle-and-charging-for-it-gets-blasted-off-twitter/)** > > Wordle - The App is ripoff of the hit web-based word game. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=24)