# "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:** 369
**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:** [November 16, 2022, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7361 "2022-11-16T16:49:03Z")
Wordle 515 4/6 ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 ⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CLOPS TAMER FADER BAKER ---
**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:** [November 16, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7362 "2022-11-16T18:55:18Z")
Wordle 515 4/6\* ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 GRAIN ULTRA ABHOR BAKER ---
**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:** [November 16, 2022, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7363 "2022-11-16T18:58:04Z")
The streak of 3s is over. Wordle 515 4/6\* ⬛🟨🟨⬛🟨 ⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩 ⬛🟩🟨🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 IRATE CLEAR SABER BAKER Identifying the ‘B’ with my third try was lucky, else I’d have been in the same boat as others. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7364 "2022-11-16T21:52:01Z")
Wordle 515 4/6 🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 EARTH RAISE CAPER BAKER My ‘go through the alphabet’ habit saved me; after step 3 I made a list of all the still-allowed letters and started looking at words beginning with B. BAKER was the first one. Seeing the \_ A \_ ER trap would be huge, I abandoned the idea of making a full list (I’d have missed a bunch anyway) and just tried BAKER to eliminate (at least) FAKER, MAKER, RAKER, and WAKER. Luck is important in this game. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7365 "2022-11-17T03:42:29Z")
Wordle 515 3/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Slant Abhor Baker ---
**Author:** ![SeaSun](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seasun/32/14820_2.png) [@SeaSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaSun)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7366 "2022-11-17T04:33:20Z")
**Wordle 515 5/6** ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜ ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 COAST PANEL HAVER GAWKY BAKER No idea why I went with Haver over Baker, and then I was in a doozy of a trap and had to toss out a sleuth word at 4. Still could have been 3-4 other words, but I made the right choice, thankfully. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7367 "2022-11-17T05:06:46Z")
Wordle 516 3/6 ⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛ 🟩⬛⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CRISP TAMER THERE Nice and quick, but undoubtedly lucky. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7368 "2022-11-17T05:25:20Z")
Wordle 516 3/6 🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 RATIO TUNER THERE ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7369 "2022-11-17T08:18:15Z")
Wordle 516 2/6 🟨⬛🟨🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 EARTH THERE ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7370 "2022-11-17T11:01:06Z")
Wordle 516 3/6 SLAN_T_ C **H** O **RE** **THERE** Is it just me, or has the game become a bit _too_ easy in the week and a half since the NYT took over curating the solutions? 3 guesses seems to be the new normal in this thread, and there’ve been an unusual number of 2’s. For me personally, the 3’s have been _easy_ 3’s, not really requiring much thought or skill to get a 3 rather than a 4, and I think that’s the part that bugs me. On any given day a 2 requires a big dose of luck, so if the solution comes easily in 3, where’s the challenge? For all its idiosyncrasies (screw you, PARER!), Wardle’s list had overall a good level of challenge, and I felt like I was doing well to get a lot of 3’s mixed in with my 4’s. Now I’m starting to feel like I’m swimming in the kiddie pool. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7371 "2022-11-17T11:07:31Z")
My scores have certainly radically improved since the takeover, no question. Is Wardle’s original list still available online anywhere? What were the original words supposed to be? ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7372 "2022-11-17T11:21:39Z")
Wordle 516 3/6 ⬜🟨⬜⬜🟩 🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CRANE TIROS THERE ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7373 "2022-11-17T11:58:07Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Is Wardle’s original list still available online anywhere? What were the original words supposed to be? This is the list what the next 8 words would have been. The only words in the list are those that have been answers in the last 10 days. This does include today’s word. UNITE, SNARL, BAKER, THERE, word they may omit, maybe tomorrow’s word, word they may omit, SPELL ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7374 "2022-11-17T12:24:45Z")
Interesting. And great research, thanks much! ---
**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:** [November 17, 2022, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7375 "2022-11-17T13:08:39Z")
Wordle 516 2/6 🟨🟨⬜🟩🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 After yesterday, they owed us an easy one. HEART THERE ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7376 "2022-11-17T13:21:02Z")
So no RAINY, MEDAL, VALET, INANE, MAPLE, on that part of Wardle’s list? Thanks for looking! ---
**Author:** ![chiliwillybing](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chiliwillybing/32/12394_2.png) [@chiliwillybing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiliwillybing)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7377 "2022-11-17T13:31:43Z")
Wordle 516 3/6 ⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 NOISE FLUTE THERE ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7378 "2022-11-17T13:32:04Z")
Wordle 516 5/6\* ⬜🟨⬜🟩⬜ ⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩 ⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 BEARD SPIRE CHORE WHERE THERE ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7379 "2022-11-17T14:06:58Z")
Whodathunkit? > **[Wordle frustration inspires Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/17/uk/cambridge-word-year-wordle-intl-scli-gbr-spt/index.html)** > > The endless permutations of five-letter words took over the internet in 2022 as the online puzzle game Wordle dominated social media feeds, pop culture and even determined the Cambridge Dictionary's word of the year. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/7380 "2022-11-17T14:34:20Z")
They didn’t mention another meaning of ‘homer,’ [a local sportscaster whose announcing is a bit _too_ tilted towards the home team.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_(sports)#Homerism) I can understand why English-speaking people who’ve not lived in America might be a bit upset about a solution like ‘homer.’ All I can say to them is"_howdy_, y’all." [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=368) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=370)