# "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:** 4
**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:** [December 27, 2021, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/61 "2021-12-27T16:37:26Z")
FRIED FLARE COUNT MESSY after messy I was left with FE\_RY, and most every other letter had been ruled out, so that left only FERRY ---
**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:** [December 27, 2021, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/62 "2021-12-27T17:49:12Z")
I coded this exact game about fifteen years ago as a programming exercise for myself. (It was not an original idea – I had seen it elsewhere on the web at the time.) It was a fun self-assignment for a programming novice (which I still pretty much am. I called the game “Word Crack” for both the "puzzle-cracking"aspect of it and the addictiveness of it, but there’s a different commercial game with that name out there now.) I toyed around with marking double letters differently, but the problem I found was that it gave away too much information, IMHO. My solution was the same as this puzzle’s: to allow double letters, with the instructions saying they may occur. Option B would be to pare the word list of words with multiple occurrences of a letter, but I preferred the challenge of keeping them. YMMV. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/63 "2021-12-27T18:02:26Z")
Got it in three! Count me among those that didn’t realize that double letters were possible but it ended up helping me solve this one quickly. STARE FIERY FERRY The only word possible after FIERY was FERRY. ---
**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:** [December 27, 2021, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/64 "2021-12-27T18:08:01Z")
Got it in one! Well… see my previous post. [Imgur: The magic of the Internet](https://imgur.com/a/Xn3fJmt) ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/65 "2021-12-28T05:34:31Z")
Got it in three today. December 28th, which is not yet available west of EST unless you set your computer clock to EST or points east. 🙂 STARE AISLE ASIDE I could have gotten this with just two tries but it would have been dumb luck. At step #2 I was really torn on using the #2 or #3 word in that spot. I think they both told me about the same amount of information for ruling out other possible words. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/66 "2021-12-28T05:59:23Z")
If I had started with ADIEU like last time, that would have immediately narrowed down my choice for the #2 guess to just ASIDE or ABIDE. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/67 "2021-12-28T06:02:26Z")
It took me 6 because my first three tries were SHARP, DOWRY, and LEERY. At that point I knew the answer was \_ERRY, but that could have been MERRY, TERRY, BERRY, or FERRY. Luckily I tried FERRY on my final try. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/68 "2021-12-28T06:07:57Z")
Your third rhyming option was a proper name and probably not in the wordlist. Was that one you tried and if so did it allow it? I see above someone else tried a different proper name and it was disallowed. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/69 "2021-12-28T06:10:55Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > Your third rhyming option was a proper name [Not according to the SOWPODS dictionary](http://www.quadplex.com/Sowpods/terry), which is my go-to for word games. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/70 "2021-12-28T07:16:20Z")
Would it make sense to just add “WITH SPOILERS” to the thread title, and stop hiding our posts? Almost every post is now spoilered, so it doesn’t make much sense to come to the thread until you’ve done the day’s puzzle. ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/71 "2021-12-28T08:06:04Z")
The problem here is it doesn’t restart at a particular time, it’s different for everyone. When you talk about “today’s word” it’s 8 hours away from updating for me, and I don’t want to stumble on, or clumsily avoid, the solution because I open it a few minutes too late. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/72 "2021-12-28T08:24:36Z")
Why does that make a difference? Just don’t go to the thread until you’ve done the daily puzzle. Early in the thread, there was some general conversation. But now every post refers to a specific puzzle, and virtually every post is spoilered. It just seems pointless to me to have every post in a thread spoilered. If you have not yet done the day’s puzzle, what’s the point in going to the thread to see a hidden conversation that you don’t want to look at? ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/73 "2021-12-28T08:28:58Z")
I have done the puzzle for today. But that was yesterday’s puzzle for you. You’re now all talking about my tomorrow puzzle. When was the cut-off time when I knew not to come in? Why do I have to police that time? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/74 "2021-12-28T08:40:33Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Why do I have to police that time? My point is that EVERY POST is now talking about the latest puzzle. Look upthread. Every post for the last 30+ posts (prior to our exchange) is hidden. If you haven’t figured out the timing, how does spoilering posts help you? How do you plan to participate in a conversation while leaving every post hidden? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/75 "2021-12-28T09:47:16Z")
Got today’s in three. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/76 "2021-12-28T12:52:42Z")
Thank you for this! This is very similar to a game called Jotto that I used to play with my grandfather, and which I wrote a computerized Windows version of as my senior project in college. I am going to enjoy doing this once every day. (Got today’s in 4 tries.) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/77 "2021-12-28T13:02:00Z")
Got it in two today: READY ASIDE [https://i.ibb.co/BP1xGXD/Screen-Shot-2021-12-28-at-7-59-17-AM.png](https://i.ibb.co/BP1xGXD/Screen-Shot-2021-12-28-at-7-59-17-AM.png) ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/78 "2021-12-28T13:45:05Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Not according to the SOWPODS dictionary Your cite does explain it’s a proper name, just not using that exact term. But my objection to making guesses using that particular word is moot anyway. I tested the word using an anonymous browser window and this game accepted it, unlike LEROY. > [@Riemann](#): > > My point is that EVERY POST is now talking about the latest puzzle. My exchange with CairoCarol has been about the 27th’s puzzle and we started after I’d already posted my path for the 28th. I’m glad I thought to start explicitly saying the date I was talking about in unspoilered text. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2021, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/79 "2021-12-28T14:37:20Z")
> [@Ponderoid](#): > > Your cite does explain it’s a proper name, It gives a single definition, not all of them. I could have linked to [the Merriem Webster definition](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terry) for the word instead. That’s what I always think of when I use the word - it’s the source for “terrycloth.” ---
**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:** [December 28, 2021, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/80 "2021-12-28T14:53:20Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > My point is that EVERY POST is now talking about the latest puzzle. Look upthread. No it isn’t. I’m in California. I just woke up and did the puzzle. I’m around six hours it will be midnight in Germany. I don’t want to stay out of the thread all day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=5)