# "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:** 472
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9421 "2023-03-02T16:46:44Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > CLAPS Wouldn’t CLASP be marginally better, given Wordle’s aversion to the terminal S? > [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > Really lucky I didn’t try ‘ADOBE’ first, there… Wouldn’t it have given you the same information? > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > My usual first word did all the heavy lifting… You also picked the right second word… I took a different and longer path to the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9422 "2023-03-02T16:51:21Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > Wouldn’t it have given you the same information? You’re right, ADOBE would’ve been excluded, as well. ---
**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 2, 2023, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9423 "2023-03-02T16:57:54Z")
Quality reference. > [@SunUp](#): > > Wouldn’t CLASP be marginally better, given Wordle’s aversion to the terminal S? Clasp is also one of my 17 openers, or at least it was. The plan is to change my strategy starting tomorrow. More to your point, I prefer getting yellows to greens in my first word. Greens lock me in and limit the words I can follow up with, increasing the chance I’ll have to include bad letters just to get a valid word. Yellows leave many more possible words available so I can check only good letters in my second word. ---
**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 2, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9424 "2023-03-02T17:13:05Z")
Scoredle 4/6\* 🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛ OPIUM (2,171) ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩 HORSE (39) 🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩 ALONE (8) 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ABOVE Shoulda been a three. After my opener, I thought, “OK, I need a word with O, A, and E.” Then I got distracted, came back and forgot about the A. Another par it is. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9425 "2023-03-02T19:58:53Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > More to your point, I prefer getting yellows to greens in my first word. Greens lock me in and limit the words I can follow up with, increasing the chance I’ll have to include bad letters just to get a valid word. Yellows leave many more possible words available so I can check only good letters in my second word. So you play hard mode, then? I don’t see the asterisk by your recent scores. That would make a difference, and if so, I can very much see your point. If, like me, you’re not playing hard mode, green \> yellow. ---
**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 2, 2023, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9426 "2023-03-02T20:20:23Z")
I generally abide by hard mode rules but do not actually play in hard mode just in case I have to whip out a last-ditch research word at 5, y’know? Actually, the rules I try to abide by are I think what we termed earlier in the thread as “super hard mode.” All yellows must be replayed and moved, all greens must be replayed and not moved, all blacks must never be replayed. Pretty sure hard mode lets you break two of those rules. (Yellows can be replayed in the same position, blacks can be reused.) But again, if push comes to shove I’ll break those rules to avoid a loss. To your point, though, I prefer yellows to greens in the first word to improve the coverage of my second word to try and maximize the chances of winning in three. It’s not really related to hard mode rules. ---
**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 2, 2023, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9427 "2023-03-02T20:30:23Z")
I’m feeling a serious time crunch as the hours tick away. Here’s what I really want to do for my new strategy: Analyze the answer list to identify the most common trap letters. My initial word will be first tier trap letters but second tier regular letters. I just kind of guessed with my previous starter “clamp” that C, M and P fit that requirement. I want analysis to tell me what the actual letters would be for that. I haven’t yet gotten my brain around how to identify trap letters, though, and right now I only have a little over 32 hours before I must play tomorrow’s wordle. Tick tock! I should probably stop scrolling Reddit… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2023, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9428 "2023-03-02T21:13:13Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > To your point, though, I prefer yellows to greens in the first word to improve the coverage of my second word to try and maximize the chances of winning in three. It’s not really related to hard mode rules. Well, it is related in the sense that if you’re following the ‘must play green letters and can’t move them’ rule, greens on the first word limit your choices for your second word, which goes against maximizing your coverage on the second word. Not playing hard mode, every green is a big gift. Even when it’s just giving me a silent E in the fifth slot, it starts shaping the word and cuts way down on the possibilities. So I prefer words with the letters in the positions they’re most likely to be in. Say my first word turns up 3 yellows - there will be 32 legal ways (i.e. consistent with a solution) I can arrange those letters in the 5 spaces. With 1 green and 2 yellows, there are 7 ways. Much easier to go through the possibilities for filling in the remaining blanks for 7 ways rather than 32. ---
**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 2, 2023, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9429 "2023-03-02T23:49:36Z")
Wordle 621 5/6 ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 STERN CAMEO AWOKE ABODE ABOVE An unimpressive score, but an enjoyable nine minutes. ---
**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 3, 2023, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9430 "2023-03-03T01:41:41Z")
Stumbled across this when downloading the answer list. There are no answers in this link, no spoilers to worry about: > **[/wordle/leaderboard](https://freshman.dev/wordle/leaderboard)** > > Wordle solver and solver leaderboard Apparently the best you can average is 3.4212, at least for the original list. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9431 "2023-03-03T01:47:34Z")
That’s _weird_. Somehow for the original list of 2,315 solutions, 7,920 total guesses is the unbeatable number. Maybe that makes some bizarre sort of sense, but I sure don’t see it. ---
**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 3, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9432 "2023-03-03T02:33:34Z")
Letter counts and tier list using only the original answer list: > **Click to expand** > > | Tier | Vowels | Consonants | > | --- | --- | --- | > | 1 | E | R | > | 2 | A | TLS | > | 3 | O | N | > | 4 | I | C | > | 5 | UY | DHP | > | 6 | | MGB | > | 7 | | FKW | > | 8 | | V | > | 9 | | ZXQJ | > > Actual counts: > > | Letter | Count | > | --- | --- | > | E | 1233 | > | A | 979 | > | R | 899 | > | O | 754 | > | T | 729 | > | L | 719 | > | I | 671 | > | S | 669 | > | N | 575 | > | C | 477 | > | U | 467 | > | Y | 425 | > | D | 393 | > | H | 389 | > | P | 367 | > | M | 316 | > | G | 311 | > | B | 281 | > | F | 230 | > | K | 210 | > | W | 195 | > | V | 153 | > | Z | 40 | > | X | 37 | > | Q | 29 | > | J | 27 | Some minor surprises for me in there, like for example I never would have guessed that the least common letter in the entire answer list was J. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9433 "2023-03-03T03:12:59Z")
Wordle 621 4/6\* ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 PERIL STEAM CANOE ABOVE Thank goodness for the list of already used words; without it I would have tried ADOBE. WordleBot gave AWOKE as a possible answer, but I thought that past tense verbs aren’t part of the list? ---
**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 3, 2023, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9434 "2023-03-03T03:25:50Z")
> [@gkster](#): > > I thought that past tense verbs aren’t part of the list? Looks like past tense verbs are in there, even the ones that end in ed. (There aren’t that many “…ed” ones since that only leaves three letters for the verb.) EDIT: Correction: It appears only non-standard ones are in there, like cried and fried. Searching for “ated” and “ared” found no hits for either. (Looking for stuff like bated, cared, etc…) ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9435 "2023-03-03T05:44:16Z")
Wordle 622 3/6 ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟨🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 RATIO STALE SQUAT I am proud of this one. I t took a little brain power to solve it. ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9436 "2023-03-03T06:11:59Z")
**Wordle 621 5/6** ⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜ ⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CHEAT LEARN GAMEY ABIDE ABOVE ---
**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:** [March 3, 2023, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9437 "2023-03-03T07:27:58Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > My philosophy is to always assume a trend will continue I do take that into consideration _sometimes_. It really varies though, and depends on what that particular trend is and how long it’s been going on as to what I end up deciding to go with. I enjoy keeping stats and analyzing things, and using that information to help make my decisions…sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t, so it doesn’t always matter, but it’s just how I like to play the game. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![QMatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/aeb1de/32.png) [@QMatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QMatic)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9438 "2023-03-03T08:54:48Z")
Wordle 622 3/6\* ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 FLOUT SPURT SQUAT ---
**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 3, 2023, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9439 "2023-03-03T08:55:03Z")
Wordle 622 3/6 🟨⬛🟨⬛⬛ ⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 AISLE FRONT — after this, surprisingly there were few words it could be SQUAT — or it could’ve been GHAST, but not likely so ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2023, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604/9440 "2023-03-03T10:01:25Z")
Wordle 622 4/6\* ⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜ 🟩🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟨🟩⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CRANE SALTY STUPA SQUAT Part of me always wants to eliminate the -y ending, perhaps because they’re so characteristic for English from a German point of view, but I don’t know if that’s really wise… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=471) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-1/956604.md?page=473)