# "Wordle," a strangely compelling word game (Part 2)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659
**Category:** The Game Room
**Tags:** board-card-word-game
**Created:** [March 25, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659 "2023-03-25T23:59:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 190
### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3781 "2023-10-16T06:28:04Z")
Wordle 849 3/6
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ 256
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ 2
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLANT
CHORE
GRAPH
3 is definitely the hot number this morning. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3782 "2023-10-16T07:45:58Z")
It’s funny, I wouldn’t look at graph and immediately think that there’s a ton of commonly guessed letters in the word, but all of us so far hit three letters by our second guess.
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### Author:  [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3783 "2023-10-16T11:41:20Z")
Wordle 849 4/6\*
\begin{aligned} &\bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt B} \bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt E} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt A} \bbox[yellow,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt R} \bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt D} \\ &\bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt C} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt R} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt A} \bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt S} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt H} \\ &\bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt W} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt R} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt A} \bbox[silver,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt T} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt H} \\ &\bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt G} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt R} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt A} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt P} \bbox[lime,5px,border:1px solid black]{\texttt H} \\ \end{aligned}
---
### Author:  [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3784 "2023-10-16T11:45:03Z")
Wordle 849 3/6
🟨⬜🟩🟨⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
HEART
BRASH
GRAPH
---
### Author:  [@chiliwillybing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiliwillybing)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3785 "2023-10-16T12:23:43Z")
Wordle 849 5/6
🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
RAISE
CRAFT
DRAWN
GRAVY
GRAPH
---
### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3786 "2023-10-16T13:50:54Z")
I am working on changing my starting words (it’s a static plan). For now I’m still going with my latest usuals.
Wordle 849 4/6
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SALET
ROUND
CHIMP
GRAPH
---
### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3787 "2023-10-16T13:59:39Z")
> [@Bullitt](#):
>
> I am working on changing my starting words (it’s a static plan). For now I’m still going with my latest usuals.
More: what I’m looking for are, ideally, 4 words that would exhaust 20 separate letters of the alphabet, leaving out 6 of the least common letters. If that is possible. I don’t know if it is.
Lately I’ve been using 3 words exhausting 15, but my current 3 does not leave a good 4th word. Meaning that my usual 4th word has some duplicated letters from the previous 3, and these 4 words leave 8 unused letters left (not 6). Which I guess isn’t too bad. So maybe I’m okay with my current set. I’ll think on it some more.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3788 "2023-10-16T14:08:15Z")
Yee-ha!
Wordle 849 2/6
⬜🟧🟧⬜⬜
🟧🟧🟧🟧🟧
CRANE
GRAPH - My first inclination was to go with “draft” or “craft”, but this felt better
---
### Author:  [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3789 "2023-10-16T14:45:58Z")
> **Wordle 849 6/6\* 10/16/2023**
>
> ⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
> ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
> ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
> ⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
> ⬜🟩🟩⬜🟨
> 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
>
> LE **A** KY → Low on vowels today? I should try at least one more with my next guess
> T **RA** IN → R is a good pickup, but there is so much that can go here… I think this qualifies as a trap
> O **RA** LS → No O, one vowel left - plus a violation of Wordle Rule #1, don’t retry letters when you find yourself in a trap in hard mode! Ick
> F **RA** UD → Only A (or As) here. What can go in front of the R? B C G P, maybe A, but only two guesses left puts me in the soup.
> C **RA** M_P_ → If the P is in first, PRAXA? or PRAGA? would be our major choices with two As. If fourth, BRAPA? Naw. GRAPA? Naw, but that leads me to one last chance word…
> **GRAPH**
>
> Man, I was like the polar opposite of **Chefguy** here. My one consolation is that my fifth guess differentiated effectively between the two remaining possible words, so I was safer than I felt like.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3790 "2023-10-16T14:53:38Z")
Nicely done @Chefguy! Yee-haw!
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### Author:  [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3791 "2023-10-16T15:13:10Z")
Wordle 849 4/6\*
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
ALIEN
HASTY
CHAMP
GRAPH
Some of you are so much more scientific and methodical than me. I don’t know where the list of used words is, so I don’t use it.
I don’t have a list of starter words, or even one starter word. Although I used to use ADIEU.
I just look around me and skim/read stuff, and a word will pop in my head. That will be my first word.
I have to use my (very poor!) memory not to re-use words, but the game is still fun for me. To each his own, said the man who kissed the cow - as they say.
---
### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3792 "2023-10-16T15:38:36Z")
> [@Rebo](#):
>
> I don’t know where the list of used words is, so I don’t use it.
I know where they are, but it seems to defeat the reason for playing the game. I hesitate to use the word “cheat”, as many here would object to it. I like the mental exercise of manipulating letters in my head and using a process of elimination for finding the answer. It’s probably why I have so many “fours”. 😃
---
### Author:  [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)
#### Post date: [October 16, 2023, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3793 "2023-10-16T16:17:03Z")
> [@Bullitt](#):
>
> More: what I’m looking for are, ideally, 4 words that would exhaust 20 separate letters of the alphabet, leaving out 6 of the least common letters. If that is possible. I don’t know if it is.
See StarvingButStrong’s post yesterday. It contains four words that contain 20 different letters, leaving out only J,Q,V,W,X, and Z, which are the six least common letters in Wordle solutions so far.
> [@Rebo](#):
>
> Some of you are so much more scientific and methodical than me.
What can I say - I’m a geek. I analyze things. Which is how I know which are the six least frequent letters in Wordle solutions, I sum them up. I can even tell you where in a solution a given letter is mostly likely to pop up. For instance, if a B is in a solution, it’s better than 50-50 odds that it begins the word. I’m just like that.
> I don’t know where the list of used words is, so I don’t use it.
I’m sure it can easily be Googled, but you may not want to, and that’s fine. I last Googled it maybe a year and a half ago, put it in a spreadsheet, and have been just adding on each day’s solution, and my score, since then.
I personally feel comfortable with using the list of past solutions because I’ve seen every one of them before in the course of playing Wordle, so it’s knowledge that’s already open to me. But to each their own.
---
### Author:  [@SeaSun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaSun)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3794 "2023-10-17T01:59:51Z")
**Wordle 849 3/6**
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
SLATE
CHOIR
GRAPH
---
### Author:  [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3795 "2023-10-17T02:05:51Z")
Well, it wasn’t my day for a 3, that’s sure! Yeeks!
Wordle 849 5/6\*
⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
IRATE
DRANK
CRAWL
BRAND
GRAPH
I didn’t even ask WordleBot’s opinion. I can guess.
---
### Author:  [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3796 "2023-10-17T03:55:24Z")
Wordle 849 3/6\*
⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
STEAL
ARGON
GRAPH
Wordlebot said that my 2nd guess was very lucky, eliminating all but 2 words.
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### Author:  [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3797 "2023-10-17T04:50:35Z")
Wordle 850 4/6
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
RATIO
SLATE
TUBAL
ADULT
---
### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3798 "2023-10-17T07:15:55Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> The main downside to four starting words is that you’re playing for a 5.
I don’t agree with that statement, because I’m trying to eliminate letters. If, e.g., the Wordle was **FLEET** and my first 3 guesses were
**SHUNT**
**BRICK**
**PODGY** , (with thanks to @RTFirefly and @StarvingButStrong)
then I’d be looking at this:
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
At this point I’ve eliminated 14 letters and only have 1 in play, in the right position. I then need a 4th word that, ideally, does not repeat any of the letters that I already know are not in **FLEET**. If my 4th word was **FLAME** , I’d be looking at this:
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨
I then know that the Wordle was of the form of either **FLExT** or **FLxET** , and from that I’d know the Wordle was **FLEET**. And this is what I’d have:
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
So while yes in this instance I got a 5, I wasn’t _playing for_ the 5. I’m merely trying to eliminate as many letters as early as I can, and sometimes that takes up to 4 guesses. Make sense, or no?
---
### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3799 "2023-10-17T07:35:36Z")
And, guys, this week I’m still on vacation so I’m out seeing the sights and not checking this thread. If I was instead at home, then I’d be more inclined to check this thread during the day. So far my wife and I have covered Las Vegas, Toroweap Overlook, North Rim, Monument Valley, and Moab. The American southwest has some harsh, stark beauty.
Cheers,
**Bullitt**
[[Album] Las Vegas, Toroweap Overlook, North Rim, Monument Valley, and Moab  ](https://imgur.com/gallery/oNG3lcK)
---
### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2023, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-a-strangely-compelling-word-game-part-2/981659/3800 "2023-10-17T08:15:38Z")
Wordle 850 2/6
⬛🟨🟨⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
PLANT
ADULT
I could find no way to work in any of SER for a second research word so I just started guessing. Not sure if there are other possible answers, but it sure did take a while to finally see adult.
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