# Wordle: did the game suddenly ‘turn left at Albuquerque’? (open game spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** board-card-word-game\ **Created:** [November 7, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659 "2026-11-07T15:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [November 7, 2026, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/21 "2026-11-07T21:28:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Dreck” is from Yiddish. Everyone in the US Northeast knows what it is and many people use it routinely. The rest of the USA? Not so much. Um, what? It’s well known in any large Metro area in the US and probably more than that. People in Los Angeles and Chicago and St Louis certainly know the word. > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I suspect that they’ve long since run out of “common” = obvious words. And need to avoid getting repetitive by running the same e.g. 200 words over and over. So they’re forced to salt in ever more obscure words to keep the faithful satisfied. And learning. The original list created by the original devs will take us through near the end of next year. Josh Wardle is British and maybe PRATE is a more common word over there. Not sure about that. IIRC, the NY Times did modify the original list to take out a small number of words the were British spellings (like FIBRE) or potentially offensive/triggering (like SLAVE). You can use them as guesses but they won’t be a solution. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/22 "2026-11-07T21:54:02Z")
Dreck is a very common word. Haven’t you heard someone describe something bad as “complete dreck”? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/23 "2026-11-07T22:00:05Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Prate” is the infinitive verb form of the more common word “prattle”. You’ve probably heard of that one. > > “Dreck” is from Yiddish. Everyone in the US Northeast knows what it is and many people use it routinely. The rest of the USA? Not so much. > > I suspect that they’ve long since run out of “common” = obvious words. And need to avoid getting repetitive by running the same e.g. 200 words over and over. So they’re forced to salt in ever more obscure words to keep the faithful satisfied. And learning. Midwesterner here. Born in Indiana, lived there for several years before moving to Kentucky, where I lived for even longer. Recent transplant to Alabama (like 3 months ago). I knew “dreck,” but never heard “prate” before. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/24 "2026-11-07T22:21:32Z")
Dreck I know, and I got that word. Prate stumped me. I got down to \_rate and my last two guesses were ‘irate’ and ‘orate’. I think the words have gotten tougher in the past year or so, but I like the challenge. I think whoever took it over when the Times purchased the game has been tweaking it over time, trying out different strategies. For awhile it seemed too easy. They were using themed words on special days, it seemed. I’m pretty sure I remember a Thanksgiving where the word was ‘feast’. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/25 "2026-11-07T22:26:45Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > The original list created by the original devs will take us through near the end of next year. Josh Wardle is British and maybe PRATE is a more common word over there. Not sure about that. IIRC, the NY Times did modify the original list to take out a small number of words the were British spellings (like FIBRE) or potentially offensive/triggering (like SLAVE). IIRC, Wardle’s original solutions list had 2,315 words on it, but the NYT knocked six words off it, leaving 2,309 words. Today was Wordle 1967, but since there was a Wordle 0 (CIGAR), we’d be down to 2309 - 1968 = 341 remaining unused solutions. BUT we’ve had 28 old solutions that have been reused (starting with CIGAR), plus at least 37 solutions that weren’t on Wardle’s original list that the NYT has added. (My count of 37 is through late July. Chances are we’ve seen another nine or ten since then.) So there’s at least 341 + 65 = 406 remaining unused solutions from Wardle’s list. That would carry us through until mid-December of 2027 if there were to be no more reused solutions, and no more non-Wardle solutions since late July or yet to come. But of course there will be both. ---
**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:** [November 7, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/26 "2026-11-07T22:28:17Z")
Nice analysis. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/27 "2026-11-07T22:38:43Z")
> [@solost](#): > > For awhile it seemed too easy. They were using themed words on special days, it seemed. I’m pretty sure I remember a Thanksgiving where the word was ‘feast’. That was fortunately just for a brief period in November of 2022. The day the NYT took over a more active role in the management of the game, the solution was BEGIN, Wordle 506. Then a few days later, on Veterans’ Day, the solution was MEDAL. Then DRIVE on the day before Thanksgiving, and FEAST on Thanksgiving itself. They must’ve gotten a bunch of negative feedback about that, because they stopped being cutesy after that. Other than the day they started reusing old solutions - on Groundhog Day, of course, and the reused solution was Wordle 0, CIGAR. But with that one exception, AFAIK they’ve played it straight since Black Friday of 2022. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/28 "2026-11-07T22:46:00Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/29 "2026-11-07T23:12:17Z")
The way some dreck do prate on about it. I think I’ll have a kefir to coat my uvula 🤤🫧 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/30 "2026-11-07T23:16:48Z")
“Dreck” seems to be a common word in show biz or show biz critique. I grew up in SoCal, and as noted by somebody upthread, MAD Magazine used it constantly. That magazine being staple reading of my kidhood, that’s a good bet for where I first got it. I did not mean to suggest that nobody outside the Northeast ever encountered Yiddish words that have made their way into English. Dreck, schmuck, chutzpah, etc. Just that the OP, living far from there, might have missed a few more than other folks from elsewhere. I think I’ve encountered “prate” as such in the wild once, maybe twice. Reading something from the UK, or pre WW-II, or both. And it was unfamiliar the first time. But from context I quickly made the connection to “prattle”, a word that gets (or got in my youth) a lot more use that prate or prating. I don’t play Wordle, but the odds on me getting PRATE in less than about 15 turns after getting to “\_RATE” are very very low. And yes, I know you don’t get 15 turns in Wordle. I’d lose. A lot. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/31 "2026-11-08T00:54:48Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I don’t play Wordle, but the odds on me getting PRATE in less than about 15 turns after getting to “\_RATE” are very very low. And yes, I know you don’t get 15 turns in Wordle. I’d lose. A lot. You sell yourself short. There’d likely be a few letters eliminated along the way once you got to \_RATE so process of elimination would work wonders. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/32 "2026-11-08T01:10:13Z")
“Prate” seems like a fairly ordinary word to me. I don’t use it every day, but I certainly know it and don’t consider it rare. I’m not too surprised that it isn’t the first word that comes to mind to solve \_RATE, but I’m rather shocked that some people in this thread claim they’ve never heard it. The Oxford English Dictionary says it occurs about 0.1 times per million words. That’s the same as “orate” which I hope no one considers an exceptionally rare word, and about 7 times less frequent than “irate” which is certainly a common word. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/33 "2026-11-08T01:11:31Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > about 7 times less frequent than “irate” which is certainly a common word. And is what some people were wrt today’s solution. 😃 ---
**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:** [November 8, 2026, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/34 "2026-11-08T01:13:36Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever spoken the word prate out loud in my life but I’ve certainly used irate plenty of times. That probably says more about me than anything else. ---
**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 8, 2026, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/35 "2026-11-08T01:26:28Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The Oxford English Dictionary says it occurs about 0.1 times per million words. That’s the same as “orate” which I hope no one considers an exceptionally rare word, and about 7 times less frequent than “irate” which is certainly a common word. Prate specifically or all forms of prattle? I’ve never heard of prate but I definitely know prattle. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/36 "2026-11-08T01:34:11Z")
Just “prate”. “Prattle” as a noun is also 0.1 per million, same as “prate”, and “prattle” as a verb is 0.3 per million. ---
**Author:** ![TheZenPaperboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@TheZenPaperboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheZenPaperboy)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2026, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/37 "2026-11-08T06:41:30Z")
I got it on the third try but since I start with raise and Pluto all I had to do was move to letters. I had to go back to see the word pirate as I did not recall it. Because I did not have to think what the word could be. ---
**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 8, 2026, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659/38 "2026-11-08T08:27:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > “Dreck” is from Yiddish. Everyone in the US Northeast knows what it is and many people use it routinely. I grew up in the northeast (after being born in the Philippines). There was a lot of Yiddish, but no use of dreck IIRC. I’ve been in California for the last 40 some years. > [@susan](#): > > Wardle sold his game, which is why you can play it. FYI, we could play it before he sold it to NYT. > [@Babale](#): > > Such dreck, no a. Thank you! Ignorance fought. > [@Superdude](#): > > My approach is to start with 5 of the most commonly used letters in the alphabet: A, E, S, T, and R in some variation (usually I start with **stare** or **tears** ) STARE has been my usual starting word for a long time. I prefer that over TEARS because Wordles usually don’t end in S. One exception was ETHOS, but they usually avoid plurals. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > That would be “such dreck,” tyvm. No ‘a’ in between. TYVM! > [@EllisDee](#): > > Dreck is a very common “slang” word that my friends and I used all the time in high school and beyond, even still to this day. But it makes sense because Connecticut. While my hometown is in Upstate New York, I lived in Connecticut for my JHS and HS years! • Thanks, all y’all! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wordle-did-the-game-suddenly-turn-left-at-albuquerque-open-game-spoilers/1034659.md?page=1)