It occurs to me that getting your Wordle in three guesses may be a better indicator of skill than getting it in one or two. If you guess a Wordle in one guess, that’s just pure luck. There’s no skill to it whatsoever. You have a 1 in 2300 or so chance to get a Wordle on your first guess (assuming you don’t remember what’s already been guessed). It’s neat when it happens, but it’s just a wild crapshoot.
Guessing in two is almost as lucky. If you guess in two, that typically means your first guess was lucky enough to reduce the pool of guesses down to a very narrow slice. At this point you do have some strategy to employ, most of the time, and you can make an educated guess. There’s a bit of skill involved on that second guess, but you’re only getting it if luck is on your side.
Three is the magic number. If you get it in three, that means you’ve guessed well up to that point and through your savvy guessing game, you’ve navigated your way to the answer. It’s not all luck, but rather a combination of the two.
All of this occured to me because yesterday I guessed the Wordle in just two guesses, and it was just pure unadulterated luck. Today I got it in three, and while it was still pretty lucky, I had to utilize a bit more strategy, which in turn requires a bit more skill.
In any case, yesterday was also Wordle Wednesday, which means I tasked you with solving a riddle. Today, I give the answer.
The Riddle: I communicate without a mouth. I have keys but no doors. I have space but no rooms. You can enter but you can’t leave. What am I?
The Answer: A keyboard (which can communicate by typing with keys that have space between them, which you can enter data using). One guesser said “a smart phone” which I think works just as well!
Let’s do this Wordle!
How To Solve Today’s Wordle
The Hint: The ending of Mary Poppins wouldn’t have worked as well without this weather.
The Clue: This word begins with a consonant.
The Answer:
.
.
.
Wordle Bot Analysis
I got lucky with my opening guess today. Sometimes the stars align. I’ve been writing rather critically about Season 3 of The Witcher on Netflix, and had just gotten finished making a video on the subject for my YouTube channel. You can’t fit Witcher into a Wordle but you can fit witch, so I ran with it. I was honestly a bit shocked when the first two boxes turned over green.
From here I thought long and hard about words that begin with WI and came up with a few like willy, wispy, wimpy, wield, widow etc. I almost went with widow because it seemed like a good choice, but I decided my gut was not to be trusted and I should use a word that eliminates as many letters as possible. Dowly has the ‘DO’ from widow, the ‘Y’ from various words like wimpy and willy and so forth. (I wasn’t sure dowly was even a word when I typed it in, but I guess it works. It means “dull, low-spirited, dismal”).
This did the trick and I knew—or was 99% certain, in any case—that windy was the answer. I was right! Huzzah!
Today’s Score
A lovely day of Wordling for your humble narrator. I get 1 point for guessing in three and 1 point for beating the Bot, who guessed in four. That’s 2 points! That’s worthy of a second huzzah in my book. Huzzah!
Today’s Wordle Etymology
The word “windy” has its origins in Old English. It is derived from the Old English word “windig,” which means “full of wind” or “blowing with wind.” The Old English word itself is related to the Proto-Germanic word “windōną,” which means “to blow.” This word ultimately traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root “*we-,” which carries the meaning of “to blow” or “to move with air or wind.”
Over time, the spelling and pronunciation of “windig” in Old English evolved into “windy” in Middle English, retaining the same basic meaning. The word has been used to describe weather conditions characterized by strong or gusty winds. It can also be used metaphorically to describe someone who talks a lot or boasts excessively, similar to the notion of “blowing hot air.”
Play Competitive Wordle Against Me!
I’ve been playing a cutthroat game of PvP Wordle against my nemesis Wordle But. Now you should play against me! I can be your nemesis! (And your helpful Wordle guide, of course). You can also play against the Bot if you have a New York Times subscription.
- Here are the rules:1 point for getting the Wordle in 3 guesses.
- 2 points for getting it in 2 guesses.
- 3 points for getting it in 1 guess.
- 1 point for beating Erik
- 0 points for getting it in 4 guesses.
- -1 point for getting it in 5 guesses.
- -2 points for getting it in 6 guesses.
- -3 points for losing.
- -1 point for losing to Erik
You can either keep a running tally of your score if that’s your jam or just play day-to-day if you prefer.
I’d love it if you gave me a follow on Twitter or Facebook dearest Wordlers. Have a lovely day!
As always, I’d love it if you’d follow me here on this blog and subscribe to my YouTube channel and my Substack so you can stay up-to-date on all my TV, movie and video game reviews and coverage. Thanks!
Read the full article here