Wordle Lovers - Play the NYT Daily Game

[dwarde]

Wordle 1,122 5/6

 

[fresh_42]

Wordle 1,123 5/6

1
2
3
4

 

[OmCheeto]

Wordle 1,123 3/6

 

[sbrothy]

Wordle 1.123 6/6*








Hm. Well at least I got it. Barely.

 

[kuruman]

Wordle 1,123 4/6

 

[jack action]

Wordle 1,123 3/6





New challenge: yesterday, I made my own Wordle solver. I thought I needed a database but just two word lists ("all words" and "possible answers"), and a bash script with some regexes and I'm good to go.

I don't have (yet?) a list of "previous answers" which would cut the "possible answers" list in half. But I'm using it with other websites, so not necessarily a plus, considering how little it could help in most cases.

Spoiler: Solution

 

[Herman Trivilino]

Wordle 1,123 3/6

 

[gmax137]

Wordle 1,123 4/6

Spoiler: Solution

I'm wondering how you came up with those first two words?

 

[jack action]

Wordle 1,123 4/6








I'm wondering how you came up with those first two words?

The first is apparently composed of the most popular letters for the possible Wordle solutions (I always use the same):

Spoiler: Most popular letters

(source)​

And the other one was given by the program. It checks every possible solution, then evaluates the five most popular letters, and tries to find words that match, first in the possible answers found, then in the "possible answers" list, and finally in the "all words" list. If it doesn't find one, it takes only the four most popular letters and repeats, and so on. It gives only the first 10 matches.

The actual input and ouput of the program for the guesses for this particular puzzle:

Spoiler: First guess input

FIRST=''
SECOND=''
THIRD=''
FOURTH=''
FIFTH=''

SOMEWHERE='oe'

NOT_FIRST=''
NOT_SECOND='o'
NOT_THIRD=''
NOT_FOURTH=''
NOT_FIFTH='e'

NOWHERE='rat'

Spoiler: Second guess hints

19 possibilities

First ten possibilities (in no particular order):
epoch
epoxy
enjoy
venom
envoy
below
elbow
demon
olden
ebony

First 10 suggestions for the next guess:
dynel lindy

Spoiler: "Second guess input

FIRST='d'
SECOND=''
THIRD=''
FOURTH=''
FIFTH=''

SOMEWHERE='oey'

NOT_FIRST=''
NOT_SECOND='oy'
NOT_THIRD=''
NOT_FOURTH='e'
NOT_FIFTH='e'

NOWHERE='ratnl'

Spoiler: Second guess hints

1 possibility

First ten possibilities (in no particular order):
decoy

First 10 suggestions for the next guess:
decoy

 

[dwarde]

Wordle 1,123 4/6

 

[fresh_42]

Wordle 1,124 3/6

 

[Orodruin]

If you know my seed words you may want to wait with opening this …

Spoiler: Be warned!!

Wordle 1 124 2/6




Today was one of those days I decided not to use my secod seed word …

 

[OmCheeto]

Wordle 1,124 3/6

 

[Herman Trivilino]

Wordle 1,124 3/6

 

[jack action]

Wordle 1,124 4/6

[ROATE]
[HILUS]
[UNITE] (only 2 possibilities and I selected the wrong one)


The program is still working well! Even by choosing weird words.

 

[kuruman]

Wordle 1,124 2/6

 

[sbrothy]

Wordle 1.124 4/6*

Spoiler

 

[gmax137]

Wordle 1,124 3/6

SPLIT
THING
"It's been awhile since we had a QU"

 

[dwarde]

Wordle 1,124 5/6

 

[jack action]

Wordle 1,124 3/6

SPLIT
THING
"It's been awhile since we had a QU"

I had it in 4 guesses and that was just bad luck as I could have made it in 3 if I had selected the only other choice.

Seeing that only one person made it also in 4 guesses (and I know @sbrothy is only using his brain) and that everybody else had it in 3 guesses or even 2 (!), I was wondering what word choices were used to be so efficient. But with your explicit answer, I've put it through my program and you still have 5 possible answers after your 2nd guess (WRITE, FRITZ, DEITY, QUITE, AMITY).

If I had started with SPLIT like you, my program suggested using either HENRY, RHYNE, or YRNEH, which any of them would still leave me with 2 choices, TWICE and QUITE, weeding out 49 possible answers instead of 46 like you did.

Knowing that already 2 members out of 8 (so far) of this group already found it in 2 guesses - which is necessarily out of luck - what are the chances that the rest of you got it in 3 guesses? Which should still require a little bit of luck, since, according to the Wordle Bot, the NYT average was 3.8 for this puzzle.

Worst of all, the Wordle Bot solved it in 4, and - after I redone it with the same first 2 guesses but with the correct answer as the third guess - it told me that, with my choice of words, it would have picked the other one, just like I did originally!

This was a great choice. HILUS would’ve been one of my top picks. You’ve narrowed it down to only two remaining words: UNITE or QUITE.

You had two words to pick from and you chose the right one! Excellent work. And you bested me — I would’ve guessed UNITE.

Were you all this lucky or am I missing something?

EDIT: Just saw @dwarde 's result: Sorry for your result but thank you for giving me a little more faith in probability and statistics theory!

 

[Orodruin]

I was wondering what word choices were used to be so efficient

I mean, my usual seed word is SUITE followed by ROYAL as this covers all vowels as well as a number of very common consonants. It didn't leave many more options ...

 

[jack action]

I mean, my usual seed word is SUITE followed by ROYAL as this covers all vowels as well as a number of very common consonants. It didn't leave many more options ...

Yes, this is what I call luck. It happens. Statistically, you should have been the only one in this group for this puzzle.

If the NYT average is 3.8 and we have 9 players (so far), then with your 2, the average of the others should be $\frac{3.8 * 9 - 2}{8} = 4.025$ and their average is 3.375. I'm just wondering if they have a special technique or if they were just a little less lucky than you.

@gmax137 still required a little bit of luck with choosing the correct answer between 5 possible answers. Unless he knew something I don't know, like previous answers maybe?

 

[Orodruin]

Yes, this is what I call luck. It happens. Statistically, you should have been the only one in this group for this puzzle.

Not really luck as it was bound to happen at some point. It just happened today.

If the NYT average is 3.8 and we have 9 players (so far), then with your 2, the average of the others should be $\frac{3.8 * 9 - 2}{8} = 4.025$ and their average is 3.375. I'm just wondering if they have a special technique or if they were just a little less lucky than you.

That’s gambler’s fallacy though … Just because I solved it in 2 doesn’t mean anyone here is less likely to solve it fast.

@gmax137 still required a little bit of luck with choosing the correct answer between 5 possible answers. Unless he knew something I don't know, like previous answers maybe?

Many people here take previous solutions into account. Iirc some may even use others’ solutions posted here as additional information but don’t quote me on that. I would dare a guess that people here take things a bit further than the average Wordle solver.

 

[fresh_42]

Wordle 1,125 4/6

 

[Orodruin]

Wordle 1 125 4/6

 

[gmax137]

@gmax137 still required a little bit of luck with choosing the correct answer between 5 possible answers. Unless he knew something I don't know, like previous answers maybe?

No, I don't have any lists, I don't have the list of all "allowed" words, nor the list of possible answers, nor the list of previous answers. I use seed words that pop into my head when I start each puzzle. From my first two guesses on 7/17:
SPLIT
THING
I get that the "I" is the third letter. And "T" is either 2nd or 4th. It seemed to me, that lots of words end in "ITE," I considered that before pondering for "*TI**" words. As mentioned above, I "saw" QUITE and thought "it's about time for 'QU' to make a showing."

My solving technique is kind of like crossword, or Wheel of Fortune: Once I have a letter or two I let my mind fill in the blanks.

 

[jack action]

Not really luck as it was bound to happen at some point. It just happened today.

That's what luck is. No matter, what word you choose as your first guess, it is bound to happen that it will be the answer. Though, there are no techniques that will increase your chances of making this happen. (Except maybe using a word that wasn't a previous answer, but the odds will still be low.)

No, I don't have any lists, I don't have the list of all "allowed" words, nor the list of possible answers, nor the list of previous answers. I use seed words that pop into my head when I start each puzzle. From my first two guesses on 7/17:
SPLIT
THING
I get that the "I" is the third letter. And "T" is either 2nd or 4th. It seemed to me, that lots of words end in "ITE," I considered that before pondering for "*TI**" words. As mentioned above, I "saw" QUITE and thought "it's about time for 'QU' to make a showing."

My solving technique is kind of like crossword, or Wheel of Fortune: Once I have a letter or two I let my mind fill in the blanks.

That is so weird because I was doing it without lists before and my thinking would have been different for similar reasons to yours:

I agree that from your guesses, thinking it ends in ITE may seem a logical guess ... but it was still erroneous to assume it was: there were actually more guesses NOT ending in ITE. And the fact that words with QU are so rare, I would prefer another guess. This is why I chose UNITE over QUITE with only those two possibilities. In your case, I would have chosen WRITE over QUITE. (Assuming I would have thought of it, of course.)

But even not knowing how many answers are possible, I would have probably taken a "lost" guess to identify the other missing letters, like CRATE (I get the most popular vowels, a new position for T, and two popular consonants) which in this case would have made QUITE a lot more obvious (actually, the only possible answer).

In the end, you must admit that selecting correctly a word from a list of five words - even if you didn't know how many there were - is being a little bit lucky. You have better odds guessing that the next card pulled from a deck of cards will be a figure (J, Q, K).

 

[Orodruin]

That's what luck is. No matter, what word you choose as your first guess, it is bound to happen that it will be the answer. Though, there are no techniques that will increase your chances of making this happen. (Except maybe using a word that wasn't a previous answer, but the odds will still be low.)

On a single isolated play yes. On the whole no. If I keep using the same word over and over, once all words are used it will have been solved in one exactly once. There is no variation here and therefore no luck. It is not a lottery where I can keep losing time after time even if I use the same numbers.

And the fact that words with QU are so rare, I would prefer another guess. This is why I chose UNITE over QUITE with only those two pos

This is another fallacy. Once you know it is one of those two, neither word is more or less probable than the other.

 

[Herman Trivilino]

Wordle 1,125 4/6






So far, no one has done any better (or any worse) than 4/6!

I wasted a move.

 

[Orodruin]

Wordle 1,125 4/6






So far, no one has done any better (or any worse) than 4/6!

I wasted a move.

The solution was the first word that popped into my mind after my two seeds. After some thinking I decided on a different word that was more informative if wrong …