Wordle Lovers - Play the NYT Daily Game

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Discussion Overview

This thread centers around the daily Wordle game from the New York Times, where participants share their results, strategies, and experiences. The discussion includes personal anecdotes, strategies for guessing words, and reflections on the game's impact on cognitive skills.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Meta-discussion

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants share their Wordle results, indicating varying levels of success, with scores ranging from 1 to 6 attempts.
  • Several users discuss their strategies for choosing starting words, with mentions of specific words like 'EARLY', 'PIOUS', and 'ADIEU'.
  • One participant notes the surprising number of five-letter words in English and reflects on the difficulty of the game.
  • There are personal anecdotes about family members' engagement with word games, including Wordle, Sudoku, and crosswords.
  • Some participants express a competitive spirit in playing Wordle with partners or family members.
  • Discussion includes a comparison of Wordle to other games, such as Mastermind, highlighting differences in gameplay mechanics.
  • Participants speculate on the timing of Wordle updates and how it may vary based on local time zones and device settings.
  • One user shares their experience playing Wordle in both English and Spanish, noting differences in guessing success rates.
  • There are corrections and clarifications regarding the validity of certain word guesses, such as 'FHLMN'.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions and experiences regarding strategies and the nature of the game, with no clear consensus on the best approaches or the implications of playing Wordle on cognitive skills.

Contextual Notes

Some discussions involve assumptions about the game's rules and the validity of word guesses, which may not be universally agreed upon. There are also references to personal experiences that may not apply to all players.

Who May Find This Useful

This thread may be of interest to fans of word games, particularly those who enjoy sharing strategies and results, as well as those curious about the social dynamics of competitive gameplay.

  • #7,501
dwarde said:
Dancing all around it.

Wordle 1,524 5/6

🟨⬜⬜⬜🟨
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨
🟨⬜🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Like a golden shower of nonsense.
 
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  • #7,502
Wordle 1,525 3/6

β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬› OARED 12 left
β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›πŸŸ© GRIPY 2 left
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
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  • #7,503
Yeah, this one was easier. Was lucky with the start word too.

Wordle 1.525 3/6*

β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

3B15AEF5-EC8C-4468-99F1-A7BF57D4F13A.webp
 
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  • #7,504
Guess #3 was a little lucky, but us kids use this word all the time :-)

Wordle 1,525 3/6*

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜AUREI
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨GRANT
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩RATTY
 
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  • #7,505
Holy cow, I was just trying to place the letters in the word.

Wordle 1,525 2/6

🟨🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
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  • #7,506
I am happy to report that I finally completed the task I undertook in February and announced in post #6,496.
Here is a summary of what I did, what I observed and what I concluded.

What I did
  • Devise an initial filter of the same 4 five-letter words and use it to separate the list of 12792 five-letter words into subgroups.
  • Assume that all words have equal probability of being the target, i.e. ignore "previously used" words.
  • After this initial separation, use additional filters to reduce a subgroup into sub-subgroups until reduction to a subngroup of 1 word.
  • Assign a score equal to the total number of filter words used to determine the target with 100% certainty. An exception to this was the 50-50 subgroup: If, after N filters there were only 2 words in a subgroup in which case there is an equal probability for a score of N+1 or N+2, I assigned an in-between score of (N+1).5.
  • I used CARED BEWIG LUMPY KNOTS, in that order, for the initial filter. It was applied sequentially to the entire list. The only exceptions were the filter words themselves. To BEWIG LUMPY KNOTS, I assigned respective scores of 2, 3 and 4 without further ado. In the case of CARED, I considered the 12 members of subgroup _ ARED and found paths to all the members with CARED as the initial guess. The scores varied from 3 to 5.5 except the starting CARED to which I assigned the one and only score of 1 in the entire list.
What I found out
The bottom line is that, using the 4-word filter presented above, it is possible that paths to all 12792 words can be found with no more than 7 filter words. However, the probability for that to happen is 50-50. That's because there one subgroup which is highly degenerate and well-populated. It is the _ E _ TS subgroup,
FESTS FETTS HEFTS HESTS JESTS SETTS SEXTS TESTS TEXTS VESTS ZESTS
Using FISHY as filter 5, separates subgroups as follows
one-word {FESTS} {FETTS} {HEFTS} {HESTS}
three-word {SETTS SEXTS TEXTS}
four-word {JESTS TESTS VESTS ZESTS}
The one-word subgroups are solved with one additional identity filter 6 for a score of 6.
The three-word subgroup is solved with filter 6 TEXTS for a score of 6 or 7.
There is no 5-letter word that can be used to solve the four-word subgroup for a score of 7. The best that one do is to use a word that contains V and Z, e.g. VIZIR, for filter 6 to get VESTS or ZESTS for a score of 7. This leaves the two-word subgroup, {JESTS TESTS} and one guess left. The solution with one additional guess is possible if one is lucky but not guaranteed. Thus, the two words are assigned a score of 7.5 each. I should note that these are the only words that do not have a guaranteed solution with no more than 7 guesses.

Summary
Screen Shot 2025-08-22 at 4.00.30 PM.webp
The table on the right summarizes the results from this survey. It shows that the brute force use of this 4-word filter is sufficient to solve more than 70% of the 12,792 words with one additional guess, the identity filter. The scores below 5 belong exclusively to the _ARED group as explained above.

An example is the last word on the list, ZYMIC that has a score of 5. Who would have thought it? However a closer look shows that for this word
  • ABDEGKLNOPRSTUW are excluded
  • M and I appear in the correct position
  • C is in but not in position 1 and Y is in but not in position 5.
which is sufficient to produce a one-word subgroup. In fact all words that start with Z are 5 pointers.

Afterthoughts
I spent considerable time on the initial filter design to maximize hits and using letters only once. Eventually, though, I thought that it would be a good idea to use E twice in positions 2 and 5 and sacrifice H. Is there a better filter than this out there? I don't know, but at least I have provided a table that can be used as a benchmark in case someone else gets the same idea and has the time.
 
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  • #7,507
Wordle 1,526 3/6

β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬› SANER 40
β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ© LOGIN 1
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
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  • #7,508
OK, that was really scatterbrained. Don't know what I was thinking in guess #2.

Wordle 1,526 4/6*

β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨
πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨β¬›
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Screenshot (15).webp

EDIT: Also, inspired by the post above I added the official wordle word list to the sourceforge wcheat repo. Don't know why I was using the complete Collins Scrabble list. Again scatterbrained.
 
Last edited:
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  • #7,509
Uhhhh
Wordle 1,526 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ SPACE
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ RUNTY
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ MOULD
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 UNION
 
  • #7,510
TensorCalculus said:
Uhhhh
Wordle 1,526 4/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ SPACE
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜ RUNTY
🟨🟨🟨⬜⬜ MOULD
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 UNION

Courageous start word! :smile:
 
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  • #7,511
sbrothy said:
Courageous start word! :smile:
It's one of my favourite words :)
 
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  • #7,512
Wordle 1,526 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
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  • #7,513
OUCH!

Wordle 1,527 X/6*

β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨
β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›β¬›
β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©
β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©
πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©

Screenshot (16).webp

EDIT: Oops. Sorry.
 
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  • #7,514
Wordle 1,527 4/6

πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›β¬› RENAL 91
πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬› ODIST 4
🟨🟨🟨🟨🟨 POSER 1
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Drats! Had I used my seed from yesterday, I would have had a 50/50 chance of getting it in two.
 
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  • #7,515
Same root word, drastically different results :)
Wordle 1,527 3/6*

🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 SPACE
🟩🟩🟩⬜🟩 SPOKE
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SPORE
 
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  • #7,516
I tripped all over that second letter.

Wordle 1,527 6/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
  • #7,517
dwarde said:
I tripped all over that second letter.

Wordle 1,527 6/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Quite a bit of bad luck as there are only 7 accepted words with that pattern.
Interestingly, SMORE is only one not on my list of valid solutions. One of my lady friends is a smoreaholic.
 
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  • #7,518
7 words and I burned through 5 of them. :smile:
 
  • #7,519
Wordle 1.528 5/6*

β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ¨
β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©πŸŸ©
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

03605602-A2D2-4DFE-A9DA-116AC5CA8512.webp
 
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  • #7,520
Wordle 1,528 3/6

πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬› RELAY 77
πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ©β¬›β¬› TORUS 2
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
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  • #7,521
WHAT.
Wordle 1,528 2/6*

⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨AUREI
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩MIRTH
 
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  • #7,522
Wordle 1,528 4/6

🟨⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
  • #7,523
Wordle 1,529 3/6

πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›πŸŸ©β¬› AIDER 4
πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬› APNEA 1
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
  • #7,524
Got a little lucky at the end there I think.

Wordle 1.529 4/6*

πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬›
πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›β¬›
πŸŸ©β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

E23FC092-E20F-41EA-9DAF-AAF3259548B8.webp
 
  • #7,525
Wordle 1,529 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
  • #7,526
Another I've-been-staring-at-it-for-30mins day. But I'm not losing my streak.

So I'll stare at it a bit longer.
 
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  • #7,527
Wordle 1,530 3/6

β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨β¬›πŸŸ¨ PARSE 86
β¬›β¬›β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨ DICOT 2
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
 
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  • #7,528
Gah I forgot to post yesterday's wordle (I went to sleep immediately after so... that's my excuse). It was 5/6, I'll try and remember the words and post it later if I can 😭

Wordle 1,530 4/6*

β¬›πŸŸ¨πŸŸ¨β¬›β¬›ATOMS
β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ¨πŸŸ©β¬›NOTED
πŸŸ©πŸŸ©β¬›πŸŸ©πŸŸ©TOPER: I had no idea what this meant but now I've searched it up... welp... oh well.
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩TOWER
 
  • #7,529
Wordle 1.530 1/6*

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Screenshot_20250827-130854_Chrome.webp

I didn't cheat, not intentionally that is. I did initially solve it without logging in, and sunsequently logging in didn't help. So I just wrote the solution, which makes me look really hardcore. Truth be told though it took me 4 guesses. :woot:
 
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  • #7,530
Bahaha getting the wordle in one... that brings back memories...

Back a couple of years ago when wordle had really blown up (and was seen everywhere) I had realised that all of the wordle solutions were hardcoded into the website's code.

So then I played this "magic trick" on my friends a couple of times where I would "magically" guess what tomorrow's wordle solution would be, and I would be right every time (and also stunned them every time). They never figured it out :woot:. I stopped after a week or so though because... well... who likes ruining the wordle for themselves (and, their friends, though they seemed to care more about the fact that they had a friend that could predict the future than the fact that they just had the wordle spoiled for them) just to play a trick on some of their friends?
 
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