It started in October 2021 and quickly went viral. A free online daily game where you had six tries to solve a five letter word. Being the word nerd that I am, I quickly followed suit, trying different strategies. Was it better to have a different starter word each day? Pick one with a lot of vowels, like PIOUS? Eventually I opted to choose one starter word. I picked DREAM.
And then one day DREAM came up. Guessed it in one. But instead of euphoria (or at least moderate happiness), I felt a sense of deflation. I’d won. Now what?
I still play, though I can’t seem to come up with a new starter word I like. And my attempts are more half-hearted. I’ve been known to enter the same wrong word over again just to get to the answer. And I’m embarrassed to admit how many times I’ve used a letter that I know isn’t in that day’s puzzle. It boils down to inattentiveness. A lack of interest.
I expect I’ll continue to play Wordle until the New York Times makes me pay for the privilege. But honestly, since DREAM, things just haven’t been the same.
What about you? Do you still Wordle? Do you have a strategy? Has your word ever come up, and if so, how did that make you feel? Wordle minds want to know.
Jumped into Wordle from the start and do the puzzle daily. After reading the news on my kindle (everything is on kindle!), I look through the daily headlines for a five letter word containing two vowels to use each day. My average is 3-4 tries. This is part of my morning coffee routine and I still like the challenge. Enjoy your day, Judy!
Nice to hear from you Gail! I like your strategy — I may adopt it since I can’t decide on a new starter word.
I do still play. Probably less than half of the pleasure is doing the puzzle. The other is seeing what others post and commenting. It feels like a community.
I didn’t know there was a community, Kaye! I’m missing out!
Not an organized community, just other people who post theirs, and who comment on mine. Gradually, it becomes mostly the same people.
Ah. Gotcha. Well I do Tweet mine every day!
I do it on Facebook. There are lots of us there.
Interesting.
Thanks for asking. My strategy is based on 6 common consonants and 4 common vowels, and I start with a word using them. With the second I select from the rest, plus what I’ve learned.
My daughter and I bounce our results off each other every morning. (She hasn’t yet had to call the police if I don’t respond.)
The only grouch I have is when I get my word, and NYT then forgets I played and makes me play again. Whereupon it then breaks my streak !!! My revenge is to use my honestly-earned answer as my first word. That’ll teach them.
Susan, I’ve never had NYT forget…maybe you are using different platforms to solve, phone, desktop etc.? You do seem to have a system. I’m much more haphazard but generally solve in no more than 4 — though I’ve done 5 and 6 and have had a couple of no-solves.
You were late to the party, Debra! I do find the starter word strategy to be the best one. But yes, the novelty does wear off,
I held off knowing it would be an addictive challenge, so I only started playing it three months ago. Like you, it became a means of outsmarting the game by using words with lots of vowels, but now, as I want to see how long my streak goes, I find myself doing stupid things like not moving a letter the way I should or because I’m looking for other vowels or consonants or not straining my mind for a common word. Usually, I play it at midnight, but the novelty is wearing off.