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On 19 June 2021, a simple new online game calledWordlemade its debut.
Today, it reached puzzle #1,000 and I’ve played every single one.
I’ve played through vacations and family crises and several job changes.
I’ve played through war and elections and World Cups, and through rain and shine.
Technically, Wordle is 1,001 games old, not 1,000, because its first puzzle was #0.
(I could write about feeding my dog, but it would be a lot less interesting.)
So, what do you learn about the game from playing that many times, and losing only once?
Here are my thoughts.
More Wordle 1,000 stories
1.
But some of itisuseful, at least when it comes to the art of streak preservation.
I speak from experience, because my Wordle streak is now at 800.
That’s more than two years of daily play without a single loss.
That certainly isn’t because I’m a genius (not that anyone suggested I am).
I escaped with a 6/6 for RIPER, for instance, thesecond hardest Wordle of 2023.
I solvedSASSY, another tough Wordle, again with a 6/6.
(I wouldn’t recommend that as a general strategy.)
As I said, I’m not a genius so how did I do it?
Namely, by playing it safe.
For instance: -ATCH words.
Guessing one after the other is not smart play.
You might escape with a 3/6 or 4/6 but you might also fail.
Guessing CLAMP, though, will rule out four possible answers in one go.
Don’t be a hero.
It’s all thanks to the now dearly departed Wordle Archive.
It was a godsend for Wordlers who didn’t start playing until early 2022, which was most people.
Unfortunately, along the way, I did lose one game and it was a stinker.
How often have you ever seen or used that word?
It’s just ridiculous.
Still, 1,000 out of 1,001 is a pretty good record anyway.
Twice I’ve played at midnight when abroad and found the next day that my streak has reset itself.
This doesn’t really matter, because I write about Wordle every day and have screenshots of every game.
IknowI’ve played, even if Wordle doesn’t.
But you’d imagine it would be an easy thing to fix.
The ball is in your court, NYT.
Hard mode sucks
That -ATCH trap I described in #1?
For instance, there’s the -OUND trap, or the –TER trap or the -AN-Y trap.
If you do, that’s your call but you probably won’t beat my streak.
It’s a fact because mathematicians say so and mathematicians are smarter than you or I.
It all comes down to statistics.
S, C, B) are very common at the start.
Still others (Y, T, R) are very common at the end.
I dig into all of this more in myanalysis of Wordle’s first 1,000 games.
Although that said…
6.
…but playing without one is more fun
Forget everything I said above!
Well, not really it’s all true.
Well, mainly because I was getting a bit bored.
If I got a single green E, I’d play CLING.
After a while, this can all become a bit formulaic.
And it certainly doesn’t make for the most interesting fodder for a daily Wordle column.
Using a random opener is definitely more interesting.
I’m on a Wordle rollercoaster, and it’s both exhilarating and terrifying!
(Within reason this is only an online word game, after all.)
That makes some sense because vowels do feature in almost all of Wordle’s 2,309 original answers list.
However, they’re not nearly as useful as consonants.
You only have five to choose from.
Uncovering the right ones is therefore not difficult.
Vowels don’t give a word its shape, consonants do.
There are maybe a dozen possible answers.
But knowing that it contains A, E, and I?
Well, there are two or three times that number, maybe more.
ADIEU is fine, it’s very helpful on some days and somewhat helpful on most.
If you use the second guess wisely, you might often all but guarantee a 3/6 instead.
And that includes leaving out green letters if you have any.
This will go against your instincts because you’ll know it’s not going to be the answer.
Better to improve the odds that you don’t end up failing entirely.
Note to self: do not do this again.
Playing against friends is more fun than going solo
At its heart, Wordle is a social game.
Would we chat daily without Wordle?
Maybe, but this makes it a sure thing.
I’ve played them all at some point and I can’t get close to recalling them all.
Where it gets difficult is with the words that are similar to each other.
I know we’ve had a few -OUND games now, but have we had BOUND?
I’m lost when it comes to this kind of thing.
There are a lot of five-letter words
Seriously.
Wordle has 2,309 of them in its list of answers, but more than 10,000 are accepted as guesses.
And I definitely did not know them all beforehand.
And of course BORAX.
In short, expect the unexpected.
Wordle is just a game… maybe?
Obviously I take all this too seriously.
But self-awareness is a thing, and I think I have it where Wordle is concerned.
Could I do that?
Probably not; I’d do what sensible people do, and play for fun.
And you know what?
That would be a bit of a relief.
But on the other hand… no way is that going to happen.
Here’s to the next 1,000.
