They’re all classified. Sorry.

April 19, 2022 2:41 PM

‘I Have 100 Percent, and I Intend to Keep It That Way’: Kamala Harris Breaks Down Her Daily Wordle Habit [The Ringer]
posted by chavenet (52 comments total)

Today's broke everybody in my entire family's streaks because we all got letters 2, 4 and 5, but there were just too many possibilities. Hopefully she has better luck!
posted by thewumpusisdead at 2:50 PM on April 19, 2022 [19 favorites]

I just barely didn’t lose my streak today. My husband got letters 3, 4, 5 on his second word today, for which I proclaim him monster, and still didn’t win til guess 5.
posted by Night_owl at 2:56 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Today was the first day I lost (another 2, 4, 5 here - on round 3!). The worst is that lately I've been playing on my stepson's "hard" mode, where once you get a letter right you have to play it (and play it in place once it's green). If I had deviated I think I would have had it. Grrr.

ETA - okay just read the article, and apparently the official "hard" mode is easier than my dumb way. Double grrr.
posted by Mchelly at 3:02 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

She also plays Spelling Bee:

'They don’t let you play all the way through and it’s really frustrating. They do let you get to, like, in the 20s and then they turn you over and say, “You’re really good at this! Would you like to subscribe?”'

Someone should tell her about Spellbound.
posted by box at 3:02 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

ETA - okay just read the article, and apparently the official "hard" mode is easier than my dumb way.

Your way is the only way to play, if you ask me. ;)

(Ok to be fair, I've been known to deviate from hard mode and play a "safety word" (to eliminate possibilities) when it looked like going through all the options could potentially result in an X/6.)
posted by bigendian at 3:16 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

Lost today and one of the ones on the weekend almost got me. I play on hard mode and sometimes you just need to accept that luck won't always be with you and also recognize that some of your past "successes" were partially down to luck as well. I've now lost 3 times out of 113 and after the first one I became much more relaxed about it. Kind of like after getting the first dent or scratch on your car you stop worrying so much about it happening again.

My kids asked me about Heardle on the weekend and I shocked them by getting it in 1 second (Walking on Broken Glass by Annie Lennox) but it's got a pretty distinctive opening so if you've heard the song, and remember its name, then you'll get it that quickly, and if you haven't then you'll never get it.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:17 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

I lost today, the first time ever. That makes me a loser.
posted by Oyéah at 3:33 PM on April 19, 2022 [7 favorites]

Now you'll never be Vice President.
posted by box at 3:37 PM on April 19, 2022 [14 favorites]

Also, I can console myself that my longest streak is still longer than hers. For now at least.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:38 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Yeah, I don't get why hard mode is worth it, especially after the NYT took it over and (according to me and my Wordle posse) started using words that punished its use. I will sometimes play like I'm on it but if I need a sacrificial word to filter out words for something like SHA_E you better believe I'm doing it.

Got today in 4, still smarting from my only X/6 on LOWLY a few weeks ago...
posted by sapere aude at 3:41 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

I play on hard mode and technically I've only lost once because Wordle doesn't count days when I give up or don't even bother playing as "losses".

And I think they should give you a point anyway if you lose on hard mode because coming up with six different words which aren't the correct one is still an accomplishment!
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:49 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

I’ve only been playing for about 2 1/2 months, but I’m still 100% and haven’t missed a day. I got today’s in four, but it was also a nicely oddball word. My biggest hangup is I have a habit of opting for the “rare” word option when the choice comes down to a more common word or the “rare” word. That always cost me a level.

About two weeks ago, my wife and I had different words on the same day. I know there was a similar glitch back when NYT took it over, but this was, as I said, two weeks ago. Weird.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:50 PM on April 19, 2022

Hard mode isn't actually as hard as it can be. It requires you to pick words that match the green and yellow, but permits you to use letters that have already been eliminated.

I'm not sure how much harder that would be, tbh, but it would be vastly more annoying.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 3:51 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

I've never lost Wordle. It will happen, eventually, no doubt -- sometimes sequences like SHA_E pop up, and if you're on hard mode, it could come down to luck. But I ascribe my success to playing sedecordle.com -- once you've tried to solve 16 Wordles at once, hard mode seems easy.
posted by lewedswiver at 3:51 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

Hard mode isn't actually as hard as it can be. It requires you to pick words that match the green and yellow, but permits you to use letters that have already been eliminated.

Holy crap you're right! I've just always assumed hard mode doesn't let you use letters that have already been eliminated. Seriously, I had no idea you could reuse eliminated letters in hard mode.


Bart's teacher is named Krabappel? I've been calling her Crandall! Why didn't someone tell me?!?!?!?!
posted by RonButNotStupid at 3:59 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

I never knew about hard mode, but I think that's how I already play. It seems harder, or at least riskier, to not keep matched letters where they are.
posted by swift at 4:01 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

I got today's pattern on my second guess, then used all of the rest of my guesses making poor attempts to guess the word. I lost. The answer wasn't even in what would have been my next 5 guesses.
posted by hydra77 at 4:34 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

I got today's wordle in three, and I take that as a vindication of starting with a new random word whenever you feel like it. If you go with a system, you will almost always land at the normal average of four guesses, and that is fun too, or with those frustrating sequences where you get to six or even lose because of one letter. But if you go with random first words, you can much more often get it right in two and three guesses, and I suppose even a one now and again, though it hasn't happened to me.

Anyway, it was a really nice portrait of VP Harris. She feels very real in it.
posted by mumimor at 4:36 PM on April 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

mumimor, I definitely subscribe to not always starting with the same word. I feel like once I do that, I’m a step closer to just being a solve code, and it makes it not a game for me. Right now I like CRATE.
posted by Night_owl at 5:02 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Huh, today's was so easy for me! 3 guesses. But I lost a few days ago. I don't even remember the word, but I was sad about it; usually I lose my streaks because I forget to do it, not because I don't get it in six.
posted by potrzebie at 5:04 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

My starter word is FRAME. Usually this is a terrible word to start with but today it worked great. No I will not be changing my word thanks for asking because the day I do the word will be FRAME and I will be mad forever. This way is better.
posted by phunniemee at 5:04 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

I’ve grown tired of Wordle but maybe it’s my mechanistic way of playing. I did an analysis of letter frequency by position among possible solution words (NB: there are no plurals in solution words so terminal S isn’t super common) and came up with a system that solves it in 4 almost half the time and 3 or 5 almost a quarter of times each. My starting word is SLATE, then BRINY, then, if necessary, POUCH. It’s a good system but not very fun.
posted by sjswitzer at 5:20 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

I like the puzzle aspect of teasing out an answer over several turns more than I do getting it in the fewest guesses, and I find it more fun and serendipitous to start with a word that seems to fit my mood for the day and work from there. Today’s word was SPATE; not sure why.
posted by Tuba Toothpaste at 5:27 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

I keep it interesting with a different starter word each day.
posted by jjderooy at 5:46 PM on April 19, 2022 [5 favorites]

Got today's (Tuesday's) in four guesses. My starting word is ROUTE. (Three vowels, including the terminal E, and two very common consonants.) My second word depends on the results of the first word. Amateur tip: prioritize positioning the "yellow" letters correctly.
posted by SPrintF at 5:57 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

PEARL COINS DOUBT
posted by eustatic at 6:08 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

For awhile, I was using the previous day's solution as each day's new start word. I called this variation: Caterdle.
posted by praiseb at 6:38 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

there are no plurals in solution words so terminal S isn’t super common

I was able to get today’s from only having ⬛️🟩⬛️🟩🟩 (which is where a lot of people got stuck) because the above observation generalizes: the solution words don’t end in suffixes. That is, it’s rarely going to end in -ed as the past tense of a verb, or -er as the person doing a verb. Or applied to today’s:

in this case, ending in -er meant that a bunch of words were valid guesses, but only words like POWER and FOYER were likely to be the answer, while ROWER or DOTER weren’t, since “power” isn’t someone who pows.

posted by supercres at 6:52 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

I lost today, the first time ever. That makes me a loser.

Me too. But then my GF and I went out to eat at a place where they just happened to be playing trivia, and despite being unprepared and just the two of us against a number of teams we came in third and got a gift certificate. So don't let that Wordle thing get you down. Just repeat to yourself: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me."
posted by TedW at 7:00 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

For me part of the fun with Wordle is trying to force my brain to come up with a starting word I haven't used before. Or at least I don't remember using before.
posted by mollweide at 7:26 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

Super hard mode: today’s starting word has to be yesterday’s guessed word. This adds an additional challenge because you have to remember yesterday’s word.
posted by Vatnesine at 8:22 PM on April 19, 2022 [2 favorites]

Wordle is the only semi-enjoyable aspect of my life at the moment (yeah, I know). I just wish that two minutes at midnight lasted longer (yes, that is what she said).
posted by DeepSeaHaggis at 8:32 PM on April 19, 2022 [3 favorites]

MOIST MEATS ADIEU
I rotate between the three, but not like that!
posted by shoesfullofdust at 8:34 PM on April 19, 2022 [1 favorite]

FARTS
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:12 PM on April 19, 2022 [4 favorites]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but the NYT released "Wordlebot" a sophisticated interactive thingy that analyzes your word choices and offers suggestions for what you could have played.

I've gotten just as addicted to using this after each game as I have to playing the game itself.
posted by jeremias at 3:16 AM on April 20, 2022 [3 favorites]

Always a different word depending on mood for Wordle and Squardle, but for Sedecordle it’s TRUCK POISE MADLY. I find that Ns tend to sort themselves out.
posted by Mchelly at 5:38 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

I enjoy wordle as much as the next person, but I find it odd that losing is so rare and feels like such a calamity when it happens. What other game do you like where you win 97% of the time? I mean this as a real question, not a rhetorical one, like what other game is actually like this. Crosswords? Jigsaw puzzles?

(You could argue that there are six degrees of "winning," and getting it in five or six also kind of feels like losing, as does doing worse than your friends...)
posted by anhedonic at 5:44 AM on April 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

Yay, the author/interviewer is my cousin Claire!

I've been using NOTES and I have to say, I'm not too pleased with its performance as a starting word.
posted by Drosera at 6:05 AM on April 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

I broke my streak at 102 on yesterday's word, which was more annoying than testing positive for Covid later in the day.
posted by ceiriog at 6:16 AM on April 20, 2022 [8 favorites]

I seem to be alone in that I lose fairly regularly. I have ADIEU as my starter word, as I like getting vowels out of the way first -- that's just how my brain works. I have no doubt that that adds a line to my totals, as it takes me longer to solve that all of my friends.

And you know what? I don't care. I have the way I play and I like it. And I can identify with all the reasons VP Harris said she likes playing, too.
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:56 AM on April 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

Yeah, I lost once. If you're playing hard mode there's not much you can do once you have 4 out of 5 and more possible words than guesses. For me, was it SPARE or STARE or SNARE or SHARE? No, it was not any of those.

If you're not playing hard mode once you see the trap you 're in you can easily eliminate a bunch of possibilities with a deliberately "wrong" guess. Unless you're really lazy.

(For the record, I don't actually play hard mode. I'm just lazy.)
posted by mark k at 8:10 AM on April 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

I mean this as a real question, not a rhetorical one, like what other game is actually like this. Crosswords? Jigsaw puzzles?

Crosswords, sudoku, Jumble, puzzles in general. There's a solution and assuming the puzzle is fair and you know what you're doing you ought to be able to get it although you may need to select for an appropriate difficulty to match your skill level.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:11 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Certain kinds of solitaire. Connect Four, for player one.

Depending on your definitions of 'game' and 'win,' maybe something like a charity fun run, or even a casual round of golf. Only one person wins, but almost everybody finishes.
posted by box at 11:38 AM on April 20, 2022 [1 favorite]

Ceiriog - I only recently boarded the Wordle train but I had a 220+ day streak on the NYT Crossword then got COVID while visiting family, quarantined , rescheduled my flight, learned that my dad got COVID from me, recovered, cleared to travel, flew home on a red eye, and only on arriving at home the next day did I realize that I forgot to do that day's crossword. KHAN!!!!!

Oh well. 2023 New Year's Resolution came early.
posted by bl1nk at 11:49 AM on April 20, 2022 [2 favorites]

I mean this as a real question, not a rhetorical one, like what other game is actually like this

It's an interesting question because the answer is non-obviously "lots!"

The most popular tabletop roleplaying games these days are usually set up so your character survives, and you get the loot or save the world, and become big damn heroes. (No, not you Call of Cthulhu. I'm talking about other popular ones.)

You'd think boardgames need a lower win rate, and in general that's true, but co-op boardgames are popular and most of them are scaled so competent players will usually win. Lots of computer games too.

In general I think the rule is that if you're putting in a lot of time to finish one game, and you're not playing directly against other humans, you'll have a high win rate. Low win rates are acceptable for short quick games, like solitaire.
posted by mark k at 11:58 AM on April 20, 2022 [4 favorites]

I’ve only lost twice - once on my first day when I didn’t grok the game and another time when I ran out of chances on a 4-letter combo that had several options for the final letter.

For me, I come back every day because I like to see how well I can do. For me, that means three or better feels like a “real” win. Four just feels expected and five feels like a slip.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 11:26 PM on April 20, 2022

As it happens, I lost Wordle today. I blame The New York Times.
posted by box at 4:38 AM on April 21, 2022

I guessed today's (Thursday's) answer in four. It makes me wonder, however, what the rules are for excluding words from the solutions. Consider the word PRION (not the solution!). This word is familiar to me from microbiology; bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a prion disease. (Also, a prion is a small petrel; huh.) It's a good, solid 5-letter word, but I imagine it's too obscure to serve as a solution. Particularly if players moan about something like KNOLL. What are the limits, I wonder?
posted by SPrintF at 6:22 AM on April 21, 2022

I'm pretty sure I've had the word PRION come up in a sedecordle
posted by phunniemee at 7:56 AM on April 21, 2022

I just discovered Wordle-Bot, which is a guess analyzing tool run by NYT. It’s interesting. However, for people who care about this sort of thing, it’s worth mentioning that it does show if your valid guess could or could not be an answer.
posted by Night_owl at 8:01 AM on April 21, 2022

Consider the word PRION (not the solution!). This word is familiar to me from microbiology

I think Wordle was just seeded with something like the "12,000 most common five letter words" that when Josh Wardle made it.

The Spelling Bee list is more actively handled by Sam Ezersky, which is one reason they invite feedback. He definitely removes otherwise "valid" words he thinks his audience won't like. Given my background the disallowance of common chemistry terms--ones that show up in merriam webster--has been very annoying to me but I've seen other people complain it allows too many.
posted by mark k at 8:13 AM on April 21, 2022

I play on a different computer some days so I just resigned myself to not having a winning streak anywhere. I do run wordlebot sometimes but I often disagree with it. They're using the algorithm posted in a previous thread without including the disclaimer that it doesn't really consider things like common letter pairings or positions and a few other subtleties because they were too complex to code in. It will often chide me for eliminating key letters in my second turn or fail to consider that I am playing in hard mode.
posted by Karmakaze at 7:58 AM on April 25, 2022 [1 favorite]