The taming of the Wordle

[shewhomust]

There has been correspondence recently in the Guardian in which the writers display the merits of their preferred Wordle start words. If you are dismissive of Wordle in general, or having a preferred start word - let alone writing to the Guardian about it - this post is not for you.

Where I took issue with the writers was that they were unanimous in triumph at the number of vowels they had managed to squeeze into a five letter word: ADIEU was one, for example. I can see why you might choose that strategy, but my own start word - yes, I admit it, I have a preferred start word, and although I experiment with others, I return to it - is all about the consonants. Four consonants and an E gives me a structure, and has just allowed me to solve the Wordle on my second attempt (why does Wordle refer to 'guesses'? I'm not guessing) two days in a row.

This post is not intended as a boast about my cleverness. When the system tells me I have three correct consonants incorrectly placed, it gives me quite a big hint about the correct placing, and frees my imagination to pick a random vowel. The rest is luck.

Title of this post provided by durham_rambler's comment when I told him my start word: which is SHREW.

Comments

[asakiyume]

I used to have a start word, but these days I like to pick a word at random, my only requirement being that it have two vowels.

I like hearing about people's strategies! Thanks for sharing yours. I've only very rarely gotten it on two--maybe three or four times out of many many times playing!

[shewhomust]

Sometimes a random word comes into my mind, and quite often it does have two vowels - but I always seem to go back to SHREW.

[asakiyume]

I think my original start word was something like "CLEAR"

[larryhammer]

janni 's is TEARS. ADIEU has been working well enough for me, I've continued to use it, though sometimes I mix it up with SHORT.

[shewhomust]

Well, that's interesting: you have two words which are very different! SHORT, of course, has much in common with SHREW, so I can see how that would work!

[larryhammer]

Actually, I misspoke -- I used to use either SHORT or SNORT, but have gotten out of the habit of ever trying SNORT. I think my feeling is that while N is technically more common, H is more tightly tied into a couple consonant clusters.

[asakiyume]

This is smart! I pay a lot of attention to potential consonant clusters.

[shewhomust]

Though sometimes a snort expresses my feelings too well to resist!

[conuly]

Hm. D being a more common letter than W, would SHRED work better?

[shewhomust]

That makes sense. Other people are being much more rational about this than I am.

[doubtingmichael]

Most of my local friends are vowel fans, so I am delighted by your analysis, which I consider insightful and perspicacious (which is to say, I agree with you). My word, for similar reasons, is SLANT. I never vary it because I can't bear the thought that it might be the target word the one day I try out another. (If I get no matches, my second choice is HIRED.)

I think "guessing" is fairly common game/puzzle terminology for this sort of thing. I'd use the word that way: if there are multiple possible answers and you're trying one out, I'd say it's a guess but not a *blind* guess.

[shewhomust]

Actually, that makes me want to vary my start word a bit more - how awful to be trapped in that way! Like the people who have to check 'their' ,ittery numbers, even when they haven't bought a ticket.

That's a nice distinction, re. guessing!

[cellio]

I, too, find the consonants much more important. The starting word I've been using for a while does have three vowels (and two common consonants); the word I almost always follow up with has one vowel and four consonants. Between these ten letters I generally have enough information to get it in one or two more tries. I'm willing to "waste" tries on words that couldn't possibly be right (because they don't use previous information) if they can provide new illumination.

My start word has an anagram; I chose the one I did to tease out valuable information about placement. That is, if my start word gives me a yellow on one of those consonants, that it is yellow and not green helps me figure out where it really goes. If, on the other hand, it were yellow in the anagram, that would leave more possibilities open.

This comment makes it sound like I'm much more serious about this than I am. I enjoy taking an engineering approach to it, but I'm not competitive or hard-core.

[shewhomust]

Yes, sometimes the information about placement is the vital clue.

I don't have a regular 'second try' - that's an interesting idea!