Six calculated guesses to figure out a five-letter word. Wow!
Wordle1 the game, is simple, yet super fulfilling once you crack the word of the day. As per wikipedia2, the emoji-style display of the result that could be shared with friends is what made this game a viral phenomenon on social media (Twitter especially). People could share that they solved the day’s puzzle without revealing the letters.
Strategies
In the beginning, I used random words that came to mind, then started using words that had more vowels like ADIEU and AUDIO. For a while, I always started with the previous day’s word. Sometimes, I wondered what the previous day’s word was. Yeah, there are days in which much seemed to have happened between two mornings.
As per Tyler Glaiel 3, the mathematically optimal first guess is “ROATE”. Could also be ORATE I guess. Popular first words are ADIEU, AUDIO, STARE, CRATE, TEARY, PIOUS, RAISE, etc. Some sites mention that if you cover the letters RSTLNE in the first two guesses, you could mostly solve the puzzle on the 3rd try. Chris Chow 4 analyzed a few of the “seed word” strategies and explains why we ought to take “best” Wordle seed words with a pinch of salt. The key to the game is not the seed word necessarily but the strategy that one should follow based on the response to the first word. Interview Kickstart has an article with a list of algorithms to solve wordle 5. I’m wondering if ‘design wordle’ could be an interview question if one were to build a server side solution. The game itself is a javascript client side solution 6.
End Note
After playing the game for many days, I realized that it is fun to start with a word that comes to mind at that time. After solving, take a screenshot and save it into photos. After a month, when you look back at all the screenshots and look at the first words, you kind of get a glimpse of what you were thinking that morning. Or it can make you wonder too.
Before playing the game, I didn’t quite realize that there were so many 5 letter words in English. There are 2315 possible solutions in the game. In addition to the feeling of elation after solving it, the game also helped connect me with a few friends that I had lost touch with. Also, my wife and I solve it separately and it reminds me of the initial days of our marriage when we used to play Scrabble often. Go Wordle! Thanks Wardle7.
