Wordle. I bet you’ve heard of it, played it, failed at it, triumphed over it, cursed at it and maybe even cheated on it. It’s the latest online word game that has everyone captivated. Dare I say obsessed? I studiously avoided the game like the plague. At first. NOW? I am a Wordle fanatic.
The first time I saw it posted on my friend Sharon’s Facebook page, I thought, “Nope. Not interested.” (Sorry, Sharon!) The next day, I saw that she had posted it again. She was very good at the doggone game. My curiosity was piqued. But I still did not try it. I avoided involvement in Wordle for about a week. Then I succumbed to its lure.
Let me digress a bit. Wordle is an online word puzzle that uses a grid of six lines containing five spaces (tiles) in which to type words. Six tries to get the ending Wordle word, which, by the way, is sometimes a word that I’ve never in my life used in a sentence. You type in a 5-letter word and hit Enter. Like Wheel of Fortune, an invisible Vanna White slooooowly turns over your spaces to reveal how well (or how poorly) you have guessed. If a letter you guess is in the magic ending word and in the correct place, that tile is green. If the letter is contained in the word but in the wrong place, you get a yellow tile. If it’s not in the word at all, the tile is an ominous and slightly accusing gray or black.
So, anyway. The first time I tried it, I had no idea how it was played. I had not bothered to read anything about it because, come on, how hard can this game be? Yeah. Wrong. I failed miserably and cursed the game, swearing to never again play it. And I didn’t. For about 2 days.
This time I actually read the explanation for the game. Ah, yes, it all makes sense now. I think I got the word in 5 tries. I felt triumphant and a bit cocky. Until I saw other people posting their results on Facebook. Some had gotten the word in 3 tries and a few had 4. I was deflated but not defeated.
Oh, yeah, one more thing. You can only play Wordle once every 24 hours. So I had a full day to contemplate my strategy. My mind was filled with 5 letter words. Instead of counting sheep, I counted letters. I figured I should use a vowel-heavy starting word, thereby narrowing down the possibilities.
I hit on a good starting word and used it for quite a while, achieving mixed results. The best I ever got was 3 tries. Not bad, but in comparison to others, not fabulous. Not fireworks-inducing. “Gotta do better.” It had now become a vendetta, a challenge, a personal battle for Wordle supremacy. Or at least competency!
I kept using my same starting word, which was beginning to be ineffective. Let’s face it – it let me down. It disappointed me. I decided to fire it. It had only one consonant and I was finding that to NOT be helpful. So I said adieu to that word.
Our friends Chuck and Liz are masters of Wordle. Chuck made the grave error of sharing his starting word with me. Liz uses the same word and they both slay the game. Every day. So I started using their starting word.
Eureka! I was getting 3’s! (And the occasional 4). But still, I was doing better with this magic word. And today, I’m proud to say, I got the word in 2 tries. I feel like I won the lottery. Except I didn’t. But it’s a mental win!
Wordle has taught me several things: 1) there’s a TON of 5 letter words out there, 2) Even if you have a good vocabulary, Wordle can be a spiteful little scalawag, 3) I am not a good logical thinker (my husband affirms this), and 4) Wordle can ruin your day.
So if you’ve jumped on the Wordle craze, enjoy it and good luck to you. If you have not, what are you waiting for?
Ilene Black has been a resident of Ewing for most of her life and lives across the street from her childhood home. She and her husband, George, have two sons, Georgie and Donnie.
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