Throwing SHADE

Here's my post on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments for yesterday. 

Wordle 1,006 3/6

🟩🟩⬜⬜🟩 SHONE    8 WL

⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨 PLEAD      1 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SHADE

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 85/99

Streak 757

Today’s game is an excellent example of why I will *never* play in Hard mode.  Normally, I would think of matching three letters in their correct positions on Guess #1 as being a fantastic opportunity to solve quickly.  But when the letters are SH—E, it becomes a rather dangerous opportunity.  For me, this situation demands that discretion become the better part of valor — and playing in Hard mode would essentially eliminate Skill from the equation, turning play into a guessing game.

By holding back on my tendency toward aggressive play for Guess #2, I was able to give myself a shot at a Checkmate 3 — although ending up with a 5 was not out of the question.  I used PLEAD for Guess #2 (The Bot preferred ARMED — but said PLEAD was one of its “top picks”) and luck was with me.  I now knew A & D were included in the solution — and only one word remained.  I played SHADE and watched happily as all the letters turned green.  I beat The Bot (3 vs 4) and the (current) NYT avg (by more than a full guess, 3 vs 4.2). 

Take care and stay safe.