3 More Guesses

By the time you read this, I will know whether I have succeeded in my Quest To Match my 3-Guess and 4-Guess Wordle win totals at 300.  But I won't post that info here until Monday, to ensure that I don't ruin Wordle play for anyone who is reading my blog.

Although there seems little risk of that.  

Anyway, consider yourself left in suspense.  If you email me, I'll tell you.

Here's my post on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday for more info:

Wordle 938 3/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   46 WL
⬜🟨🟨🟨⬜ TARDY       1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 HEARD

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 72/99
Streak 689

Perhaps it’s obvious to everyone by now — but The Bot won’t be satisfied until you play Wordle the way it does.  If you want to continue using your own creativity, premonitions, or (God forbid) a PS list, know that you do so risking The Bot’s wrath.  As Exhibit 1, I present a comparison of my Wordle play yesterday vs today.  Both were solved in 3 guesses (more about that later).  I used the same starting word both days; obviously, Guess #3 was different each day.  So it all came down to Guess #2.  Yesterday’s cumulative Skill score was 80 because The Bot said Guess #2 “wasn’t my favorite.”  Today’s cumulative Skill score was 99 because The Bot evaluated Guess #2 as an “Excellent choice…one of my top picks in this situation.”  What can I say?  I value a quick solution over The Bot’s approval. 

Guess #1 revealed the H & E (both out of position) and I went with what I thought to be The Bot’s favorite word in that scenario, TARDY, for Guess #2.  I didn’t know until afterwards that this week’s changes to The Bot’s dictionary has made HEART its new favorite word in those circumstances.  And I ultimately didn’t *care* either — because TARDY matched A, R & D (all out of position).  After two guesses, I had all 5 letters — but none of them in the proper position.  I was positioned for a near perfect Succotash®️ (going from all Yellow to all Green — props to @Clear Thinker).  I HEARD the answer in my head, verified it wasn’t a previous solution, and watched with delight as all the letters turned green.  I tied The Bot but bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs. 3.6). 

But best of all, I’m only one game away from achieving the goal to match my 3-Guess and 4-Guess win totals at 300 (currently 299 vs 300).  Just need a good performance tomorrow to bring it on home.  

Hope you're staying warm and dry wherever you are this weekend. 

Take care and stay safe.

Pulling Even

As of yesterday, I had played Wordle for 735 consecutive days -- over two years.  But more important to me, I was drawing close to a statistical milestone -- the point where my games won in 3 Guesses would equal my total won in 4 Guesses.

As of Tuesday, my stats looked like this:

In the last three days, I've solved in three guesses each time -- so I'm only two days away from pulling even.  Here's my feedback on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday for more excruciating detail:

Wordle 937 3/6

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟩 SHONE   29 WL
⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩 COUPE     5 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ROUTE

WordleBot
Skill 80/99
Luck 72/99
Streak 688

The Bot’s feedback on my play today seemed a bit conflicted, like a friend giving you advice about the handling of a somewhat delicate interpersonal issue you’ve shared with them — they’re trying to seem supportive, but they can’t really believe the stupid decisions you’ve been making.  Guess #1 revealed the O (out of position) & E (in position, as the last letter).  The Bot described this as “a strong opening guess...[and] a lucky one”.  After considering options where O might be Letter 1 or 4, I decided the most likely position was Letter 2 — with a U beside it.  I liked COUPE, verified it wasn’t a previous solution, and played it for Guess #2.  The Bot was clearly disappointed in me (it prefers GUILD — which it also likes with a Yellow N & Green E, I noted), responding that “this guess wasn’t my favorite” — but that there were only 5 words left.  I didn’t know it at the time, but subsequent analysis revealed there were really only 2 solutions remaining (BOULE — I don’t *think* so — & ROUTE).  Anyway, ROUTE was the first thing I thought of, wasn’t a previous solution, and made all the letters turn green.  I lost to The Bot (2 to my 3) but bested the (current) NYT avg by a narrow margin (3 vs. 3.3). 

I’m closing in on the goal to match my 3-Guess and 4-Guess win totals at 300 (currently 298 vs 300).  Just need my luck to hold a couple more days. 

Winter arrived here in full force on Friday.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.  My plan is to stay warm and dry.

Take care and stay safe.

WordleBot's Ever-Changing Dictionary

Nobody knows better than the New York Times the constantly shifting sands of the English language -- and yesterday saw those shifts cause changes in the behavior of WordleBot, the AI used to evaluate play in NYT's Wordle game (hereafter referred to as "The Bot").  If it seems like I think this is important news, let me apologize for misleading you.

It's not.

On the other hand, if you're a complete Wordle Nerd (as I am), it was a *bit* interesting.

I'm sharing my feedback on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday regarding this weighty matter --  

Wordle 936 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   496 WL
⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜ TRAIL         10 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 BRIEF

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 57/99
Streak 687

The first change I noticed concerning yesterday’s updates to The Bot’s Dictionary was this:   Identifying E out of position as Letter 5 for Guess #1 left me 496 possible solutions instead of 492.  I stuck with my trusty TRIAL for Guess #2, finding R (in position) and I (out of position).  Based on The Bot’s feedback from Game #699 (GRIEF on 5/19/2023), I strongly suspected there were 3 high-probability solutions remaining (rather than the 10 later claimed by The Bot).  I decided to roll the dice and my suspense was BRIEF, as all the letters quickly turned green.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg by more than a full guess today (3 vs. 4.2). 

My hope for matching my 3-Guess and 4-Guess win totals at 300 still springs eternal (they currently stand at 297 vs 300).  If I can retain a “hot hand” through the weekend, this goal may yet be achieved.  

And now I see that The Bot has adjusted its play for Game #936 since I played early this morning.  With the result being that I BEAT The Bot (3 vs 4).  At first, I thought I had just erred while posting comments during the middle of the night.  But The Bot’s original solution was TRACE—DEFER—BRIEF, later changed to TRACE—DEFER—GRIEF—BRIEF.  Go figure.

Hope you are having a fine Friday. 

Take care and stay safe.

Wordle-Versary

There always seems to be a lot going on in my life.  I *must* like it that way -- but there I times when I have my doubts.  As an example, my "smart watch" (and I use that term very loosely) just urged me to get up and walk 250 steps.  The nerve of that thing!  A device that I received as a gift (another term that seems wildly inappropriate, in retrospect) for Christmas -- with the underlying hope that it would never have to alert me about ANYTHING -- is now harping at me to get off my fat @$$.  Perhaps I should provide an additional digression concerning my digression.

I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (afib) late in 2015, had an ablation procedure in 2016, and have been taking medication and seeing a cardiologist to treat the condition ever since.  I haven't had any issues with arrhythmia since the ablation.  But complicating matters is the fact that I was asymptomatic throughout the entire period when I *was* having arrhythmia issues.  Translation:  I've never been aware when my heart was out of rhythm.

I told you all that, so I could tell you this:  When I visited my cardiologist in November, he saw me wearing a wrist watch -- and suggested I ask for a smart watch for Christmas to alert me if it detected that I was having an arrhythmia episode.  Which seemed like a good idea at the time -- so my wife got me a Fitbit Versa 4 for Christmas.  And, although it has not detected any arrhythmia, it does bug me to walk around at 10 minutes to the top of each hour.

And now I'm wondering:  Can I commit a HIPAA violation against MYSELF?!

Anyway, this has been a rather roundabout way to say -- that I missed my second Wordle-versary on Monday.

Here's what I posted on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday regarding that oversight --  

Wordle 935 3/6

⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   19 WL
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟨 CARET      1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 THREW

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 75/99
Streak 686

Another solution in 3 today, made quick and easy by knowing all but one of the letters — and also knowing where they had to go.  It happened so fast, I had to slow myself down to double-check that I wasn’t making an unforced error.  After Guess #1, I had the H (in position) and E (out of position).  Based on The Bot’s feedback from Game #766 (WHEEL on 7/25/2023), I knew playing CARET as Guess #2 would ensure solving in 3.  Although The Bot later claimed that there were 19 solutions left after Guess #1, I knew the actual number was around 7 (or 8 — apparently WHELK is a possible solution now, though not bloody likely).  In any case, I hit the jackpot with CARET, matching R & E (in position) and also T — which I also knew had to be the first letter.  The word began THRE— and I knew the solution wasn’t THREE for two reasons:  Guess #1 told me E wasn’t the last letter — and THREE had just been the solution less than two weeks ago (12/30).  I double-checked to verify THREW hadn't previously been a solution, then played it.  I bested The Bot (3 vs 4) and the (current) NYT avg by a full guess again (3 vs. 4.0). 

I’ve been so busy lately, I failed to realize I had reached my second Wordle-versary on Monday.  I played my first game on January 8, 2021 (Game #203 — CRANK — how appropriate) and have played every day since.  Still have a chance to match my 3-Guess and 4-Guess win totals at 300 in the next week (they stand at 296 vs 300 after today) — with a bit of luck.  And soon after, I hope to push my win streak to 700 games.  

But I can’t get distracted by all this minutiae.  There will be a new word to guess tomorrow.  

Hope you are all having a terrific Thursday. 

Take care and stay safe.

Even More Football

U of M won Monday night.  Now we need a Lions victory over the Rams this weekend.

In Wordle news, I posted this on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday --  

Wordle 934 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 SHONE   105 WL
🟨🟩⬜⬜🟨 RIVAL          1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 LINER

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 68/99
Streak 685

I find that knowing all the letters that are included in the Wordle solution can be a significant advantage in winning the game.  Not that it *happens* that often — it's just kind of cool when it does.  That's what happened to me after Guess #2 today.  I had discovered N, E, R & L (all out of position) — with I in postion.  I double-checked to verify it hadn't previously been a solution, then played LINER.  Though I wasn't surprised, I was still very pleased when all the letters turned green (it never fails).  I tied The Bot (3 vs 4) and bested the (current) NYT avg by a full guess (3 vs. 4.0). 

The Michigan Wolverines are the College Football Champions this year after a convincing win against Washington (although the game was much closer than the score might indicate).  I now turn my attention to the Detroit Lions who will play the Rams (and former Lions quarterback, Matthew Stafford) this weekend.  

Hope your Wednesday is going great. 

Take care and stay safe.

Go Blue!

Congratulations to the 2023-2024 University of Michigan Wolverines on winning the College Football Championship last night in Houston!  Don't be fooled by the score - the game was a close one until pretty late in the final quarter.

In Wordle news, I posted this on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday --  

Wordle 933 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜ SHONE   100 WL
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜ TAPIR          7 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 FINAL

WordleBot
Skill 94/99
Luck 54/99
Streak 684

I attribute today’s solve in 3 to a little luck — and significant help from having tracked previous solutions. After Guess #2 today, I had discovered three letters — N, A & I, all out of position.  The Bot would have you believe that there were 7 solutions still remaining — but I’d call it 4 (ALIGN, AVIAN, FINAL & INLAY).  “How can I make that statement?” you ask.  Because I retained information from Game #872 (NINJA on 11/8/2023) which persuaded me 3 of those 7 words weren’t the answer (either previously used or just unlikely).  In fact, I had played FINAL as my Guess #3 on 11/8  (when I ended up solving in 4) — and I played it again today.  But today, Luck was with me — and Guess #3 was my FINAL guess.  I was quite pleased (and surprised) to defeat both The Bot (3 vs 4) and the (current) NYT avg (3 vs. 3.8). 

The Michigan Wolverines play for the National Championship tonight — so GO BLUE!  Hope everyone had a good Monday. 

Take care and stay safe.

The Joy Of "Extraordinary Luck"

I've decided to continue posting my Wordle comments here at the risk of boring those who don't partake of the game - primarily because it doesn't appear that anyone is actually reading this stuff anyway.  And it provides me (at least) with a convenient history of what I've posted to the NYT (searching for stuff in the comments is quite a chore -- trust me).

I posted this on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments yesterday --  

Wordle 932 2/6

🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜ SHONE   1 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 STONY

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 99/99

Streak 683

Well, there’s LUCKY — and then there’s *extraordinarily* LUCKY.  Today, the Bot described me as that second one, since Guess #1 gave me three letters (S, O & N, all in position) and left only one possible solution remaining.  Getting Double 99s for Skill AND Luck is quite a rare occurrence for me (I expect for everyone else too), so I’m not going to ruin it with a lot of superfluous chatter.  But I was quite pleased to defeat both The Bot (2 vs 3) and the (current) NYT avg (2 vs. 3.9). 

The Detroit Lions won their 12th game of the season this afternoon (after getting robbed by the officials during the Dallas game last week) and the Michigan Wolverines play for the National Championship tomorrow night.  GO BLUE!  Hope everyone had a fine finish to the weekend. 

Take care and stay safe.