EXPEL-led

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

Wordle 955 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE  496 WL

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 TRAIL        10 WL

⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩 LEVEL         2 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 EXPEL

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 40/99

Streak 706

Another day, another 4+ NYT Wordle average.  January is “going out like a lion.”  (It hurt me a little to use that phrase, I admit it.)

Guess #1 yielded only E (out of position) AGAIN, for the third day in a row.  Guess #2 provided only the L (in position this time -- yesterday, it was out of position).  My out-of-control record keeping provided guidance from Game #810 (DWELL on 9/7/2023) that only 10 solutions remained (actually, only 6 — adjusting for previous & unlikely solutions).  I went with LEVEL to give myself a shot at 3 and ensure a par, at worst.  

Side note:  Some folks on the NYT Wordle forum have suggested that a “par” shouldn’t always be 4, birdie always 3, etc.  But adjusting par based on the overall player average every day, is probably more effort than anyone is willing to devote to the matter.  Even me. 

Guess #3 showed me the solution included two Es and ended with —EL.  So, I EXPEL-led the solution and watched all the letters turn green.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg (4 vs. 4.7).  I just hope this run of “tough pars” doesn’t jeopardize the efforts I took to get my 3-Guess solutions to exceed my 4-Guess solutions (all-time stats).  

On Tuesday, I was (and still am) healing up from a dental procedure Monday evening.  I will be making quite a few more trips to the dentist over the next month+ to complete the "installation" of an implant for my new front tooth (#8 -- for you dental aficionados out there).

Take care and stay safe.

Catching Up / A "Leg Man"

Had a busy weekend with my Dad visting from Dayton, Ohio.  Between that and a bittersweet result in the NFC Championship game in San Fransciso, I failed to post comments on my Wordle play over the weekend.

Here's my post on the New York Time's Wordle Review comments for Monday, Jan. 29.

Wordle 954 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   496 WL

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 TRAIL         12 WL

🟨🟨⬜🟩🟩 ELEGY          1 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 LEGGY

WordleBot

Skill 95/99

Luck 46/99

Streak 705

I’d be feeling worse about having back-to-back pars, if NYT averages the past couple days hadn’t been above 4.  Or, as my my bride put it this morning, “Wordle was rather difficult.”

Guess #1 yielded only E (out of position) for the second day in a row.  Guess #2 provided only the L (also out of position - yesterday, it was only R).  Overzealous record keeping provided guidance from Game #742 (BLEEP on 7/1/2023) that only 12 solutions remained (actually, only 5 — adjusting for previous & unlikely solutions).  I liked ELEGY best and thought it would likely ensure a par, at worst.  Guess #3 showed me I still didn’t have E & L in the right place — but that the word ended with—GY.  So, I guess it was a good day to be a “Leg Man”.  I lost to The Bot (4 vs 3) but bested the (current) NYT avg (4 vs. 4.4).  This continued the mixed emotions following last night’s NFC Championship game, where the Detroit Lions fell to the 49ers, ending their unexpectedly strong playoff run. 

And, for the sake of completeness, I will also include my Wordle results for the previous days:

Wordle 952 3/6

🟩⬜⬜🟨🟩   SHONE   7 WL

🟩🟨⬜🟨⬜   SKIED     1 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩   SNAKE

WordleBot

Skill 88/99

Luck 86/99

NYT avg = 3.7 

Wordle 953 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨   SHONE   496 WL

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜    TRAIL      36 WL

⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜    CUBED      1 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩    EMBER

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 32/99

NYT avg = 4.7

So now you're *WAY* more well-informed than you ever wanted to be about my Wordle play.  Although, if you *not* interested in that, I'm surprised you've stuck around long enough to read this sentence.

Take care and stay safe.

Double Os

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

Wordle 951 3/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ SHONE   91 WL

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ FRAUD      3 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 ALOOF

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 62/99

Streak 702

My Double O fixation may have failed me yesterday — but it came in handy today.  In fact, it got me back “Under Par.”  *WAY* under par.

Guess #1 yielded only O (in position) again today.  But Guess #2 provided F & A (both out of position).  I thought about words starting AFO— (AFOOT didn’t excite me) but a different double O word was more appealing.  Maybe I just like women who “play hard to get.”  I went with ALOOF for Guess #3 — and was glad I did, because it turned all the letters green.  I bested both The Bot (by two guesses, 3 vs 5!) and the (current) NYT avg (3 vs. 4.1). 

Hope you're having a great weekend.

Take care and stay safe.

BLOCKed

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

Wordle 950 4/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜ SHONE   91 WL
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ FRAUD    16 WL
⬜⬜🟩🟨⬜ WOOLY     3 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 BLOCK

WordleBot
Skill 87/99
Luck 50/99
Streak 701

Mercifully, I was spared ending my “Under Par” streak (at 7 games) until I had reached my 700 consecutive win milestone.  It was somehow easier to handle playing a mediocre game once I had reached my long-sought goal.

Guess #1 yielded only O (in position) — and Guess #2 came up completely empty.  I had a strong suspicion that today’s solution could be a double O word — and WOOLY got stuck in my head.  I had doubts that it would be the solution, but I couldn’t think of anything quickly that I liked better.  After Guess #3, I also had the L out of position — and started to consider words ending —OCK.  My first thought was BLOCK (which had not been a previous solution) and I went with it, pleasantly surprised when all the letters turned green.  I lost to both The Bot and the (current) NYT avg (4 vs. 3.8). Tomorrow morning offers another opportunity to start a new “Under Par” streak. 

My Dad arrived in town yesterday evening for a brief visit and is spending the day seeing friends and family in Flint, MI today.  Hopefully, my kids will be able to join us for dinner tonight or tomorrow.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Take care and stay safe.

700

I did it!

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

Wordle 949 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   496 WL
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟨 TRAIL           1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 RELIC

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 57/99
Streak 700

A RELIC is an item from the (ancient) past, unsuitable to the present-day.  Sometimes, that seems like an apt description of me.  But this morning, I cast off all negative thinking to embrace having achieved the milestone of 700 consecutive wins!  

It seems so appropriate that today’s win involved my all-time favorite opening combination of SHONE & TRAIL.  Guess #1 yielded only E (out of position) — but Guess #2 hit the jackpot again today, matching R & L (out of position) as well as I (in position as Letter 4).  I had 4 of the 5 letters I needed after 2 guesses — and one was in the right spot.  There was only one solution remaining, although I didn’t know that at the time.  My first thought was that E would probably be Letter 2.  Then I focused on what could follow I as the last letter.  RELIC was the first word that came to me — and it hadn’t been a previous solution.  I submitted it as Guess #3 and watched all the letters go green for the 700th straight day.  It never gets old!

I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs. 3.7). The Magic Number to reach 800 consecutive wins is 100 — but I’m not looking that far ahead.  My current “Under Par” streak is 7 games, so let’s see how far I can take it this time. 

Hope you have a great day.

Take care and stay safe.

STILL Making A Plan for the 2024 Oscars

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

Wordle 948 3/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ SHONE   107 WL

⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨 PLAIT         2 WL

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 STILL

WordleBot

Skill 99/99

Luck 59/99

Streak 699

This morning, Guess #1 yielded only S as the first letter — but I used The Bot’s favorite in that scenario (PLAIT) as Guess #2.  This hit the jackpot, matching the P, I & T (all out of position).  The Bot later claimed there were 2 solutions remaining (STILL or SILTY), but my thinking was:  SILTY?  Really?!  Since P wasn’t Letter 2, it seemed most likely to me that T *was* — and that I was Letter 3.  In any case, it STILL seems obvious to me that SILTY is a second-rate word.  With STI— accounted for, a double L ending seemed the way to go for Guess #3.  I typed it in and was delighted to watch all the letters turn green.  I bested The Bot (3 vs 4 — how are you feeling about TRACE *now*, eh, Bottie?) and the (current) NYT avg (3 vs. 3.6).  But most significantly — The Magic Number to reach 700 consecutive wins has been reduced to ONE.  I’m looking forward to Wednesday morning — and will likely need to fight a strong temptation to play at midnight.  In fact, by the time that you read this, I will know whether or not the milestone has been reached. 

Sorry to keep you in suspense - but I don't want ANY Wordle spoilers here.  I know that has happened on the NYT comments section in the past - but it won't happen here.

Nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards were announced yesterday morning -- and I got some work to do.  Those of you that know me (and if you're reading my blog, you probably do), know that part of my prep work for the Oscars each year is to see as many of the Best Picture nominees as possible.  Since nominations in this category have expanded beyond five films, it has become more difficult - but I normally don't miss more than one or two, even with a full slate of 10 films.

The good news this year is:  I've already seen half of the nominated films -

• American Fiction
• Barbie
• The Holdovers
• Maestro
• Oppenheimer

That means I still need to see:

• Anatomy Of A Fall
• Killers Of The Flower Moon
• Past Lives
• Poor Things
• The Zone Of Interest

Some of these have only recent come to theaters in my part of the world, so hopefully I will be able to see them on the big screen, as their creators intended (and I prefer).  I don't know that I will have time to do full fledged reviews of all these movies in the blog - but I will try to work out a few sentences about each to aid me in my Oscar handicapping.

I will say this:  Of the five Best Picture nominees I've seen so far, the one I'd most like to see again (at this moment) is "American Fiction."  It was hilarious and moving and smart - and I don't think Jeffrey Wright has ever given a bad performance (at least, I haven't seen one).

Anyway, that's a lot of information for one day.  Hope you have a good one - day, that is.

Take care and stay safe.

Making A Few TWEAKs

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

Wordle 947 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 SHONE   496 WL
🟩⬜🟨⬜⬜ TRAIL          4 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 TWEAK

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 54/99
Streak 698

My “Go To” starting combination of SHONE & TRAIL paid dividends this morning, keeping me “Under Par” for a FIFTH (not a previous solution) consecutive day.  Guess #1 was “unlucky” according to The Bot, matched only the E as the last letter, and left a LOT of possible solutions.  But Guess #2 gave me the T (in position as the first letter) and A (out of position).  Although I didn’t know it at the time, The Bot thought there were only 4 solutions remaining.  But *my* post-game analysis was:  Three of those words ended -ED and were *extremely* unlikely to be the answer.  I was looking for just *one word* — but needed to find out where the vowels were placed.  I decided to look for words starting TA— or TE— but when I didn’t find anything suitable, I decided to TWEAK my approach (after verifying it hadn’t been a solution previously).  I tied The Bot, bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs. 3.7), and reduced The Magic Number to 2 for reaching 700 consecutive wins.  

An added bonus:  The Detroit Lions played their best game of the season against Tampa Bay last night, earning the right to play for the NFC Championship (and the opportunity for their first ever Super Bowl appearance) next weekend in San Francisco.  

GO LIONS! 

Take care and stay safe.