Even More Wordling

I fear that I'm boring those of you that don't play / aren't interested in Wordle.  And I'm certain that I will have something soon to post on a topic of more general interest -- but not today.

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

Wordle 931 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 SHONE   191 WL
⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨 TRAIL        14 WL
🟨⬜🟩🟩🟩 AMBLE        3 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 CABLE

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 33/99
Streak 682

The thing about streaks is:  they must end.  And so it is with my streak of “under par” games.  Having reached a new personal best of 11 days, I found that a strong CABLE has tethered me to the Earth — probably to keep me from “pulling an Icarus.”  

Guess #1 gave me E as the last letter today — and Guess #2 provided A & L (both out of position).  Based on information from Game #598 (APPLE on 2/7/2023), I knew 13 solutions remained (14 now, I guess — CALVE has been added as a potential solution).  I had used AMBLE for Guess #3 in that game and, since it has not been previously used, I tried it again today.  Unfortunately, it was *still* not the answer — and it appeared I was down to a coin flip between CABLE and FABLE (although I realized later that GABLE was also a possibility).  Having an abysmal track record on coin flips, I heaved a sigh of relief when CABLE turned green.  I lost to both The Bot and the (current) NYT avg (3.9 vs 4). 

So I finally reached my 300th game solved in 4 guesses.  I’m at 293 games solved in 3.  If I can put together another serious string of 3-guess solves, I could still get to 300 in each category within the next week.  However unlikely, it does give me something for which to strive.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend. 

Take care and stay safe.

Christmas Wordling: The Twelfth Day Of Christmas

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

Wordle 930 3/6 

⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩 SHONE 30 WL 
⬜🟨🟨🟨🟩 ANGLE 1 WL 
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 LUNGE 

WordleBot 
Skill 85/99 
Luck 80/99 
Streak 681 

(To be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”) 

“On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my First Guess showed to me 
Two letters — one yellow, one green 
Now my Second Guess was ANGLE — To my delight I see 
Four letters matched — N, G, L — Letter 5 is an E 
I need one letter more, so that I can win in 3 
LUNGE is my choice — All letters green — Thank you for reading my parodies” 

Like the song which they imitate, these “Twelve Day of Christmas” bits have probably overstayed their welcome — but it’s just in my nature to see such things through to the bitter end. Still, my “under par” streak has reached a new personal best of 11 days — so I’ve got that going for me. After Guess #2, I had 4 of the 5 letters — and knew the last letter was E. Based on information from Game #896 (GENRE on 12/2/2023), I knew 15 solutions remained — but only 1 included N, G, L & E. I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs 3.8). 

Take care and stay safe.

Christmas Wordling: The Eleventh Day Of Christmas

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

Wordle 929 3/6

🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜ SHONE   27 WL
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩 GUILT        1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SCANT

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 73/99
Streak 680

(To be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

“On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, my First Guess showed to me
An S and an N, both were green 
On my Second Guess, I used GUILT, The Bot’s most favor-eet
It matched the T — Letter 5 was reveal-ed to me
Though I was not aware, just one answer was still free
I typed in SCANT — I won in 3 — And extended my “under par” streak”

My streak of “shooting under par” has now reached ten days — which equals my longest streak.  After Guess #2, I had S, N & T — all in position.  Though I didn’t know it yet, there was only one word left.  SCANT was the first word that came to mind, so I verified it had not been previously used and typed it in.  The “Sea of Green” swirled before my eyes  — and, with it, victory.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs 3.5). 

Take care and stay safe.

Christmas Wordling: The Tenth Day Of Christmas

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

Wordle 928 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ SHONE   370 WL
🟩🟨⬜🟨🟩 TRAIL          1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 TWIRL

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 50/99
Streak 679

(To be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

“On the Tenth Day of Christmas, my First Guess showed to me
Nada — Absolutely nothing 
Now my Second Guess was TRIAL, to my delight I see
Four letters matched — two were yellow, the other two green
With four letters in hand, thought I knew the answer’d be
TWIRL, which I typed — Watched it turn green — Satisfying, a 3, victory”

My streak of “shooting under par” has now reached nine days.  If my luck holds out for a couple more days, I’ll beat my personal best.  As on New Year’s Day, Guess #1 gave me nothing — but Guess #2 gave me what I needed to solve.  I had four letters — T, R, I and L — with T and L in position as the first and last letters, respectively.  I didn’t know there was only one word left — but I suspected that the word ended with —IRL — and TWIRL fit the bill.  I typed it in and watched all the squares turn GREEN.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs 3.7). 

Anyone interested in revisiting my “Twelve Days of Christmas” comments can visit my blog — http://speakingincaps.blogspot.com/ — rather than searching the NYT comments.  I am taking care not to post any current day Wordle solution info until the following day.  

Hope everyone reading this is having a good day. 

Take care and stay safe.

Christmas Wordling: The Ninth Day Of Christmas

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

Wordle 927 3/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜ SHONE   77 WL
🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜ GRAFT      3 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 AGING

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 63/99
Streak 678

(To be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

“On the Ninth Day of Christmas, my First Guess showed to me
An N — Fourth position and green
Now my Second Guess was GRAFT and two letters do I see
G and an A — both bright yellow, now where should they be?
For Guess 3, thought I’d try something ending —I-N-G 
AGING I chose —  Vic’try in three — as I watched all the letters turn GREEN”

Today was my eighth straight day “shooting under par” on Wordle, so I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop (an antiquated expression perhaps — but I’m not young anymore).  My luck’s bound to run out sooner or later — as I haven’t had a sub-50 LUCK score in nine days either.  By Guess #2 today, I had three letters — N, G and A — with N in position as the fourth letter.  I didn’t know there were only three solutions remaining — but I strongly suspected that the word ended with —ING.  AGING came to mind first for Guess #3 (APING felt like a stretch to me — and ACING didn’t occur to me).  The double Gs caught my attention — but didn’t trouble me — so I typed it in before I could engage in a lot of second guessing.  Happily, all the squares turned GREEN.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg by more than a full guess (3 vs 4.3). 

Very pleased with the U-M Wolverine’s exciting victory yesterday.  Hopefully next Monday’s Championship Game will be another good one.  Hope everyone has a fine Tuesday. 

Christmas Wordling: The Eighth Day Of Christmas

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

Wordle 926 3/6
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ SHONE   370 WL
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟩 TRAIL          3 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 MURAL

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 54/99
Streak 677

(To be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

“On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my First Guess showed to me
A big goose egg — no yellow or green
Now my Second Guess was TRAIL, it gave me letters — THREE!
R, A and L — it was so swell — just three words left for sweet victory
But Guess 3 was still tricky — a dice roll it would be 
Three options left, for Letter One— MURAL made all the letters turn GREEN!”

Making a guess that seemingly yields no positive results is part of the game — but not a pleasant part.  Thankfully, Blow #2 of my favorite One-Two PUNCH (which has not yet been a solution, I’ll have you know), TRAIL provided three letters — R, A and L — with L in position as the last letter.  I didn’t know there were only three solutions remaining — but I strongly suspected that the word ended with —URAL.  MURAL was the first word that came to mind for Guess #3 — but RURAL caused me some momentary indecision (AURAL didn’t occur to me — but in retrospect, double Rs seems more likely to me than double As).  I typed in MURAL, hoping that going with my first instinct would be rewarded — and was gratified when all the squares turned GREEN.  I tied The Bot and bested the (current) NYT avg by a full guess (3 vs 4.0). 

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year — Welcome to 2024.  GO BLUE!

Take care and stay safe.

Christmas Wordling: The Seventh Day Of Christmas

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

Wordle 925 3/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ SHONE   105 WL
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨 PLAIT          1 WL
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SALTY

WordleBot
Skill 99/99
Luck 65/99
Streak 676

(To be sung to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas”)

“On the Seventh Day of Christmas, my First Guess showed to me
Letter 1 was an S, I could see 
On my Second Guess, I went with The Bot’s most favour-eet 
PLAIT was the word — got an L and an A and a T
With four letters in hand,  I thought I should solve in 3
I didn’t know — One word was left — today’s answer was really SALTY”

Sometimes using The Bot’s favorite word is *very* helpful.  Today, it identified three letters I needed.  So after Guess #2, I had four of five letters — and knew the word started with an S.  I didn’t know there was only one word left — but I liked my chances.  SALTY was the first word that came to mind for Guess #3 (STALL also came to mind — but I realized A *could not* be Letter 3) and I typed it in with confidence, which was rewarded when all the squares turned GREEN.  I still lost to The Bot (which had a deuce today) but narrowly bested the (current) NYT avg (3 vs 3.1). 

Anyone interested in revisiting my “Twelve Days of Christmas” comments can visit my blog — http://speakingincaps.blogspot.com/ — rather than searching the NYT comments.  I am taking care not to post any current day Wordle solution info until the following day.  Hope my Fellow Wordlers have a fine final day of 2023. 

Take care and stay safe.