Uncommon Knowledge
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No matter how many times you’ve played Wordle, some days you might need help, which is where Newsweek steps in.
New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle invented the daily word game for his crossword-loving partner, Palek Shah, to keep her entertained during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After deciding to make Wordle public for others to enjoy, it exploded from 90 users on November 1, 2021, to 300,000 on January 2, 2022, according to figures by Statista. In January 2022, The New York Times purchased Wordle for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum, though the game remained free to play.
Years after its debut, the puzzle maintains a loyal fan base committed to guessing each day’s five-letter word in as few attempts as possible.
According to research conducted by WordsRated, the most common starting letter used by Wordle players is S, with 15.81 percent of answers beginning with it.
The next most common starting letter is C, with 8.58 percent of Wordle answers starting with the consonant, although S is the starting letter for 167 more words than its nearest rival. B is in third place with 7.49 percent.
Speaking to Newsweek, Erhan Aslan, linguistics expert who teaches at the University of Reading in the U.K., provided some advice for Wordle players.
“One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels, for example, ‘e’ and ‘a,’ consonants such as ‘r’ and ‘t,’ and sound sequences might be helpful. Choosing a word that starts with ‘q,’ ‘z,’ ‘j,’ or ‘x,’ for instance, may not be the best choice,” he told Newsweek.
“As you get more feedback after a few guesses, users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking. For example, if the second letter of the target word is l (indicated by green) and the player feels that the word starts with a consonant, they will need to know that there are only a few consonant cluster possibilities (such as bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl).”
The answer for today’s Wordle can be found at the bottom of this page, so scroll with caution it if you want to work it out for yourself.
Hint #1: The word is a verb and a noun.
Hint #2: There are no repeated letters in today’s answer.
Hint #3: There are two vowels—the second and fourth letters.
Hint #4: Synonyms include “protect” and “shield.”
Hint #5: The word ends with a consonant letter.
The answer to today’s Wordle is “Cover.”
According to Merriam-Webster, the verb is defined as “to guard from attack” and “to hide from sight or knowledge.”
The noun is defined as “something that protects, shelters, or guards: such as a natural shelter for an animal” and “something that conceals or obscures.”
Wordle resets at midnight in your time zone. While you wait for the next game, you could give the geography guessing game Worldle or Connections, the Times‘ second most popular game, a go?
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.