I Finally Won Wordle in One Guess!
Do you play the additive word game? Read my strategies to win
I was so startled to see I won Wordle today in one guess that I thought it was a technical problem on my phone. I went to X/Twitter to figure out the issue and found I was one of many surprised and thrilled players who also got it.
Singer Darius Rucker posted “Finally my word paid off!!!!!” with his score.
If you are one of the tens of millions who also play Wordle, you know how exciting it is to get it one guess. (The word is at the bottom not to spoil.)
What is Wordle?
Wordle is a daily, free game in which you get six tries to figure out a five-letter word. If you’ve never played, try it here.
Each time you guess, a box will change colors with the letter. It turns yellow if it’s the correct letter but in the wrong place. It turns green if it’s the correct letter in the right place.
You have to create an account to play the game. Your stats are tracked, which makes it fun to compete with others over your “win %,” “streak” and “guess distribution.”
My win average is 99% but that’s not because I’m that good. I sometimes don’t guess in a game that I think I’ll lose so that it doesn’t count against me.
I also occasionally text a smarter friend (who is a paid subscriber here- thank you!) for a clue about the final answer. I know that is cheating, but it’s more fun to share the game with friends.
My current stats:
Wordle History
The game was publically released by its creator — Josh Wardle — on a website in October 2021.
It became hugely popular during the pandemic once it allowed users to share their scores on Twitter. They show up as green and yellow emojis instead of giving away the answer. Players could compete publicly about how many guesses it took to win. The word “Wordle” frequently trended on the platform.
In early 2022, “The New York Times” bought the game for millions. Players feared the media giant would ruin the game. Later in the year, the NYT moved the game off the original website and onto its own platform.
NYT Ruins Worlde
When I was forced to switch to the NY Times website to play the game, I saw that all my stats were gone. I called it a “serious WORDLE CRISIS.”
I took a long break from the game because I was so frustrated to lose about nine months of daily playing.
As time went on, people like me who left during the switch came back. I started playing at Wordle game number 211 over two years ago and now we are at 1,035. It’s highly addictive.
Here’s my strategy to play and today’s winning word: