Thursday—aka Thor’s Day—is back. In some ways, it’s my favorite weekday. I don’t really have weekdays or weekends in the traditional sense, since I work every day and often work more on the weekends than on weekdays, and I work from home so it all just sort of blurs together. Time is a blurry circular something something.
But I like to be reminded of Thor. And frankly, although Wednesday is Odin’s Day, it’s just not as obvious. Of all the days of the week, Thursday’s god name stands out most. And this not only makes me think of the MCU version of Thor, but also Thor from God Of War and from all the old Norse folklore I used to read. Perhaps most of all, it makes me think of the little plastic action figure my son used to have. He was a very basic Thor. At one point I think he had a little plastic Mjölnir as well, soon lost as so many toy weapons are.
But my son loved that little toy. He had it with him all the time. If it was misplaced, things got rather stormy around the house. I don’t remember when he stopped playing with it, and haven’t the foggiest where it is now. There is something beautiful and sad about that, about the little things that matter and then stop mattering as a child grows up, and the ways we as parents somehow miss it, and then remember once it’s too late.
Ah well, we are here for two reasons and neither of them are to reminisce about lost toys or the joys and sorrows of bringing up children. First, we have yesterday’s riddle to answer.
The Riddle: The man who makes me doesn’t want me, the man who buys me doesn’t need me, and the man who needs me doesn’t know it yet. What am I?
The Answer: A coffin (or casket). Good job to those of you who sent me the answer!
Now, onto the Wordle!
How To Solve Today’s Wordle
The Hint: Something cast. Something dark.
The Clue: This Wordle ends with a vowel.
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The Answer:
Wordle Analysis
Every day I check Wordle Bot to see how I did. You can check your Wordles with Wordle Bot right here.
I feel pretty good about this Wordle even if my second guess wasn’t ideal. My first—drain—drained the Wordle swamp down to just 13 remaining solutions. Alas, adapt (which I just had a feeling about) only cut four of those words out.
Not to worry, I quickly adapted again and guessed with my gut once more, choosing shade and getting very lucky in the process. Huzzah!
Competitive Wordle Score
Despite the Wordle Bot giving me one of the lowest “skill” scores I’ve gotten in a long time (thanks to my crappy second guess) I still beat the monstrous AI. It took four guesses and I only took three, so that’s 2 points for me!
Today’s Wordle Etymology
The word “shade” has a rich etymology that traces back through the centuries, spanning several languages and meanings. Originally from the Old English word “sceadu,” meaning “shadow, shade, darkness; shelter, protection,” it is cognate with the Old Saxon “skado,” Old High German “scato,” Middle Dutch “scade,” Dutch “schade,” Old Norse “skathi,” and Gothic “skadus,” all bearing similar meanings related to shadow or protection.
The Proto-Germanic root is *skadwaz or *skaduz, which is thought to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *skot-, signifying ‘shadow, shade.’ This root also led to the Greek “skotos,” meaning “darkness, gloom.” Over time, “shade” came to denote not just literal shadows but also figurative ones, such as subtle differences or variations, as in “shade of color.”
In Middle English, the word evolved to “schade” or “shade,” and its meanings expanded to include “something that provides shade from light” and the “presence or protection of someone or something metaphorically larger.” By the 16th century, “shade” also started to represent “a ghost” or “specter,” indicating something of a slight or unsubstantial nature, possibly because shadows and ghosts are both intangible and elusive.
The versatility of the word “shade” across languages and cultures underscores the universal human experience with light and darkness, both physically and metaphorically. Its journey from ancient roots to modern usage reflects the evolution of language in response to changing societal norms and understandings.
