The weekend is over, but since our local schools are doing some kind of teacher training thing, it’s a three-day weekend in our household. We’ll call it Mid-September’s Day. This reminds me that I came up with a new holiday that I am determined to celebrate in 2026: Midwinter’s Eve.
I came up with this holiday because I often feel Christmas comes too soon, at the outset of winter rather. Midwinter’s Eve is meant to break up the dead of winter, the darkest and coldest time of the year, with some kind of festival of lights. No presents, mind you. This is more of a feast day. White lights only (rather than the colorful lights of Christmas) dark blue and green colors, some kind of hearty, wintery meal like a good soup and fresh-baked bread.
This would fall toward the beginning of February, halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. This cribs heavily off the Gaelic midwinter celebration, Imbolc, though I actually thought of it without knowing about that holiday and only learned of it later. Other cultures have similar celebrations, but we don’t really in America. So Midwinter’s Eve is a new tradition that I’d like to start. Feel free to join me.
Clearly the cooling nights have me thinking of winter. Let’s solve this Wordle instead!
Looking for Sunday’s Wordle? Check out our guide right here.
How To Play Wordle
Wordle is a daily word puzzle game where your goal is to guess a hidden five-letter word in six tries or fewer. After each guess, the game gives feedback to help you get closer to the answer:
- Green: The letter is in the word and in the correct spot.
- Yellow: The letter is in the word, but in the wrong spot.
- Gray: The letter is not in the word at all.
Use these clues to narrow down your guesses. Every day brings a new word, and everyone around the world is trying to solve the same puzzle. Some Wordlers also play Competitive Wordle against friends, family, the Wordle Bot or even against me, your humble narrator. See rules for Competitive Wordle toward the end of this post.
Today’s Wordle Hints And Answer
Wordle Bot’s Starting Word: SLATE
My Starting Word Today:
The Hint: …came a spider…
The Clue: This Wordle begins with a vowel.
Okay, spoilers below! The answer is coming!
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.
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The Answer:
Wordle Analysis
Every day I check Wordle Bot to help analyze my guessing game. You can check your Wordle score with Wordle Bot right here.
CRATE wasn’t a great opener today, leaving me with 187 remaining solutions and just one lonely, yellow ‘A’. BOINK boinked 184 of those possible options and left me with just three: ALONG, AMONG and AGONY. Of the three, the only one I was pretty sure had never been a Wordle before was ALONG so I went with that, and luckily enough I was right! Huzzah!
Competitive Wordle Score
The Bot and I tied, so zero points there, but we each get one for guessing in three. Once again, our September scores tiptoe forward together:
Erik: 9 points
Wordle Bot: 15 points
How To Play Competitive Wordle
- Guessing in 1 is worth 3 points; guessing in 2 is worth 2 points; guessing in 3 is worth 1 point; guessing in 4 is worth 0 points; guessing in 5 is -1 points; guessing in 6 is -2 points and missing the Wordle is -3 points.
- If you beat your opponent you get 1 point. If you tie, you get 0 points. And if you lose to your opponent, you get -1 point. Add it up to get your score. Keep a daily running score or just play for a new score each day.
- Fridays are 2XP, meaning you double your points—positive or negative.
- You can keep a running tally or just play day-by-day. Enjoy!
Today’s Wordle Etymology
The word along comes from Middle English alonge, which meant “lengthwise” or “in a line.” It is formed from a- (a prefix meaning “on” or “in”) + long (from Old English lang, meaning “long”).
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