The final hours of summer are draining out of the year. At 11:19 am PST, Monday will become a day of autumn. Like Cinderella changing back to a scullery maid the moment the clock hits midnight. Pumpkins all around. Winter is coming.
Depending on when you solve today’s Wordle, it will either be your last Wordle of summer or your first Wordle of fall. Either way, let’s get to it!
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: SCARE (329 words remaining)
The Hint: An archaic writing device.
The Clue: This Wordle has a double letter.
Okay, spoilers below! The answer is coming!
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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.
My opening guess wasn’t very helpful today. SCARE gave me all grey boxes and left me with over 300 possible solutions. BOINK slashed that number to ten, and placed a green ‘I’ in the center. In fact, my next two guesses created a green pyramid of sorts, which I don’t think I’ve ever done. GUILT added a green ‘U’ and and a green ‘L’ and left me with just one remaining solution: QUILL for the win!
This reminded me of the film Quills, which I don’t think I’ve seen since it released back in 2000. The movie stars Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade, locked away in a mental asylum. The cast is terrific, with Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet and Michael Caine all putting in great performances in this disturbing period piece. It’s something I need to watch again, especially as we debate free speech in the public square these days. I’d post a trailer but I can’t find a decent one (not because they’re indecent, but the quality is bad).
Competitive Wordle Score
The Bot and I tied, which means neither of us gets any points since 4 guesses gets you nothing. Our September scores remains close, but the evil, wicked, nefarious Bot still has the lead:
Erik: 16 points
Wordle Bot: 18 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 quill comes from Middle Low German quille or Middle Dutch quille, meaning “reed” or “shaft.” It originally referred to a hollow reed or tube, then came to mean a bird’s feather—especially a large one used for writing after being shaped into a pen. Its meaning later broadened to include any feather or even spines (like those of a porcupine).
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