Gannon University Athletics issued the following announcement on Jan. 26.
Wordle boards take on a similar look - though with a signature green rather than Gannon maroon, plus gold for letters you've correctly found, just in the wrong place.
Whether you post your daily score, dread seeing the squares on your timeline, or float between casual observer and occasional player, “Wordle” has likely been added to your vernacular in recent weeks.
What started as a gift created by software engineer Josh Wardle (yep) to his word-game loving partner, Wordle was released publicly in October 2021 and serves as what one Twitter user calls “the sourdough starter of Omicron.”
We asked a few of Gannon’s experts for their thoughts on the daily word ritual, strategy, and more. Here’s some of their Wordle wisdom.
Dr. Jessica Hartnett, associate professor in the psychology department shared her love for the game.
“I have a lot of thoughts,” Hartnett said. “Psychologists who study human decision making are already thinking up research projects using Wordle decisions.” A group of faculty is collecting data on word guesses in the game; they’re interested in analyzing data related to the word and letter choices at each stage in the game. If you play, you can participate here.
Another coder generated their own computer code to determine the best starting word, which they’ve determined to be SOARE, meaning “young hawk.”
“I also wonder if the scarcity principle explains why it is so addictive,” said Dr. Hartnett. “Instead of mindlessly playing level after level of some game, you have exactly one attempt, once a day.”
“One personal strategy I use: even if I have identified one or two of the letters, sometimes I throw in a word that DOESN’T contain those letters just so I can eliminate or pin point five new letters I haven’t used yet in the day’s puzzle. ALSO: Don’t forget, a letter can be repeated!”
Web assistant in Marketing and Communications Chloe Forbes ’21 offered some solid strategies from a linguistics standpoint.
“I find that watching movies or videos with subtitles makes me more cognizant of words. Just like any other skill, building your vocabulary takes practice – that includes exposure to new words, whether that be through habitual reading, watching videos with subtitles, or just playing games like WORDLE and Scrabble frequently.
- Focusing on words with a lot of vowels helps. It helps to know:
- The most common letters in the English language are e, t, a, i, o, n, s, h, and r.
- The most common letters at the beginning of an English word are t, a, o, d and w.
- The most common letters at the end of an English word are e, s, d and t.”
Assistant professor of history Alex Holbrook's go-to starting word is SEPIA.
“Look up the most commonly used letters in English and use a starting word that contains as many of those letters as possible, heavy on vowels. A friend [of mine] uses ADIEU,” Holbrook said. “If you still haven't narrowed it down much 4th turn, it's time to start going on instinct. If there is a word in your heart, go for it. (Actually, HEART is not the worst starting word, either.)”
Assistant professor of English Jennifer Popa says what she loves most about the game is the collective experience of playing.
“This tweet made me laugh, but it speaks to the sudden obsession over this simple game and the weird hobbies and interests we've all found ourselves developing during this season of life when we all find we have more alone time than ever,” Popa said.
“My interest in the game was mostly from an affection for the game Mastermind which I played obsessively as a child on a physical board (and on my smartphone as an adult). For the uninitiated, it's like WORDLE, but it's a code of colored pegs. So you had to guess the arrangement of the colors and I played enough that I got a good system in place and was able to usually solve the puzzle within a few attempts.
“I only just realized in this week's NPR article that I have been playing WORDLE on a self-imposed Hard Mode without realizing it - a vestige of my Mastermind strategies no doubt. According to Linda Holmes of NPR, ‘The difference is that in hard mode, you have to incorporate the letters you've already gotten into your next guess, so that every guess could plausibly be right, based on what you know.’ I also begin with different first words on each attempt, though I know some pick one word and that is their go-to word each day.
“I know I'm not alone in feeling like our lives might never be COVID-free when the plague era stretches on and on, and I like the collective experience of playing the game and of us all solving the puzzle for the same word each day. Each day is different. Some days I whip through and have a streak of solving on my second or third guess, and other days it's a slog that stretches on and on. I will take breaks to look at it and then go back to grading or meeting with students or washing dishes and then refocus on that day's word. I know that yesterday's word was especially hard and I saw someone mark themselves as safe from the word on Facebook, and Trevor Noah asked WORDLE to please remember we're still dealing with a pandemic and be gentle. Though often the hard days feel like they're hard on account of how common the word is. Two that caused some collective stress were "abbey" and "knoll" for example. Also, I am endlessly amused that WORDLE has low-key sparked a transatlantic blood feud over the spelling of some words (favor/favour) for example.
“It's a simple game with no frills, but when combined with social media, it reminds us of our connection to one another even during impossible days. The daily routine, the unspoken social contract that no one shares the word after solving the puzzle, the on-point memes, each offers levity and connectivity at a time when it seems we're all feeling COVID fatigue.”
My newest discovery from all of this? It’s gained such popularity that it’s inspired its own spoiling Twitter bots, as well as simple coding for you to create your own Wordle puzzle. There are also alternatives for folks who don’t want to wait 24 hours for the next puzzle. Do with any of that information what you will.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up