Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, October 1, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for October 1, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for October 1, Wordle #1,200! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are three common letters from our mnemonic today. The other two are also pretty common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

This computer part dials up.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with M. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with M. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is MODEM.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, followed by BLEND to eliminate the most common letters. Next I tried PYGMY, which includes consonants found in a lot of possible answers. This left MODEM as the best solution.

Wordle 1,200 5/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was "this is found in the sky” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was CLOUD.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

The Easiest Ways to Nurse Your Garden Soil Back to Health This Winter

Winter is a time I think about being cozy and doing some restorative work on myself. Daily stretching, face masks, lots of sleep. Surprisingly, your garden desperately wants the same kind of self help, and providing that help to your soil is as easy as doing a little detective work this fall. 

It's easy to think of soil as mere dirt, but it’s so much more complicated. If you garden, both the structure and nutritional content of your soil is the most influential factor in the success of whatever you plant. You want rich soil with good drainage, but the ability to hold onto some moisture. It should be just sandy enough for great root growth, but too much sand won’t have enough nutrients for most plants. It should be rich in nutrients, but not too much of any particular nutrient or else it will send the wrong message to plants. 

Start with a layer of compost

The solution is three-fold. First, every fall you want to top-dress your beds with compost. Not all compost is created equal, so if you’re not creating your own compost, don’t just dump horse manure in your yard. Choose compost that has been tested and is well broken down. It doesn’t have to be expensive—I use city compost and am quite happy with it. 

This top dressing helps restore nutrients, but it also helps restore volume of your bed, since your soil becomes compacted over time and you lose some to erosion and as you pull out plants each year. 

You’re not using enough mulch

People simply don’t use enough mulch. Mulch is natural insulation, so it will keep your bed soil at a more moderate temperature with less fluctuations, and it helps retain moisture in the bed. That means less damage from heat domes and freezing. In fact, for years I used to take my largest outdoor potted plants and just bury them between the rows of berries under two feet of mulch, and they were fine.

Once you’ve composted, if you don’t intend to use a cover crop, mulch your beds with a few inches of chips, leaves, or straw. If you’re going to plant a fall crop, just pull away the mulch, plant, and keep the mulch away from the stem of the plant.  

If you’re not planting a fall crop, plant a cover crop

A cover crop is a seed you broadcast (similar to how you plant grass, densely) that will grow over winter. Come spring, you’ll hack the crop down and allow it to compost in place, either by tilling it in, or by flattening it and covering it with plastic. Not only does this cover crop provide rich nutrients back to the soil, but a number of cover crops can solve really specific problems with your soil.

If you have compacted soil, oil driller radish (a form of daikon) will break it up. If you have a lot of weeds in your bed, plant winter rye. If you had heavy feeder crops in the bed this summer, like corn, which needs a ton of nitrogen, plant hairy vetch or fava beans to replenish the nitrogen levels. If erosion is a problem, white clover will keep your soil safe this winter. To alleviate pests, plant mustards, and if your soil could use more humus, plant cowpeas. 

Your local nursery will have bulk cover crop seed and can help you figure out what would be best for your beds. This is an inexpensive and highly effective way to amend the nutrients and bring your soil back to health.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, September 30, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 30, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 30, Wordle #1,199! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They're almost all common letters from our mnemonic today. Only one isn't, and it's also fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

This is found in the sky.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with C. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with D. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is CLOUD.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, after which CLOUD was the most common word and best solution.

Wordle 1,199 3/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was "of a bike or motorcycle, for example” and the answer contained all common letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was RIDER.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, September 29, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 29, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 29, Wordle #1,198! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They're all common letters from our mnemonic today.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Of a bike or a motorcycle, for example.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with R. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with R. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is RIDER.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE then tried PLANT, assuming I wasn't looking for additional vowels and wanted to eliminate possible consonants. Next I tried GAMED, which left RIDER as the best solution.

Wordle 1,198 4/6

🟩⬛🟨⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟩🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was "this is an essential organ” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was BRAIN.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Razer Is Making a Gaming Haptic Pad for Your Chair

Following Razer’s wide release of its controversial Snap Tap feature earlier this week, which arguably gives owners of its keyboards such an advantage in some games that Valve has banned it from Counter-Strike 2, the company is now announcing even more pro-level hardware. This includes the expected pro update to its Kraken V4 headset, but more interestingly, there’s also new tech like a laptop cooling stand and what I can only describe as a gaming massage pad. 

Kraken V4 Pro

Credit: Razer

The Kraken V4 Pro is the most obvious announcement here, giving the existing Kraken V4 headset an OLED control hub that puts it in closer competition with the likes of other premium headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro. There’s also 9-zone RGB, as is typical of Razer, and conveniently, the option to connect via Bluetooth, USB, a 3.5mm cable, or Razer’s 2.4 GHz Hyperspeed wireless dongle. Active noise canceling is absent, and in its place are the same vibrational motors that give the headset rumble features akin to a controller. Razer makes a big deal of the immersion these provide, but at $399, that price tag is still a big ask for a headset without ANC.

Razer laptop cooling pad

Credit: Razer

Also a somewhat big ask is the new, $149 laptop cooling pad, which is essentially a laptop riser with fans built in and a USB hub included along its backside. Razer’s rendition aims to be more premium than the $30 versions you can buy from generic brands on Amazon, also coming equipped with a dust filter and three magnetic frames to ensure a tighter air seal with various sizes of laptops, plus adjustable motors with “smart cooling” that automatically changes fan speeds to balance noise with cooling.

Razer promises the cooling pad can lower temperatures by as much as 16 degrees and that noise is low thanks to a “vacuum tight” air seal, although time will tell—this type of device needs testing more than most, especially with such a premium attached to it.

Razer Freyja

Credit: Razer

Razer’s most exciting announcement, surprisingly, is more reasonably priced for what you get. Finally, Razer’s taking one of its more promising CES concepts and making it real. Originally teased earlier this year as Project Esther, the Razer Freyja bills itself as “the world’s first HD haptics gaming cushion,” and while there have been a small handful of similar products before, it does offer a lot for its $299 price point.

Rather than needing you to buy a whole haptic gaming chair, the Freyja is more like a massage pad, so you can lay it out over a chair you already own. Straps are adjustable to help it fit different chairs, and there are six haptic motors around the device, plus a control panel to adjust the intensity of the haptics.

I actually got to try the Freyja out when it was still the Esther, where I was impressed by its versatility. In Street Fighter 6, I felt hadoukens as they flew across the screen, and each punch genuinely made an impact on me. It wasn’t as simple as a binary on/off, too, as the direction and position of attacks and characters played into what I felt.

Credit: Razer

This works thanks to audio haptics, which means the pad can automatically generate vibrations based on the game’s audio, so you don’t have to worry about whether your game specifically supports the Freyja. Instead, the pad will use factors like bass intensity and which channel sound is coming out of to decide how to use its motors. It’s similar to how the vibration on the Kraken V4 Pro works, and this also means you can use the Freyja with music and movies, too. Still, Razer said it’s working with the devs of games like Hogwarts Legacy to design haptic experiences specifically for the Freyja, which is where its “HD” claims come in.

The Freyja connects over either Bluetooth or a Razer Hyperspeed 2.4 GHz wireless dongle, although it does need a cable for power. For safety, the cable is quick-release, so you won’t trip over it if you need to quickly get up.

Both the Freyja and the Kraken V4 Pro are available starting today, although a release date for the laptop cooling pad still has yet to be decided.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, September 28, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 28, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 28, Wordle #1,197! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are four common letters from our mnemonic today. The fifth is fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

This is an essential organ.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with B. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with N. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is BRAIN.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE then tried BLAND, assuming I wasn't looking for additional vowels. This left BRAIN as the only solution.

Wordle 1,197 3/6

🟨🟨🟨⬛⬛
🟩⬛🟩🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was "trust or belief in something or someone” and the answer contained four common letters and one somewhat common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was FAITH.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Friday, September 27, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for September 27, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for September 27, Wordle #1,196! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are four common letters from our mnemonic today. The fifth is somewhat common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Trust or belief in something or someone.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with F. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with H. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is FAITH.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE then tried PAINT, which was a possible solution and also helped eliminate common consonants. This left FAITH as the best answer.

Wordle 1,196 3/6

⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was "part of a phrase expressing appreciation” and the answer contained four common letters and one somewhat common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was THANK.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

How to Follow a Training Program for a Marathon or Half Marathon, Even When Nothing Is Going Right

When you’re training for a race, a good training plan is key. With a plan, you’ll have all your runs planned out for you, with just the right mix of long runs, speed work, and easy mileage to get you to the start line strong and ready. But what do you do when the plan doesn’t match up with your life? You get sick and miss a week, or you realize too late you started on the wrong date. Or the plan calls for something you just can’t make happen on schedule, like a tune-up race. 

“What do I do???” I hear you wailing. Well, don’t worry. I’ll tell you what you do: you do your best to follow the plan, without letting any feelings of guilt or nervousness take over. Missed workouts are in the past, and you’ll move on without trying to make them up. For the most part, anyway. Let’s look at a few scenarios where you might have questions. But first—let’s zoom out so we can see the big picture.

Understand what your training plan is trying to do

Before we can talk about whether to do this or that run off-schedule, we need to get our bearings and understand what each part of the training plan is trying to do. I’m going to describe the phases in a typical marathon training program, and they apply to most hard training programs, including those for half marathons. There are a few different phases over the course of what's usually a 12- to 18-week plan, and they're laid out something like this:

The beginning

What it is: Several weeks where you run a similar number of miles per week to what you were used to doing before you started this program. During this on-ramp phase, the program will challenge you to keep a consistent training routine, and add some extra distance to your long runs and perhaps some extra speed work or strength training that you had previously been neglecting. This may or may not feel like its own phase; it may just be the beginning of the build. 

How you’ll feel: You’ll feel pretty good during this phase.

Your biggest priority in this phase: Sticking to the program and preparing for the work to come.

The build

What it is: A nice long stretch focused on building up your mileage, both in the long run and in total weekly mileage. This is the longest phase of the program, perhaps six to eight weeks long. 

How you’ll feel: You’ll experience some fatigue, sore muscles, and maybe some blisters or minor injuries—but these tend to be pretty mild and overall you’re feeling OK.

Your biggest priority in this phase: Keeping up with the increases and taking care of your body (good nutrition, shoes, etc.) so that you can stay healthy and keep training.

The peak

What it is: This is the three to four weeks or so when mileage is highest, workouts are hardest, and the fatigue is really starting to catch up with you. If it’s a marathon program, you’re probably doing some 18+ mile long runs. If your race is a half marathon or less, you’re probably doing long runs that are longer than your race. 

How you’ll feel: Somewhere between “pretty rough, but hanging in there” and “frankly, I feel like shit.” 

Your biggest priority in this phase: Surviving.

The taper

What it is: After all that hard work, you finally get a break. The long runs are suddenly a lot shorter, and you’ll find yourself running a lot less mileage than you were during the peak. This phase is often about three weeks long for a marathon, and one to two weeks for a half marathon. For shorter races it may be just a few easy days so you can rest up before race day.

How you’ll feel: Often this is when you feel the worst, because all of that fatigue has built up, but you haven’t had enough of a break yet to feel rested. It’s also very normal to go a little crazy as you start wondering whether your training was really good enough and whether you’re really ready for your race. But this is all part of the plan, and if you stick with it you’ll feel like a million bucks on race day. 

Your biggest priority in this phase: Recovery. Or to put it another way: following the damn program, and not giving in to the temptation to go run an extra 20-miler or a race-pace workout “just to be sure” that you can. 

General rules for modifying your training program when life intervenes

With those phases in mind, it becomes a lot easier to figure out what to do when something messes with your schedule. Here are some very general rules to follow in every phase:

• It’s OK to rearrange workouts. For example, if you can’t do your long run on Saturday, go ahead and move it to Friday or Sunday. 

• Prioritize your “key” workouts (long runs, speed work) and try not to miss those. If you have to miss a run for scheduling/life reasons, make it an easy run. 

• Don’t try to make up missed runs, especially if you were sick and/or had to miss multiple sessions. Pick up where you left off. And give yourself some grace those first few days back—take it easy and do what you can.

• Make sure the program ends on race day. The taper works genuine magic if you time it right, and the peak is what sets up the taper. Don’t mess with the timing of those last few weeks. 

• Nobody’s perfect. If you manage to do 90% of the program as written, you’re still on track and you’ll do great at the race.

Got it? Now let’s tackle some specific questions. These are all taken from running forums, subreddits, and coaches’ anecdotes about what questions they get most often. A coach or experienced friend is the best resource, since they know you and you can discuss the specifics of your situation, but if you're just looking for general advice, here goes:

I started the program too early, and now I have extra time to fill. Should I repeat some of the weeks?

That depends on where you are in the program. Do not repeat weeks in the taper. That’s meant to be a short, sharp decrease in mileage. Stretching it out will rob it of its power. (Tapers are magic, I swear.) 

You also do not want to repeat hard weeks in the peak. Remember, that’s the highest fatigue part of the program, and you’re just trying to hang in there and not let it kill you. If the program is designed to have one 20-mile training run, it is foolishness to try to run two in a row. 

(There are, of course, exceptions to these rules. Some people might benefit from a longer taper, or have the fitness to do an extra long run and recover from it without too much trouble. But I’m trying to keep my advice general, and most people who say “fuck it, I’ll do an extra long run” will end up regretting it.)

So what can you do? I’d recommend these approaches, in this order of preference: 

1. Extend the beginning or build phases. You can certainly repeat week five of a 16-week program, no sweat. Feel free to make the repeated week(s) slightly different, maybe decreasing the long run by a mile or two, or doing hills instead of track repeats. Just try to keep it within the spirit of what that phase of training is trying to accomplish.

2. Add cutback weeks during the peak or late build phases. If you’re already in the peak phase when you notice your scheduling mishap, add an easy week in between some of the hard weeks. For example, the Level 3 Boston Marathon program has a 17-20 mile run in week 16, followed by 18-20 in week 17. You could insert a week in between where your long run is 13 miles or so, to give you a little bit of a break. Or say you’re following a Hal Higdon program that alternates between 20-mile and 12-mile long runs during the peak. Add an extra repeat of that cycle, maybe doing 16 or 18 rather than another 20-miler (since multiple 20’s is a lot), and following it with a 12 according to the pattern.

When in doubt, make the added week easier than the weeks before and after it. Your body will appreciate the extra recovery.

What if I don’t have a “tune-up race” to run? 

Some training plans will throw in a race partway through the program. A marathon program might have you race a half marathon in the middle of your training. A half marathon might have you race a 10K. 

Ideally this will be an actual race. You’ll sign up for the My Town 10K and have to figure out all your race day logistics: how early to wake up, what to eat, whether you want to carry your phone, and so on. You’ll also have the pressure of a timed course (no free pauses for water breaks) and the adrenaline rush of a crowd cheering you on. 

Having to deal with all that bullshit is half the point of doing a tune-up race. The other half is getting a chance to see how fast you can really run, and then you can use that result to help you decide what pace to target for your big race. (Plug in your race time here to see your predicted times at other distances.)

But maybe there isn’t a 10K in your town that weekend. Here are, in my opinion, your best options: 

1. Find a race of the correct (or similar) distance on a different weekend. Usually this isn’t a part of the training program where the timing is super critical. If you can get the full race day experience a week or two earlier or later, go ahead and swap things around to make that happen.

2. Run a time trial. This is just a race that you do on your own. There won’t be a crowd or a bib pickup table, but you can still test your fitness over the programmed distance. Reward yourself with a stale post-race bagel for verisimilitude.

3. Just do a regular long run. Usually the tune-up race takes the place of your weekend long run. Look at the weeks before and after it on the calendar, and ask yourself “if there wasn’t a race here, what would it be instead?” Make your best guess, and then do that. 

What if I have 12 miles programmed, but I really want to race a 5K or join a friend for a short run that day? 

This is the opposite of the dilemma above. There isn’t a race scheduled, but you want to do one anyway. Or some other scenario where you’ll be running, but not hitting the programmed distance.

The simplest answer is just: run a loooong warmup and cooldown. Three real easy miles before the 5K shouldn’t ruin the race for you; in fact, you’ll probably feel nicely warmed up by the time you get to the start line. And then you can do the other six miles as an extended cooldown. 

Same idea if you’re meeting a friend for a run. If they want to do a nice easy five-miler, you can do seven before they show up, run your last five with them, and then go to brunch together. 

If the race is a longer one—say, a 10K—you can also just treat it as a tune-up race. Run it all-out, and don’t bother making up the mileage. Depending on where you are in the program, a race and a long run might be too much to recover from. 

You wouldn’t want to do this every week, but once or twice in your training plan isn’t the end of the world. 

I missed my longest run, and now it’s taper time! Should I squeeze in a 20-miler real quick? 

You know the answer to this one by now: no. The taper is for recovery. Also, my god, you have no idea how many people miss their last 20-miler and then do absolutely fine at their marathon. 

I ran all my long runs, but some of them went really badly. I think I can redo my last 16-miler, but do it better this time. How do I—

That's the neat thing, you don't.

What if I am a special snowflake and believe these rules don’t apply to me? 

Honestly: maybe you’re right.  A cookie-cutter program is not guaranteed to be perfect for everyone. Just promise me something: whatever “bad” decisions you make, learn from them. Maybe you think you’ll be fine with a shorter taper. If you truly want to test that hypothesis, shorten your taper! Keep notes. And then see how you do in the race. 

Just remember that this kind of self-experimentation works best if you do the program as written your first time around, and then tweak it when you run your next race. You’re learning how you respond to training, which is an incredibly valuable skill as you grow as an athlete.

The Merach S26 Is an Impressive (and Affordable) Exercise Bike

Not everyone can afford a Peloton, but honestly, you don't need one. If what you're looking for is a no-nonsense bike exercise workout at home, there are plenty of more affordable alternatives. The quality varies depending on what you're looking to spend, but I've found the Merach S26 to be an impressive exercise bike for the money. (I've been using it at home for a couple of months as I rehab from an ACL surgery—it was provided to me by Merach for review.) It's not perfect, but I've found it to be much better than I expected, especially after reviewing the budget rowing machine from the same company, which left much to be desired.

Merach S26 (MR-S26) Exercise Bike

Brake Pad/Magnetic Stationary Bike with App, Low Noise Indoor Cycling Bike with 270lbs limit.

$239.99 at Amazon

$299.99 Save $60.00

$239.99 at Amazon

$299.99 Save $60.00

Pros and cons of the Merach S26

Pros

• Quiet: Even at full speed you can't hear much.

• Affordable: You can easily find this bike under $200 on Amazon.

• Stable: You'd have to try very hard to fall off its stable frame.

• Portable: The front wheels make moving it around easy.

• App features: The Merach app has free and useful metrics.

Cons

• Resistance is tricky: Although there are "100 levels," it's hard to move between them.

• Motion detection drains the battery: The motion detection turns the screen on constantly and it drains the battery quickly.

Specs:

• Display: LCD rotary display (needs two AA batteries)

• Pedal resistance: Friction ("100" levels)

• Weight of e-bike: 61.7 lb

• Rider height range: One frame accomodates 4'8" to 6'2"

• Maximum rider weight: 270 lbs

• Size of bike: ‎42.6 x 19.3 x 48.6 inches

Easy to set up, quiet, and stable

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

It took me about 20 minutes to set up the Merach S26. It was very easy to do thanks to a straightforward assembly tutorial video. The bike is extremely quiet. The only sound it makes seems to be from the belt moving as you pedal and the wind the wheel makes as it spins, but it's quiet enough that you can pedal as hard as you can and it does not (surprisingly) disturb my fiancée whose work-from-home setup is right next to the bike.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

I was surprised at how stable the bike can be if you set it up correctly. There are four adjustable bolts you can rotate on each corner to raise or lower their height, which is great for uneven surfaces. Since my floor is flat, I just made them as short as they could go. I could bike to my maximum speed and felt like I was in complete control without any concern the bike was going to tip over. The bike also has two wheels at the front that make it very easy to move around the house. Unfortunately, there's no way to prop it up in any way to stow it away.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

I found the seat to be comfortable initially, but it would start hurting after the 20-minute mark. My fiancée, on the other hand, found it uncomfortable in less than 10 minutes.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Since this is a home exercise bike, I was expecting pedals that would be comfortable enough to use barefoot or in socks, but I don't recommend it. You need to wear shoes to go on this ride. There are grooves made for better friction with shoes that make it very painful to use barefoot.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Both the seat and handlebar are adjustable to fit people measuring between 4'8" to 6'2", according to Merach. I am 5'7" and found the right positions without trouble. You can also move the seat forward and backward to get a more comfortable posture (useful for people with long or short torsos). I did find it concerning when the seat post would slightly rock back and forth when I moved it with my hand, but it did not impact the riding at all.

The LCD screen and resistance settings are not my favorite

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

It might be true when Merach says this bike has 100 resistance levels, but there is no real way of knowing. To adjust the resistance, you rotate the knob that is between the seat and the handlebars. The problem is that there is nothing telling me what level I'm on. I just have to feel it out. Once I hit some resistance, it doesn't take much moving to drastically increase or decrease the intensity of the pedaling, so realistically, I'm carefully moving the resistance up and down within the same 20 degrees the whole time.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Merach has two types of exercise bikes, the friction version that I have (the MR-S26B1) and a magnetic one (the MR-S26B2). I'm not sure what material the friction version uses to create its resistance, but it feels like some kind of rough thread. In the two months I've been using it for my ACL rehab, I managed to burn through a small bundle of thread (see the picture above). I estimate it's about 5% of the material. (I've reached out to Merach to ask how long it expects this material to last, and whether people who buy the bike can replace the material if it wears out. I'll update this post when I hear back.)

The more expensive magnetic version will obviously not have this problem.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

I think Merach did well to not include a large, cheap LCD screen, but instead included a stand so that I could place my phone or a tablet. It's grippy to prevent devices from falling, but I would not trust it with a laptop (and I would certainly not put any device on it without a case).

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

The LCD screen that's there tracks and records your exercise time, speed, distance, power (watts), cadence (rotations), and calories. The display is difficult to navigate and is not very user-friendly—the app is a much better alternative. The biggest problem that I've found with the screen is the motion sensor that turns on the LCD screen. I leave my bike in an area I walk by constantly, so the screen continually turns on and drains the battery. (I disconnected the sensor cable from the LCD screen and that seems to do the trick.)

The Merach app enhances the experience

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

The Merach App is a subscription-free companion app that makes it much easier to see what you're doing compared to the LCD screen. It's very easy to connect the bike to the app and prop a phone in the stand. The app logs the workout data and shows the information once the workout is complete, including calories burned, average frequency, average resistance, max power, etc. If I'm looking for a quick workout, the app has "ultra burning," "target practice," "timed practice," and "free training" preloaded workouts.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

There are also free pre-recorded guided classes you can take depending on what your goals are, simulation rides that show you nice landscapes as you bike, and challenges with leaderboards you can do and see how you fare against other users.

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

Finishing thoughts

Credit: Daniel Oropeza

The Merach S26 is a solid budget exercise bike that is perfect for someone looking for a silent spin bike on a budget. You can easily find discounts on this bike that bring it to under $200, making it an incredible value for the money. Yes, it's not perfect: the resistance knob is hard to move between levels of difficulty and the motion detection can turn on the LCD screen constantly, draining the battery. But I think the positives outweigh the negatives. It's a very stable bike, easy to maneuver, and the Merach app offers enough free features that most people will find useful.