By Emma Dibdin | New York Times
I’m usually an ADIEU person, but to mix it up I sometimes start with CHAOS.
If that objectively strange (and definitely confusing) sentence makes sense, then you are probably one of the millions who begin or end their day with Wordle. For the uninitiated, Wordle is a deceptively straightforward word game that debuted just last October, in which players get six chances to guess a predetermined five-letter word. A green brick indicates whether the letter is correct and in the right place; a yellow brick means that the letter appears in the word but in a different location; and a gray or black brick indicates the letter isn’t present at all. Each guess is precious, and that first word is all-important.
The addictive challenge has sparked much debate about strategy, as friends and family engage in some friendly competition (or trash-talking) by showing off their results on social media. A cottage industry of sites has even popped up offering tips — you can learn to optimize your game using information theory or head to FirstWord, a site that will grade the efficacy of your opener.
One popular strategy is to start with a vowel-heavy word, like ARISE, SUAVE, or my trusty ADIEU. By getting three or four vowels out there from the jump, one can quickly narrow down the list of possible solutions.
