Hints And Answer For Thursday, October 9

The month is flying by, as months do these days, and the week as well. Thursday is here, which means we’re already most of the way to the weekend. It also means that yesterday was Wordle Wednesday and I gave you a riddle to solve. Kudos to those of you who messaged me with the solution! This was the riddle:

What is the 4-letter word?

The answer is DIET, something people put off to tomorrow. Without the “T” the word is “DIE” aka the ultimate sorry. Without the “I” you get DE(B)T and owe some money. On a diet you typically cut out things like sugar. And, of course, the point is to lose weight. Pretty clever. Alright, onto the Wordle!

Looking for Wednesday’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: SPARE (91 words remaining)

The Hint: A pair of detective brothers.

The Clue: This Wordle ends with a “Y”.

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.

SPARE was as pretty solid opening guess today, leaving me with just 91 words. RATIO cut that number down to 6, and I came up with a few different ones. I settled on HARDY because I’d just seen a headline about the WWE duo, the Hardy Boyz, which I thought was amusing. I don’t know the first thing about professional wrestling and at first I thought it was about the old Hardy Boys books, which I devoured as a youth. I guess the Hardy Boyz just won big, and I also won big thanks to them. And reading as a kid.

Competitive Wordle Score

I get 1 point for guessing in three and another for beating the Bot. The Bot gets 0 points for guessing in four and -1 for losing to me, placing me back in the lead for October in what is a very close race:

Erik: 8 points

Wordle Bot: 6 point

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 hardy comes from Middle English hardi, meaning “bold” or “courageous.” It was borrowed from Old French hardi, the past participle of hardir (“to make bold, encourage”), which in turn comes from a Germanic root related to hard (meaning “strong” or “brave”). Ultimately, it traces back to Proto-Germanic harduz, meaning “hard, firm, strong.”

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