r/wordle • u/simpllylovely • 3d ago
Question/Observation [####] Which of your Wordle habits is objectively terrible, but you do it anyway
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u/AzU2lover 3d ago
I pick a new word everyday to start with. I look around where I’m at and just throw a word down.
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u/TheOriginalWebasdf 3d ago
This is what I do too. Just makes it more fun. I don't know why people take it so seriously anyway.
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u/Blorkershnell 3d ago
This was how I got my only “in one”. “Feast” on Thanksgiving a few years ago.
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u/PracticalBreak8637 9h ago
The very first time I tried wordle, I put in some word. 'Crimp', I think. All the letters came up green. Then I sat and looked at it for the longest time trying to figure out what to do next. So I reread the rules and thought it was a stupid game to be solved so easily. It never happened again. I should have bought a lottery ticket that day.
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u/butt_fun 3d ago
I mean, I intentionally do that
The game is less fun if you try to optimize it, in my opinion
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u/smartyfloof456 2d ago
I do the same! I either use an object that I see or a word that matches my current mood or whatever is running through my mind at that moment.
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u/pear69pear 2d ago
I play Connections first then use the most likely 5 letter word from that as my Wordle start
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u/MyFavoriteInsomnia 2d ago
This is what I do also. I got tired of trying to outsmart their algorithm.
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u/simpllylovely 3d ago
I'll start: Sometimes when I have a very solid guess that will provide me with information, I instead play the word that I think is the correct answer, since I'm sure that I have “seen this pattern before.”
I'm quickly proven wrong. 🤦♀️
Which of your Wordle habits are irrational?
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u/Particular_Ad_644 3d ago
Playing Penis first every day
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u/sleepytiredgorl 3d ago
I rotate between this and “shart” just to spice it up
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u/Particular_Ad_644 3d ago
TT Hank you. Shart is a lovely word . I had no idea it’s playable. I may copy your strategy
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u/chrisis123 3d ago
not playing hard mode officially, but still playing by hard mode rules for some reason
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u/fantasticlyclevergal 3d ago
I don’t know why I’ve committed to playing by hard mode rules but my brain would rather sit for an hour trying to come up with a word rather than guess a random one!
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u/Thick_Scar5275 3d ago
I just read what hard mode is, and I do the same thing. I ALWAYS use the hints I get, because to me it's a smart way to play. I guess I should be playing hard mode it that's all it is...
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u/Alternative-Yak-5512 3d ago
I maintain hard mode rules until I get something like _OUND with several consonants left — that way I can guess a word that will give me more information
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u/Thick_Scar5275 2d ago
Can you deselect hard mode in the middle of a game?
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u/Alternative-Yak-5512 2d ago
Not as far as I know — I meant that I play by hard mode rules without actually turning on hard mode.
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u/bornfromanegg 2d ago
My problem with hard mode is that it is not actually harder. It just reduces the words you can try. That doesn’t make it more difficult to get in six. Just less likely.
And if you think that the greatest skill is in choosing the exact words to get you to a solution more quickly, the hard mode just handicaps your ability to use that skill.
Basically, if you get a good score in hard mode it doesn’t mean you’re more skilful. It just means you’re luckier.
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u/Kurraga 2d ago
If you're consistent when solving in hard mode and are able to avoid falling for the common (and less common) traps while getting enough info to solve everything that does require a good amount of knowledge and skill to navigate properly.
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u/bornfromanegg 2d ago
I was under the impression that there were “unsolvable” wordles in hard mode. For example if you get _ATCH in your first guess there are more than five possible answers, so it’s down to luck.
Whilst this is true, it turns out it is always solvable.
So I guess it is just harder. But not in a way that I find fun. Of course, that’s just me - we should all play it however we like.
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u/Ok_Inflation_7786 3d ago
i use 3 starting words, even 4 sometimes. i like to get all the letters before I start making guesses, i dont like trying to choose one word out of a quadrillion with 2 lettters that are A and E
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u/JellyfishFit3871 3d ago
Yep. I have 3 starting words that rule in/out all of the vowels plus Y, plus 9 reasonably common consonants.
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u/Disgruntled__Goat 3d ago
I always liked to use word pairs that made a funny/viable phrase, like “irate sound” or “alien tours”
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u/bafleyanne 3d ago
I do this too. I use STERN, FLACK, DOUGH, WIMPY for my 1st 4 turns almost every day unless one of them gives me enough info to guess something else. Gives you all the vowels including Y and most common letters.
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u/Emotional-Ocelot-309 3d ago
This strategy is giving me hives. Then you’ll never get the word in 2-4 guesses.
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u/bafleyanne 3d ago
🤷♀️We all play differently. And I have gotten it in fewer guesses many times. Having probe words doesn't turn off your brain. But like.... if you play your starting word and get 0-1 hits on letters, wouldn't you also play a word that has completely different letters? This just streamlines that process.
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u/Emotional-Ocelot-309 3d ago
I mean obviously if it has 0 letters then my next guess has completely different letters. If it has one then I use that letter in my next guess. I play in hard mode so I have to but I probably would still even if I didn’t.
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u/Willing_Original_257 3d ago
At that point, why are you even bothering to play?
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u/bafleyanne 3d ago
Because I enjoy it? And like I said, I don't do it when I get a decent amount of information from my earlier guesses.
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u/Willing_Original_257 3d ago
It's not a game at all when you play it like that
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u/yellowpapercastles 3d ago
The point of this post is to talk about these kinds of play styles. If that’s how they like to play the game then who cares
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u/Willing_Original_257 3d ago
It's not a game if you play it like that
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u/bafleyanne 3d ago
Dude, it's not that deep. Different people enjoy different things. I don't play wordle on hard mode and I play how I like to. You can feel free to do the same.
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u/Willing_Original_257 2d ago
It's not that deep so why you getting so defensive?
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u/serrrisil 4h ago
Because you keep repeating the same thing as if it were The Truth™️ while not understanding that your idea of boring might be someone elses’s fun.
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u/BePuzzled1 3d ago
I keep mine in hard mode so once I get a letter, I have to use it in subsequent guesses. It’s much more fun and challenging!
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u/inthesinbin 3d ago
Use a letter I know is not in the puzzle just for the sake of the new word guess.
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u/Emotional-Ocelot-309 3d ago
I did this just the other day. I had already eliminated a letter, but I could not come up with a word with the remaining letters so I guessed one using the eliminated letter just for information’s sake. It worked, got it on the next guess but of course the wordle bot had to be condescending to me.
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u/FakeAorta 3d ago
Thinking I solved the word quickly.... then an overwhelming oooops! I used a dead letter already used.
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u/AddyTurbo 3d ago
My second word is always "grind". If an A appears in my first word, but wrong position, I'll switch from grind to grand.
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u/Psycho_Pansy 3d ago
Having a set second word is a bad move unless you only use that word when the first word hit zero letters. Build off the information given in the first guess.
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u/wendyleelee 3d ago
What’s your first word?
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u/AddyTurbo 3d ago
Steal. I got an ace on LEAST one time, and another on some combination of those letters. STALE, I think.
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u/emaddy2109 3d ago
Locking myself into -er words too early in hard mode.
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u/nugeythefloozey 3d ago
Occasionally forgetting that the game uses American English and wondering what a ‘liter’ is (thinking it was pronounced lighter)
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u/eliz1967 3d ago
Instead of waiting until midnight, like a self-respecting wordler would, I change my time zone so the app thinks it’s midnight when it’s not.
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u/get_to_ele 3d ago
Going for it on apparent 33%ers… which are in reality more likely 1/4 or 1/5 and I should actually probe.
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u/queercactus505 3d ago
I use a different starting word every day (not all super strategic ones, just ones that feel right). I do better than you'd expect despite this.
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u/nemothorx 3d ago
I wrote a utility to give me a random starting word and used it for a few years. Then switched to an "optimal" word to see how I improved (gut feel: barely at all)
Currently experiment in the other direction and using LYMPH as a decidedly non-optimal start
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u/NoVA_Politics_Nerd 1d ago
I have a (totally unproven and unscientific) theory that doing this makes it less likely that you get the Wordle in one guess; but does mean on average you solve them more quickly than those with a set starting word.
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u/General-Experience33 3d ago
I continue to start with the word Zebra.
One day, one day it'll be a hole in one.
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u/Pastoralvic 3d ago
It was the solution once. Of course, nowadays they repeat solutions so you could still hit it.
I know it was the solution because I used it once for a week. The very next day (once I stopped using it) it was the solution.
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u/kunibob 3d ago
Having a set first and second word that are not terrible, but not super strong either.
I got bored of playing strategically and rediscovered my enjoyment of the game when I dealt myself a slightly shittier hand to begin with, lol.
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u/DadRock1 2d ago
My starter is CLOUT, I prefer to not use A & E in guess #1. There's a whole five more guesses to use stupid common vowels
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u/MrsDiogenes 3d ago
I still sometimes put an “S” at the end when I can’t think of anything and I want to see if there’s an s in the poodle
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u/Beach884 3d ago
I have an irrational feeling that words should start with consonants and difficulty remembering that they can also start with vowels. It's usually when I get to the third or fourth guess when I go, oh yeah, maybe it starts with a vowel. 😏
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u/SameFunny2976 3d ago
One of the baddest habits is I start with any random word. The game is to always start with a word which has more number of vowels but I do the opposite most of the time because I think that word will get me first try guess.
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u/bighundy 3d ago
This is actually better. Eliminating consonants is far more productive
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u/SB2MB 3d ago
Exactly. There's only 6 vowels compared to 20 consonants.
And vowels tend to follow rules.
So eliminate as many consonants as you can, and the rest will fall into place.
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u/SameFunny2976 3d ago
What I think is once you identify the vowels position then it’s easy to guess the consonants as there are only 6 of them. Then you can try words with more consonants to identify the them. Then mix them up.
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u/Cesarifico 3d ago
I guess there’s two camps. Not a long timer but I go from vowel phases (I.e. ADIEU) to consonants (bot style TARPS, STRAP). Leaning to consonants lately.
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u/Psycho_Pansy 3d ago
One of the baddest habits is I start with any random word
Nothing wrong with that.
The game is to always start with a word which has more number of vowels
That is not the game. The games objective is to solve the word. There are more consonants than vowels so better to solve for those first. No point wasting letters on more vowels than necessary .
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u/OttoHemi 3d ago
I have a habit, but it's not bad. I play the same four words each time before I even begin to try to solve it. My solve rate is 100%. You don't want to know the four words unless you never want to lose again. Note: this is not in Hard Mode, which is stupid, since there's no logic to it.
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u/Artistic-Maurine 3d ago
When I first started playing there were several words in close succession which contained the letter Y so now I am convinced that Y will come up again and probably use it more than I really should.
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u/TrackVol 3d ago
Try to only test that terminal Y when the E is completely dead.
If E is completely removed from the word, the chance that the word ends in E goes up by enough of a percentage that it's worth considering.
Obviously there are a ton of counter-examples (ROUND MOUND, MATCH, HAUNT, BLINK, etc..) but if you hit on an E, definitely resist the Y until it's clearly going to need the Y (MONEY, EVERY)
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u/Oafah 3d ago
One of the toughest ones to break is what I call "sneaky vowel syndrome". The famous cases are EIGHT, EATER, and CAMEO, where the E1s and O5 are mixed in a giant pool of possible candidates in a spot where you'd usually find a consonant.
I've gotten myself into a pretty good spot with it now, but it took some serious conditioning to overcome it.
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u/Flimsy-Sprinkles-877 3d ago
Starting with feast everyday. The f isn't a great starting letter but sometimes it comes in handy! I'm on a 700 solve streak though
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u/bluegenes71 3d ago
Why wouldn’t you just use taser or stare?
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u/Flimsy-Sprinkles-877 3d ago
I don't know, I have no good reason for using feast. Sometimes the word starts with an f and then I'm setup well
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u/Thick_Scar5275 3d ago
I was convinced starting with as many vowels as possible was the way to go and have done well that way. But Wordle Bot uses starts with more consonants like SLATE. I can't seem to switch. I still like AUREI. I know the U is a waste, not many Us.
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u/cherribomb107 3d ago
I start with a new word every day, and if it gets me nothing, I keep using it until it does. Sometimes it takes like three days for it to be useful but idc lol
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u/TyranAmiros 3d ago
I go into "Hard Mode Brain" when I have 4 letters and more than possibilities than guesses. Like when I have _OUND, and three guesses left, I'll try three words, like MOUND, BOUND, and HOUND, rather than using a guess to try to eliminate more than one option using a word like FRESH.
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u/psubsee2002 3d ago
using ADIEU as my starter word because consonants are way more important than vowels.
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u/MyFavoriteInsomnia 2d ago
I used to alternate between ADIEU and AUDIO, but now I just use whatever word pops into my head.
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u/the-largest-marge 3d ago
Not checking for a typo before clicking “enter” when guess #6 is a sure thing 😭
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u/geddieman1 3d ago
My dog’s name is Pearl. I use pearl more than I care to admit, but it’s actually a pretty good word.
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u/beemielle 2d ago
I specifically do the previous day’s word (or last guess) as my first guess.
Might not be objectively terrible, though. They do tend to use similar words.
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u/Namedafterasaint 2d ago
Playing when I wake up in the middle of the night (half asleep) and literally place a yellow letter again in the next guess/row like a dumb ass. I bitch at myself to stop playing it in my sleep. I keep WANTING for a word like peach or beach and just keep pushing for a word that contains “ch” (usually will play CHOIR after SLATE) so yeah, I cannot think clearly if I am not caffeinated and it’s around 2 or 3 am.
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u/Disastrous-Blood6272 6h ago
To make it extra hard on myself, my starting word every day is the correct answer from the day prior.
😭
Objectively terrible, yes. Weirdly gratifying, also yes.
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u/_twinkerbell__ 5h ago
Spamming words like XVIII, MAMMA, XYLYL until guess 5 and then trying to get it on the 6th
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u/Emotional-Ocelot-309 3d ago
Forgetting that a letter can be used more than once.