The mid-January Tuesday brings yet another Wordle challenge to tackle. With the long weekend behind us, it’s time to engage with today’s puzzle. Let’s get started!

Missed Monday’s Wordle? Catch up with our detailed guide here.

With the ability to create personalized Wordles now available, I’m adding a special bonus Wordle to each daily guide. These custom puzzles range from 4 to 7 letters, offering an additional fun challenge. Click the link below to try the Wordle specially crafted for you today.

Today’s Bonus Wordle

Today’s Bonus Custom Wordle features a 7-letter word.

Helpful hint: It’s something frightening!

Key clue: The word starts and finishes with consonants.

The clue: This Wordle begins and ends with consonants.

Yesterday’s Custom Wordle Answer: BARD

How To Solve Today’s Wordle

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: SLATE (19 words remaining)
• The Hint: To stain or defile, either physically or figuratively.
• The Clue: This Wordle has a double letter.

Okay, spoilers below! The answer is coming!

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The Answer:

Wordle Bot Analysis

Every day I check Wordle Bot to help analyze my guessing game. You can check your Wordle score with Wordle Bot right here.

Despite a good start — using Wordle Bot’s favorite word left me with just 19 possible solutions — I still took four tries today. CHOIR did nothing for me (the Bot suggested after that CHILL would have been more efficient) and SULKY was so close but no cigar. I’m not sulking, however. At least I got SULLY on the next guess!

Competitive Wordle Score

I get 0 for guessing in four and -1 for losing to the Bot. The Bot gets +1 for beating me and +1 for guessing in three. Our new January totals are:

Erik: 15 points

Wordle Bot: 4 points

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

Sully comes from Anglo-French souiller “to soil, defile,” from Old French soillier/souiller, ultimately related to Latin solium meaning “mud, mire.” The sense has always been figurative as well as literal—staining something physically or morally.

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