How to solve today’s Wordle.

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It’s Wordle Wednesday and that means one thing and one thing only: We have an extra challenge ahead of us. Every Wednesday, I give you lot an extra riddle, brain-teaser or logic puzzle to solve. I like to mix things up! Variety and all that jazz. Then on Thursday, I give you the answer. Here’s today’s:

An ancient alchemist once sought to test his most promising apprentice. One evening, he set two strange ropes upon the table in his dimly lit workshop.

“These ropes,” the alchemist explained, “are enchanted. If you light either one on fire from either end, it will burn away completely in exactly one hour. But beware . . .” he whispered ominously, holding one of the ropes up to show how it grew thick then thin, then thick again. “They do not burn evenly.”

The alchemist leaned closer, lowering his voice. “Now here is my challenge to you: With only these two ropes and a flame, show me how you might measure exactly forty-five minutes.”

He stepped back, arms folded, awaiting the apprentice’s solution.

Can you solve the puzzle? If you do, shoot me a message. I’ll post the answer in tomorrow’s guide.

Now let’s solve this Wordle!

Looking for Tuesday’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: BREAK (252 words remaining)

The Hint: A wizard—or an alchemist—might live here.

The Clue: This Wordle has more consonants than vowels.

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.

Like so often when I play pool, this was a bad BREAK. An unlucky BREAK. 252 words remained after my opener. STORE slashed that down to just 6. I almost went with SPORE, but we just had that as a Wordle solution. I could think of a few, but I really didn’t have a clue which one it could be so I went with the word I liked best: TOWER. I’m a sucker for towers. Dark Towers, crooked wizard towers, towers with damsels in distress. Rapunzel’s tower. It did the trick!

Competitive Wordle Score

I get 1 point for guessing in three and another point for beating the Bot. The Bot gets 0 for guessing in four and -1 for losing to me. I take the lead at last in August, though there are plenty of days left for things to go against me:

Erik: 16 points

Wordle Bot: 14 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

Tower comes from Latin turris (“tower, citadel”), which passed into Old French tour and then Middle English tour(e) before becoming tower. It originally referred both to natural high places (a crag or hill) and to man-made defensive structures, eventually narrowing in English to primarily mean tall, fortified or lofty buildings.

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