Daily Wordle Insights (Solution) for August 20, 2024 (rephrased)
If you're on the hunt for the Wordle solution for August 20, 2024, you've come to the right place. We'll provide some hints, guidelines, and tactics, culminating in the answer. This one was tricky; it took me five attempts to crack it. Beware, there are spoilers following for August 20, Wordle #1,158! Don't scroll further if you'd prefer to discover the hints and then the answer on your own.
Learn how to play Wordle
Wordle can be found on the New York Times website. The daily challenge goes live each day at midnight, in your local time.
Begin by guessing a five-letter word. Green letters indicate a correct guess in the right position, while yellow letters represent a correct guess but in the wrong spot. Grey letters signify the absence of the letter within the day's secret word. For more, explore our comprehensive Wordle guide and strategy manual. (You'll find additional details further down in this post.)
Ready for the hints? Let's dive in!
Does today’s Wordle have any uncommon letters?
We consider characters uncommon if they're not in the classic typesetter's phrase, ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! It's pronounced "Edwin Shirdloo," like a friend's name. Commit it to memory.)
Four out of today's five letters are from this mnemonic. The remaining letter is less frequent.
Can you provide a hint for today's Wordle?
It refers to delay.
Does today’s Wordle feature any repeated letters?
There are no duplicated letters today.
How many vowels does today’s Wordle contain?
It features two vowels and one occasional vowel.
What letter begins today’s Wordle?
D is the first letter.
What letter ends today’s Wordle?
Y marks the end.
What's the answer to today’s Wordle?
Prepared? Today's word is DELAY.
How I cracked today’s Wordle
I began with RAISE and TOUCH, then shifted to BLAND to remove common consonants. From there, potential answers included PEDAL, MEDAL, and DELAY; I ultimately guessed MEDAL, which provided DELAY as the solution.
The answer for yesterday’s Wordle
Yesterday’s Wordle was moderately difficult. The hint was "an Olympic measurement unit." The response contained four common letters and one frequently used letter.
The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was METER.
A primer on Wordle fundamentals
Wordle revolves around guessing the daily secret word. When the game loads, you'll see a five-letter grid devoid of letters. It's up to you to initiate the action: enter any five-letter word.
The colors revealed will serve as clues: Green signifies a correct guess in the correct position. (For instance, if you guess PARTY, but the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)
- Yellow indicates the letter is in the word but not in the right spot. (If you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A, and T will all be yellow.)
- Grey denotes the absence of the letter in the solution word. (In the example, PARTY and everything is grey, thus the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)
Make another guess, and then another, aiming to find the correct word before exhausting your attempts. You get six chances, and after that, it's game over.
The top starter words for Wordle
What's the best first guess? The optimal options tend to include common letters, increasing the likelihood of yellow and green squares to assist your guessing. (In case you get all greys when guessing common letters, that's still valuable info to eliminate possibilities.) There isn't one definitive "best" starting word, but the New York Times' Wordle analysis bot recommends starting with one of these:
- CRANE
- TRACE
- SLANT
- CRATE
- CARTE
Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that eliminating the most possibilities in the first round is achieved by starting with:
- SALET
- REAST
- TRACE
- CRATE
- SLATE
Other recommended options include ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO provide more vowels but favor a consonant-focused strategy with a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy and put it to the test.
Strategies to conquer Wordle
We've crafted several guides to Wordle strategy that you might find interesting if you're a dedicated player. This one focuses on maximizing your use of consonants, while this one emphasizes a strategy centered around the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we explain a three-pronged approach to gathering hints while maximizing the likelihood of a quick win.
The main distinction between successful Wordle players and those who struggle lies in how the former utilize their attempts to discern the word's contained letters. If you're aware that the word terminates with -OUND, avoid wasting guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND. Instead, blend those consonants and try MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you'll know you've got the solution.
Regarding strategy, the original Wordle utilized about 2,300 potential solutions. However, upon purchase by the NYT, the game now features an editor who personally selects the solutions. These could sometimes be tricky words not originally included or topical ones, like FEAST during Thanksgiving. Bear this in mind as there might be a theme.
Wordle analogs
If you just can't get enough of five-letter riddles and their ilk, the top Wordle alternatives, ranked according to difficulty, include:
- Wheeldle, which allows you to engage in successive puzzles
- Dordle and Quordle, which demand solving two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles simultaneously, using the same guesses. There's also Octordle, consisting of eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, featuring 16.
- Waffle, which presents several five-letter words, scrambled within a grid. Gameplay involves swapping letters until you solve.
- Absurdle, which alters the solution with each guess. Yet, it must maintain its original feedback consistency. You must strategically corner it until only one potential answer remains; then, you guess it and win.
- Squabble, where you engage in Wordle combat against other players, with a timer running. Penalties are imposed if you linger too long between guesses; the last competitor remaining wins.
- Antiwordle, where your objective is not to guess the day’s solution. You're required to reuse any accurately guessed letters, so the longer it takes you, the better you perform at the game.
Wordle is also a popular source of entertainment, available on the New York Times website. In addition to the daily challenge, players can dive into a comprehensive Wordle guide and strategy manual for additional help.
Are you curious about uncommon letters in today's Wordle? Four out of five letters in the solution are from the typesetter's phrase, ETAOIN SHRDLU. The remaining letter is less frequent.
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