By now, if you do not live under a rock, you must have heard or even play Wordle. This online game has become a sensation mainly because it challenges you to find a word by guessing its letters.
The best part of this game is that it can be very easy to win if you only remember some of the English phonetic rules. But let’s start from the beginning.
What is Wordle?
This browser-based puzzle gives you six chances to guess the five-letter word of the day. If you get a correct letter but on the wrong spot, then a yellow tile appears. If your played letter is correct and in the right place, then it turns green.
The game was developed by Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn and originally from Wales. Talking to The Guardian, he explains that it all started as a way to spend time with his partner. Since it was released last fall, it gained users little by little until it became viral reaching over 2 million users in one weekend.
The secret to winning Wordle
Because you have limited chances to guess the word of the day, you must calculate precisely which letter are you going to play, and here is when the magic of linguistics comes in hand.
According to David Shariatmadari, The Guardian’s non-fiction book editor, knowing some basics of phonotactics, or the rules that apply to the order of syllable structures, consonant clusters, and vowel sequences.
In other words, by just knowing that, for example, m and o go together and always m in front of p; or that the pairing of r and t is always at the end of a word.
Another trick to win Wordle is the use of the rule called “sonority sequencing principle” which states that, in general, hard sounds like p and c, which are less sonorous, appear before more sonorous and soft sounds like l and r and in most cases, at the beginning of a syllable.
As David notes, keeping in mind these linguistic rules can help you win Wordle. All you have to do is remember that is you believe the word has a hard consonant like b, the best guess will be the first and last spot.
Or maybe just have fun trying to guess de word of the day. After all, Wardle’s main goal with his game was just to have fun and break the routine.