When Josh Wardle, a New York based software engineer, designed Wordle during coronavirus lockdown, his aim was simply to create a game "for me and my partner to enjoy."
After the game was released to the public in October 2021, it went viral on social media, quickly developing into a sensation across the English-speaking world. In January 2022, The New York Times purchased Wordle for an unspecified seven-figure sum.
The rules of Wordle are very simple, doubtless helping the game to spread so fast. Each day the player has to work out a new five-letter word, in six attempts or less. After each guess the letters light up, letting you know how accurate you were. If a letter goes green it is both in the word, and in the position you put it. Yellow means the letter features, but not where you placed it, whilst gray tells you it's not included at all.
Speaking to Newsweek, Erhan Aslan, an associate professor of applied linguistics at the University of Reading in the U.K., gave some tips on playing the game.
He said: "One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels (e.g., e, a), consonants (e.g., r, t) and sound sequences might be helpful. Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j, or x, for instance, may not be the best choice.
"As you get more feedback after a few guesses, users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking. For example, if the second letter of the target word is L (indicated by green) and the player feels that the word starts with a consonant, they will need to know that there are only a few consonant cluster possibilities (e.g., bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl)."
The answer to today's puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll down with caution if you want to work it out for yourself. To help you solve today's Wordle, Newsweek has provided some tips.
'Wordle' #577 Tips and Clues for Tuesday, January 17
Wordle players can use these five hints to solve puzzle #577.
Hint #1: The answer contains two vowels.
Hint #2: There are no repeated letters.
Hint #3: Synonyms for today's answer include "embrace," "accept" and "select."
Hint #4: The first and third letters are both vowels.
Hint #5: Can happen to children.
'Wordle' #577 Answer for Tuesday, January 17
The answer to today's Wordle is "Adopt."
A relatively common word, with two vowels, this wasn't the toughest puzzle Wordle has thrown our way, but it was still a good brainteaser. Congratulations if you got it, but please don't worry if not. One of the best things about Wordle is trying to improve your score over time.
Either way, Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of Wordle hints and tips.
What Does 'Adopt' Mean?
The Cambridge University dictionary defines "adopt" as "to legally take another person's child into your own family and take care of him or her as your own child."
For example: "They've adopted a baby girl."
The next Wordle puzzle will be available at 7 p.m. ET, when the daily update occurs.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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