600 Boston.com readers responded, and they’re all lying about cheating at Wordle
Very few would own up to cheating at the viral online word game, although they did offer some useful tips.
We all know that Wordle is all about the words, but when it came to our poll about cheating at Wordle, the results are all about the numbers. And those numbers show you’re all a bunch of liars.
As you’ll recall, a recent study by WordFinderX showed that New England residents were among the worst offenders when it comes to searching online for a particular day’s answer to the viral online word game. New Hampshire had the worst cheaters — no comment — but Massachusetts was not far behind, coming in fifth in the Wordle cheating hall of shame.
And yet, somehow, of the more than 600 Boston.com readers who responded to our own poll on the subject, a whopping 94% answered the question “Do you cheat at Wordle?” with the response “Absolutely not!” We don’t know how these people sleep at night.
A select few were more honest: 2% were willing to cough up a “Maybe sometimes,” with a number somewhere below 1% answering “More often than I’d care to admit.” Meanwhile, a measly two people in our anonymous survey answered “Constantly, if not always,” and we thank that pair for their rare honesty. These are probably the same daring people who never clear their Google search history no matter who might be looking at it.
As for the number of times our respondents have played Wordle in its 265-game history, the responses ranged from “0” — not sure exactly why they’re weighing in — to 261. If that’s true, James from Revere, we salute you. As far as win streaks, interestingly the range is exactly the same … meaning that, yes, James from Revere claims that not only has he played all but four games, but he’s won them all. (We suspect he is also married to Morgan Fairchild.)
We’re more inclined to believe the claim of Thomas of New Fairfield, Conn., who boasts a 175-game win streak, and was nice enough to offer up the words he’s found most useful in getting there: steam, proud, and cling. Better write those down.
Meanwhile, it’s nice to see that some of our readers share our disdain for cheating. “What’s the point in cheating?!,” asks Cammie of South Boston. “Isn’t the fun in figuring out the puzzle? I’m very disappointed in my fellow New Englanders.” We fully agree, Cammie … If that is your real name.
Whether they cheat or not, our Boston.com readers did come through with a fairly comprehensive selection of Wordle tips and tricks, highlights of which we offer to you below. (And yes, we know some of them completely contradict the others — that’s part of the fun!)
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Wordle-ing:
“Don’t be afraid to use a word that has already exposed letters in it, as you can usually get help with the placement of the already known letters.” — Steven, Newburyport
“I like to start with a vowel-heavy word like adieu, or one with a lot of common consonants, like spark. It may be a basic strategy, but it often works for me!” — Anonymous, Sturbridge
“Use a word with a lot of consonants to begin. Brain can fill in vowels easily. Take your time and focus. Have fun. Enjoy.” — Joan, Orleans
“I look around the room and look for an object that has five letters and start my board off with that.” — Jenna, Boston
“I sometimes look through the dictionary to consider options (don’t consider that cheating).” — Patrick, Cambridge
“What! You can look up the answer? I thought everyone got a different word!” — TerriAnne, Natick
“I found a bug that killed my streak! I got home late and started Wordle at 11:50, and finished after midnight. All good until it wouldn’t let me play the next day’s word! Streak broken!” — Dave, Medway
“I usually have to use a paper and pencil and position known letters, in an effort to decide what other letters will work.” — A.
“Don’t go for the home run. Use your first two guesses wisely to eliminate letters in bulk.” — JB, Groton
“I don’t cheat, but I am competitive … Not sharing any tips here!” — Heidi
“Quit sharing your damn scores every day! No one cares! If you guess in one or two, just post that.” — Jan, Truro
“I think the ‘cheating’ is folks looking up the word after they don’t get it in the six tries … And the ‘looking it up by 7 or 8 a.m.’? Correlate that to when the majority of people have poop time, as I am guessing that folks do Wordle on the throne.” — Pete, Methuen
“When you have all but one letter, don’t just enter the first word you can make with what you have left. Figure out all of the options it could be, and try to guess which may be most likely.” — Jason, Medway
“Always enter a word that could be the answer.” — Laurence, Sandwich
“Read a lot of books. A mastery of the English language really helps in Wordle.” — Nancy, West Yarmouth
“Always share results with someone special so you have this nice connection every day — thanks sis for doing this with me. We’ve been chatting for 63 days straight. That’s the streak that counts.” — Katie, Framingham
Most commonly suggested Wordle words by Boston.com readers: adieu, arise, atone, bough, chaos, clean, cling, crane, earth, ocean, opera, proud, raise, rouse, slate, stair, stare, steam, stein, story, suave, trips.
Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.
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