My unusual Wordle starting word
I've never busted with it ...
Greetings lovers of puzzles and prestidigitation!
In this newsletter:
My Wordle starting word is not what you might think
Buzzfeed video: How to Win at Wordle
Minerva - “The Queen of Mystery”
Cryptic Crossword Clue Contest - AMSTERDAM
A brand new crossword: “Thirst Trap” (Solve it!)
My starting Wordle word is not what you might think
Hello from New York! I just performed and led a puzzle hunt for the boys at St. Bernard’s School in Manhattan. I was so pleasantly surprised to see that when I asked who played Wordle, about 75% of the students raised their hands. We are truly in a golden age of word games!
One of the boys asked me what my starting word was, so I thought I’d share it with you. Ready?
It’s CHUMP.
That’s a far cry from AUDIO, RAISE, and SOARE. Here’s why: above all, my goal is to make sure that I don’t bust. I never take a risk to get the answer in fewer guesses. In other words, if multiple letters are an option for a given space, I am going to test those all letters with a single word that contains them. Sure, getting it in two is great. But busting is losing! And since I’ve been in CHUMP-land, it’s never happened. OK that’s not true. One time my baby distracted me and I guessed the same word twice. But I’m just pretending that never happened.
Ultimately what I am trying to avoid is a ?IGHT situation, which I call a “Wordle hole.” That missing letter can be E, F, L, M, N, R, S, T, W (and technically B, D and H work but aren’t in the Wordle list). Thus, my goal is to “burn the consonants.” And CHUMP followed by BLOND and GRAFT does that quite nicely.
But why not start with words that have more common consonants? Like STARE? It’s because I play on hard mode. Hard mode is a setting you can toggle on that stipulates that you must keep the letters you get right. So, my theory is that I actually *don’t want to get letters right at the beginning.* I want to burn consonants without being locked into them by the hard mode rule. Is this folly? It might be! Let me know in the comments whether you think this is a sound strategy or not.
My average score is often getting it in four or five, but I’m not going to bust. What do you think? What’s your starting word? Let us know in the comments!
How to Win at Wordle
Did you ever catch this video I made for Buzzfeed? There are some great tips and tricks here.
Like I say in the video, there’s only one word that has just two letters (repeated) in it and that is MAMMA. Oooooh I can’t wait for that to hit!!!!
Minerva - “The Queen of Mystery”
Minerva “The Queen of Mystery” was an escape artist who flourished from 1900-1920. Her real name is a bit of an enigma, but it was most likely Margaretha Gertz Van Dorn. She was a rival of Houdini’s because, like so many imitators, she performed his Milk Can Escape. Minerva would be handcuffed and submerged in a wooden barrel that had been dramatically filled to the brim. A curtain would go up and Minerva would somehow free herself from her restraints and the barrel.
She was also known for doing bridge jumps. In 1908 in Cumberland, Maryland, Minerva was handcuffed by the Chief of Police and leapt from the Blue Bridge into the Potomac River. As the crowd nervously watched the murky water, eventually Minerva came to the surface, freed from her shackles! According to the newspaper article that recounts this stunt, Minerva claimed to have escaped from 173 jails.
Also in 1908, Minerva crosses the pond and performs escapes for fourteen months in England. While she was there, she had a run in with “the Houdini people.” Illusion builder Guy Jarrett writes in his book that someone (Houdini or one of his minions) put lime into the water of her barrel, which badly burned her skin and nearly blinded her. Magic historians are divided on the veracity of this account. Houdini was aggressive toward his imitators, but would he go so far as to put acid in a rival’s water barrel?
Minerva actually married Guy Jarrett in 1913. I’d like to think this was the celebrity couple of the teens.
A tip of the hat to the always thorough research done by Dean Carnegie at The Magic Detective!
Cryptic Crossword Clue Contest
In every newsletter I’ll be posting a fun little contest. Reply in the comments to this discussion thread with your best cryptic crossword entry. Like your favorites! Last newsletter’s winners are just below.
I’m writing this while in an Uber headed up Amsterdam Ave. in NYC, so this week, reply with your entry for AMSTERDAM
Example:
Headless rodent, raving mad, goes to an avenue in New York (9)
Include your entry and vote here in the discussion thread!
I’ve also included an explanation of how cryptic crosswords work in the discussion thread.
Last week’s winners for CLIMATE!
with 3 votesGet used to no air conditioning for some weather conditions (7)
And I really liked this one by
Originally Canadians lived in mountains, avoiding the extreme weather (7)
New crossword! “Thirst Trap”
Another brand new crossword for you to solve. Play it now. Would love to hear your thoughts below in the comments!
Events
Interested in booking me for your next event? More info here on private parties, corporate speaking & performances and team-building puzzle hunts.
Upcoming Shows
After a sold out run at The Kennedy Center, The Enigmatist next moves to Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier in May 2024. The Windy City, get ready for the puzzle party! More info here.
Puzzle Hunt Playing Cards
Enigmas: Puzzle Hunt Playing Cards. Included within this unique deck are four very special puzzle cards. Solve them all to unlock an online Puzzle Hunt! Available here.
My starting word is URINE - I usually get it in 3-4. (It used to be HEART til that was the answer so I felt the need to change it.)
I like to think I invented the game “Anti-Wordle”. It works exactly the same way as Wordle except you are trying to NOT get the word (while still following all the same rules). You will find something amazing…it’s almost impossible to NOT get the word in six tries!!!