【1981 Archives】

Wednesday stress981 Archivesreally sneak up on you. It feels like one minute you're just starting the week, and the next minute, people are saying, "Happy humpday!" and your to-do list is still packed. And to make matters worse, you can't seem to solve the Wednesday Quordlepuzzle.

Fortunately, you can knock one thing off your to-do list immediately by jumping to the bottom of this page and getting the full solution. But you can also read the following strategy guide, and maybe the answer will just come to you. And then, maybe that good luck will carry through to the rest of your day and week.

What is Quordle?

Quordleis a five-letter word guessing game similar to Wordle, except each guess applies letters to four words at the same time. You get nine guesses instead of six to correctly guess all four words. It looks like playing four Wordlegames at the same time, and that is essentially what it is. But it's not nearly as intimidating as it sounds.

Is Quordle harder than Wordle?

Yes, though not diabolically so.

Where did Quordle come from?

Amid the Wordleboom of late 2021 and early 2022, when everyone was learning to love free, in-browser, once-a-day word guessing games, creator Freddie Meyer says he took inspiration from one of the first big Wordlevariations, Dordle— the one where you essentially play two Wordlesat once. He took things up a notch, and released Quordle on January 30. Meyer's creation was covered in The Guardiansix days later, and now, according to Meyer, it attracts millions of daily users. Today, Meyer earns modest revenue from Patreon, where dedicated Quordlefans can donate to keep their favorite puzzle game running. 

How is Quordle pronounced?

“Kwordle.” It should rhyme with “Wordle,” and definitely should not be pronounced exactly like "curdle.”

Is Quordle strategy different from Wordle?

Yes and no.

Your starting strategy should be the same as with Wordle. In fact, if you have a favorite Wordleopening word, there’s no reason to change that here. We suggest something rich in vowels, featuring common letters like C, R, and N. But you do you.

After your first guess, however, you’ll notice things getting out of control if you play Quordleexactly like Wordle.

What should I do in Quordle that I don’t do in Wordle?

Solving a Wordlepuzzle can famously come down to a series of single letter-change variations. If you’ve narrowed it down to “-IGHT,” you could guess “MIGHT” “NIGHT” “LIGHT” and “SIGHT” and one of those will probably be the solution — though this is also a famous way to end up losing in Wordle, particularly if you play on “hard mode.” In Quordle, however, this sort of single-letter winnowing is a deadly trap, and it hints at the important strategic difference between Wordleand Quordle: In Quordle, you can't afford to waste guesses unless you're eliminating as many letters as possible at all times. 

Guessing a completely random word that you already know isn't the solution, just to eliminate three or four possible letters you haven’t tried yet, is thought of as a desperate, latch-ditch move in Wordle. In Quordle, however, it's a normal part of the player's strategic toolset.

Is there a way to get the answer faster?

In my experience Quordlecan be a slow game, sometimes dragging out longer than it would take to play Wordlefour times. But a sort of blunt-force guessing approach can speed things up. The following strategy also works with Wordleif you only want the solution, and don’t care about having the fewest possible guesses:

Try starting with a series of words that puts all the vowels (including Y) on the board, along with some other common letters. I’ve had good luck with the three words: “NOTES,” “ACRID,” and “LUMPY.” YouTuber DougMansLand suggests four words: “CANOE,” “SKIRT,” “PLUMB,” and “FUDGY.”

Most of the alphabet is now eliminated, and you’ll only have the ability to make one or two wrong guesses if you use this strategy. But in most cases you’ll have all the information you need to guess the remaining words without any wrong guesses.

If you've already run out of strategy, though, and you're still stumped, here are some hints:

A semi-useful hint about August 17’s puzzle

Synonyms for all four words are in the following sentence (in no particular order).

The punk rocker’s prickledhair looked great, and the keyboard synthesizerplayed her favorite ballroom dance song, but still she spent the whole night by herself.

Are there any double or triple letters in today’s Quordle words?

No!

Are any rare letters being used in today’s Quordle like Q or Z?

There's a Z in there somewhere.

What do today’s Quordle words start with?

S, W, O, and A.

What are the answers for today’s Quordle?

Are you sure you want to know?

There’s still time to turn back.

OK you asked for it. The answers are:

1. SPINY

2. WALTZ

3. ORGAN

4. ALONE