Image created by a human, not AI.

Did you beat the bot?

My daily goal is simple: beat the Wordle bot.

    What’s Wordle? A word game of skill and luck. I’m sorry if you haven’t yet joined the tens of millions of people who are already hooked on this popular game. Because you are missing the joy and satisfaction of solving the puzzle, sharing your stats, and belonging to a community of word nerds.  

    NBC is turning Wordle into a game show. Could it rival Jeopardy? My prediction: Yes. 

    For the minority who are unfamiliar with Wordle, the object is to guess the five-letter word of the day in six tries. Your first guess can be any word you want. Keep it clean. Avoid proper nouns. Follow the rules of the polite public puzzler community.

    Some players start with the same word every day. The bot opens with SLATE. You can too. Another popular choice is ADEIU because of its three vowels. Or if you are a more of a mood player, choose an inspiring word like LOVES. If you know the forecast calls for stormy weather, you to start with the word RAINY. It’s a three-vowel word too.

    I usually start play using the same word. It is a secret. Only Mr. Bot knows.

    The bot claims to enhance my experience. Whatever. It doesn’t know I can play and compete with friends and family.

    When I beat the bot, I throw my hands in the air, scream, and clap, as if I batted in three players to win the World Series. Especially because the bot avoids admitting defeat. In its phony sporting way, it responds: “You bested me.”

    Well, Mr. Bot, I would prefer a more enthusiastic response. My top suggestions include. “You crushed me! You are a superior being! I have met my match. You are on your way to become a linguistic legend!” Exclamation marks are optional.

    Or I’d settle for “You won.” Who says you bested me? Not any of my friends.

    Occasionally, this artificial foe flatters me with, “Excellent choice. You have a great vocabulary. Terrific, that would have been one of my top picks.”

    Frankly, I feel offended, because I don’t want to “think” or “act” like a programmed piece of smarty pants software.

     In my extensive research (not really) of fellow Wordlers, I am amazed (truly amazed) at how creatives (humans) are turning word guesses into lyrics, prose and poems. I picked a random puzzle from earlier this year in which my guesses were poise, topaz, coupe, loopy, morph, and oomph. Wordle morphs into a kind of “America’s Got Talent,” where competitors are poised to see who has the most oomph.

    Does winning matter? Yes, yes, it does. It’s not enough for me to solve the puzzle and be deemed “Magnificent” (2 guesses), have an “Impressive” finish (3 guesses), or end up with the common title “Splendid” (4 guesses).

    Some of you may be wondering if I ever tie with the bot. Yes. However, a tie game is like seeing a chocolate croissant in the bakery window only to find the shop is closed until tomorrow. A taste of sweet success is left for the next day.

    I don’t remember when I started checking the guess-by-guess game analysis provided by Wordle. But I’m now programmed to relive my performance.

    To the players out there: How did you perform on July 15, 2026, a day when Wordlers united in their fury at the solution?  An outdated, rarely uttered, unloved and unfair finisher. Many contended the word was a sound. An Onomatopoeia! 

    The word that broke many Wordlers’ winning streaks was PSHAW. Pshaw is the word of pranksters. A spoof of a word, which might appear in a Bernard Shaw play. Or a Monty Python movie.

    I haven’t employed this word in my writing life. Somehow, I solved this one in 5 out of 6 guesses.  My fourth guess was SQUAW.

    The bot gave me a zero for skill and had the NERVE to tell me: “Squaw is a valid guess, and you have a great vocabulary, but I don’t consider it a likely solution.”

    After SQUAW, there was only “one possible solution” —  PSHAW. Furthermore, it stated: “No one in our sample of 1,788,466 completed Wordles faced the same set of remaining solutions as you.”

    My sequence of guesses are uniquely mine. Take that! I’m skilled at being human and lucky to play another day. 

Musical notes: 

    I highly recommend “Slow Rolling Sunrise,” whose lyrics were co-written by my talented brother Jay Bryant-Wimp. The song is performed by Josh Tatofi, a guitarist and songwriter based in Hawaii whose style incorporates an R&B vibe with traditional Tongan, (Polynesian) music. The song, first released as a single, is now featured on Tatofi's album available on Spotify, Apple, or YouTube.

Lit notes: 

    In case you missed it, my short story published in The Milk House, a magazine highlighting rural storytelling. You can read the story about how a new doctor in town has to get creative to win over his patients. Read for free until October 8. 

Up next: 

    My essay, In Tandem will be featured in a digital magazine. Stay tuned.