Life

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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, February 6, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for February 6, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is on the easier side; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for February 6, Wordle #962! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Only two common letters from our mnemonic today—there’s one letter that isn’t but is also fairly common, and one that’s a bit more unusual.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A question word. 

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Today’s Wordle has one repeated letter. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel today. 

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with W. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with H

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is WHICH.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I got lucky with ARISE and TOUCH and was left with only the first two letters to figure out. I was pretty certain that the middle I was the only vowel, and there weren’t any likely combinations of remaining letters to start the word, so I looked for options that reused C or H, leading to WHICH. 

Wordle 962 3/6

⬛⬛🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

USDA Celebrates 10 Years of Climate Hubs as Biden-Harris Administration Leads Historic Climate Agenda

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2024 – Today marks 10 years since the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created regional Climate Hubs, which were established to help support the agricultural producers and rural communities make climate-informed decisions. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is highlighting how these regional climate centers – bolstered by President Biden’s historic climate agenda – are helping farmers, ranchers, forest landowners and communities address the threats of climate change.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, February 5, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for February 5, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is on the easier end; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for February 5, Wordle #961! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They’re almost all common letters today! Four of them are in our mnemonic, and there’s one letter that isn’t but is also fairly common. No unusual letters today.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Like one magnet to another, only the opposite. 

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

Yes, there is one repeated letter. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel used twice. 

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with R.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with L.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is REPEL.

How I solved today’s Wordle

After ARISE and TOUCH, I knew E was the only vowel, probably used more than once. I looked for words that had other common letters, like REBEL and REPEL (the solution) also ruling out any words with a CR- prefix (like CREEP).  

Wordle 961 3/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, February 4, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for February 4, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for February 4, Wordle #960! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Three letters in today’s puzzle are common. There’s one letter that isn’t in our mnemonic but is also fairly common, and one is fairly unusual.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

You’re on this, trying not to cry. 

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel (used twice) in today’s puzzle. 

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with V.

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E.

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is VERGE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

After TRACE and SHORE, I tried RINSE to eliminate another common letter (N) and attempt to place the R, which indicated that the only remaining option was in the third spot. The most likely ending with what was left was -RGE, which narrowed my choices down to PURGE and then VERGE.  

Wordle 960 5/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩
🟨⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

The Best U.S. Cities for Tech Jobs (Aside From the Obvious)

Working in tech no longer means having to live in one of a handful of increasingly unaffordable cities, like New York City, Seattle, Chicago, and San Francisco. Instead, as jobs involving artificial intelligence and product security, among other areas, continue to grow, cities that weren’t previously considered tech hubs now offer opportunities for both tech-related employment and affordable living. Here are a few examples, compiled using data from job market reports and cities, as well as input from tech recruiters and hiring managers.

Bentonville, Arkansas

Perhaps best known for being Walmart’s home city, Bentonville has been on the rise as a tech center for the last seven or eight years, according to Eóin O’Toole, a tech recruiter and managing partner at Riviera Partners. In addition to the big-box store giant, O’Toole says that there’s a “surging ecosystem both directly and indirectly related to Walmart,” as well as other major employers, like JB Hunt and Tyson Foods. Not only do these companies have their own tech staff, but their industries are in the midst of technical transformation, which O’Toole says makes them “prized client[s] for many leading-edge technology startups.”

Along the same lines, Bentonville has also been attracting other tech businesses and talent. “With the support of a very forward-looking local Northwest Arkansas council, you see the emergence of tech companies in fields like drones—think last-mile delivery—EVs, leading supply chain and consumer packaged goods logistics technology companies, and fintech, to name a few,” says O’Toole. Plus, housing in Bentonville is 20% cheaper than the U.S. average.

Dallas, Texas

Tech recruiters and job reports frequently list Dallas and/or Austin in their picks for best emerging tech cities, but often included the caveat that Dallas has a lower cost of living. According to Kristen Fowler, an expert in recruiting trends within the tech industry, and the vice president and practice lead at Clarke Caniff Strategic Search, both cities have become tech hubs in the last 10 years, especially since the start of the pandemic. “Given that Dallas is home to several major retailers—like Chewy, Neiman Marcus, and 7-11—as well as large tech companies like AT&T and Texas Instruments, and banking organizations like Capital One, talent is plentiful.,” she explains.

Detroit, Michigan

According to Richard Heaton, a hiring manager of Cartisian Technical Recruitment, Detroit’s tech sector began its current period of growth in 2010, picked up steam around 2014, and shows no signs of slowing down. During this time, General Motors “has been putting major capital into tech and innovation,” Heaton says, while Quicken Loans—one of the largest online mortgage lenders in the U.S.—continues to be one of the city’s top employers, he adds. Additionally, Ford’s Michigan Central “innovation district”—which the company describes as “a hub in Detroit dedicated to advancing new tech, ideas, and programs”—is slated to open later this year. Throw in the city’s rapidly growing startup scene, and consistently being named as one of the cheapest cities in the country to buy a house, and it’s not hard to see why Detroit is attracting top tech talent.

Tampa, Florida

With a mix of well-established tech employers and dynamic startups, Tampa has been increasingly recognized for its burgeoning tech scene—particularly since 2018, says Allan McNabb, vice president of Image Building Media, an internet marketing company based in the Florida city. “Key players like Jabil and Tech Data, along with a surge in fintech and cybersecurity firms, have created a diverse tech landscape,” he says. According to a 2023 report on tech talent by CBRE, a firm specializing in in commercial real estate services and investments, between 2016 and 2021, Tampa saw a 35% increase in residents in their 20s with a college degree: The highest of any city in North America.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Since the late 2000s, Pittsburgh has been quietly transforming into a tech powerhouse, says Kraig Kleeman, founder and CEO of The New Workforce. Google, Uber, Apple, IBM, and Facebook have offices in the Steel City, and being the home of Carnegie Mellon University means there’s always a steady stream of new tech talent coming to the area. “Pittsburgh’s focus on artificial intelligence and robotics has made it a tech innovation hub,” says Kleeman. Interestingly, according to the report from CBRE, Pittsburgh is the most racially and ethnically diverse market for women with a tech degree in the United States—though one of the least-diverse for men.

Atlanta, Georgia

Home to companies including Delta, Home Depot, Workday, BlackRock, Nordstrom, and Carvana, Atlanta has emerged as one of the largest markets for tech jobs in the country. But beyond the big names, the city also has a vibrant startup scene—particularly across the healthcare and logistics tech industries, says Maria Opre, a cybersecurity expert and senior analyst at EarthWeb. “Through strategic collaborations between companies like Microsoft and Georgia Tech, Atlanta fosters partnerships and skills development,” says Opre. “While housing remains affordable compared to bigger hubs, salaries are competitive for a city of its size. There’s also Atlanta Tech Village, a collaborative mentorship and working space for tech innovation, which Kleeman says has made an impact in the city by “nurturing startups and providing a platform for entrepreneurs to thrive.”

According to a recent report from LinkedIn, there’s been significant growth in tech jobs at non-tech companies: A trend set to continue as artificial intelligence and automation become increasingly common across industries. The bottom line is that you don’t have to drop a large chunk of your salary on rent or a mortgage payment in order to live somewhere with a thriving tech scene. And if you already live in an established tech hub like San Francisco, but might want to broaden your job search, don’t be afraid to do so.

The Best Movies to Stream This Week on Hulu

My picks for Hulu’s best originals and new(ish) movies this week are a study in contrasts. There are documentaries Summer of Soul and Some Kind of Heaven—both excellent for very different reasons, and a head-to-head face off between Freelance, a crowd-pleasing action movie that critics hate, and Skinamarink, a crowd-boring horror movie that no one but critics would sit through. I like all of these movies the same, by the way.

Summer of Soul (2021)

This collection of performances from the Harlem Cultural Festival proves beyond any possible doubt that the music at Woodstock was ass. Both events were held during the turbulent summer of 1969 at venues about 100 miles apart in New York, but Woodstock had Sha Na Na and Country Joe and the Fish, where Harlem had Nina Simone and Sly Stone. Woodstock had Ravi Shankar noodling on a sitar. Harlem had Stevie Wonder in his prime playing this drum solo. I wonder why Woodstock became a cultural touchstone that people still won’t shut up about, but everyone forgot about the Harlem Festival until Questlove pulled this footage from a dusty basement a few years ago and made a documentary.

Freelance (2023)

According to Rotten Tomatoes, only 6% of critics think Freelance is a good movie; but 77% of viewers rate it positively. I like John Cena, and I watched it on an airplane, so I’m in the 77%. Cena plays an ex-special forces guy who takes a freelance gig protecting a journalist played by Alison Brie. She’s interviewing the dictator of a fictional South American nation, but a coup breaks out, forcing the trio to flee into the jungle where they must survive and escape. It’s a solid action movie set-up, followed by a ton of car chases and explosions, some stupid jokes, and a romance between charismatic movie stars. What’s not to like? 

Skinamarink (2022)

Skinamarink is the opposite of Freelance. Rotten Tomatoes‘ critics love this horror movie— it’s 72% fresh—but the audience score is 44%. I’m confident it would be much lower if they showed this kind of movie on airplanes. There are no car chases, witty banter, or charismatic stars in Skinamarink. Almost nothing happens, and the little that occurs is intentionally hard to see or understand. Skinamarink’s goal is building the distressing vibe of a childhood nightmare, so it contains nothing in which a viewers might find comfort. I suggest a double feature with Freelance to see what kind of person you are. 

Some Kind of Heaven (2020)

If you’ve ever wondered why Florida is so Florida-y, this documentary about The Villages, the largest retirement community in the world, offers some answers. Portrayed through Some Kind of Heaven’s arresting imagery, many of the residents of The Villages live in a dreamlike perpetual present, where every day is a vacation day. They play golf, take belly dance lessons, drink tropical drinks by the pool, and wait; others are looking for personal meaning among the orange groves and mobility scooters; and some are on darker journeys, preying on others for money or drugs as if they’ve learned nothing from all their years on earth.  

Last week’s picks

Self Reliance (2024)

This Hulu original thriller-comedy asks: What if you were forced into a dark-web reality show where a gang of trained assassins were paid to hunt you, but they can’t kill you if you’re within a few feet of another person? I’d just break out the handcuffs and have an uncomfortable few weeks with my neighbor Gary, but hero Tommy is a lonely, single guy who is prone to outlandish lies, so it’s tougher for him. The few people he is close to don’t even believe the scenario is real, and no one wants to go along with his seeming delusion. It’s a preposterous premise, but it’s pulled off here with charm and wit thanks to a funny script and likable cast, especially first-time director/star Jake Johnson.

Barbarian (2022)

If you have any interest in horror movies, you must see Barbarian. The movie’s “there’s something spooky in the basement” premise might have been cliché if Barbarian didn’t subvert narrative expectations at every turn, keeping viewers off balance throughout the film. The secret in the basement, by the way, is more than spooky. It’s uniquely, viscerally dreadful.

King Richard (2021)

In this sports biopic, Will Smith plays Richard Williams, father of tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams. Smith turns in one of the best performances of his career (and earned an Academy Award for Best Actor) as his daughters’ coach in this inspirational story that examines family, dedication, and the sacrifices that come from the pursuit of excellence.

Miranda’s Victim (2023)

We all know the “you have the right to remain silent” recitation cops give suspected criminals, but the crime behind the Supreme Court decision that defined our Miranda rights is way more obscure. Miranda’s Victims tells the story of the 1963 kidnapping and rape of 18-year-old Patricia Weir and subsequent trial and imprisonment of Ernesto Miranda. Weir was first victimized by Miranda, and then by the court system. Miranda was a victim too, but a much different kind of victim—guilty, but freed from prison when the Supreme Court issued the famous decision after determining his confession was inadmissible. Miranda’s Victims tells a complex story carefully and features a stellar cast, including Abigail Breslin, Luke Wilson, Kyle MacLachlan, Ryan Phillippe, Mireille Enos, and Donald Sutherland.

The Last Circus (2010)

Director Álex de la Iglesia’s The Last Circus opens with the performers from a flea-bitten circus being conscripted to fight in the Spanish Civil War, big shoes and all, and it gets stranger from there. You could call The Last Circus a hyper-violent, heartbreaking, romantic-black-comedy-war-horror-social-satire film where a happy clown and a sad clown battle to the death for the woman they both love, or you could say The Last Circus defies classification. Either way, it’s an explosion of a movie that I guarantee is like nothing you’ve seen before.

Imitation Game (2014)

In a role he was practically born for, Benedict Cumberbatch plays pioneering computer scientist Alan Turing in this historical thriller. Turing, along with a cadre of other cryptology nerds and outcasts, legit saved the world by cracking the Enigma Code during World War 2, and was rewarded with years of post-war persecution and abuse for being gay. The Imitation Game mostly sticks to the more exciting “we’ve gotta break the code!” part of Turing’s life story as opposed to his depressing later days.

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, February 3, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for February 3, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium-hard; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for February 3, Wordle #959! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Three of today’s letters are in our mnemonic, and there other two are also fairly common. No unusual letters today.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

This word is also a prefix. 

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeats today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels. 

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with M. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with O. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is MICRO.

How I solved today’s Wordle

After ARISE and TOUCH, I had four of my five letters but nothing in the right place. I tried CURIO, which left only one option for combining the unplaced letters and one solution: MICRO. 

Wordle 959 4/6

⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛
🟨⬛🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: 

  • Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.