A good game of Wordle is the perfect way to tackle the Monday blues, as long as it doesn’t get too frustrating.
Well, if you fear you’re in danger of making your Monday worse, Newsweek is here to help you through and keep the puzzle as something that improves your day.
If you’re here for the first time, let’s recap on the game and on how to play, before getting into hints, tips and, finally, the answer (so be careful how far you scroll down).
Where Did Wordle Come From?
The puzzle has become the most popular word game that The New York Times has to offer, after the newspaper bought it for a seven-figure sum in January 2022.
It was purchased from Brooklyn-based software engineer Josh Wardle, who created the game during lockdown and then released it to the masses in October 2021.
How to Play Wordle
If you’re new here, or you just want to recap, the point of the game to guess the correct five-letter word. As you enter a letter into a block, its color will change.
Green means it is the right letter in the right place, gray means the letter is not included in the word at all and yellow means you have the right letter, but in the wrong place.
You have six guesses in total.
If you’re not sure where to start, an expert in applied linguistics, Erhan Aslan, who teaches at the University of Reading in the U.K., previously provided some useful advice for Wordle players in an interview with Newsweek.
“One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen,” Aslan said. “Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels, for example, e and a, consonants such as r and t, and sound sequences might be helpful.
“Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j or x, for instance, may not be the best choice. You get more feedback after a few guesses. Users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking.”
AP
Wordle #1,164 Clues for Monday, August 26
Hint #1: The word has two vowels in it.
Hint #2: It can be a noun or a verb.
Hint #3: The word can mean different things in different contexts, even with the same spelling.
Hint #4: In folklore, a ______ can be used to kill a vampire.
Hint #5: A vegetarian would not eat meat that sounds the same as this word.
Wordle #1,164 Answer for Monday, August 26
Monday’s Wordle answer is “stake.” Did you get it right?
Wordle updates every day at midnight in your local time zone, at which point the next puzzle becomes available. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.