If you’re finding today’s Wordle puzzle extra difficult, have no fear, as Newsweek is here to help you make sense of it.
The word-based game was invented by Brooklyn-based engineer Josh Wardle. He came up with Wordle, whose name is a play on his surname, for his crossword-loving girlfriend.
Wardle decided to make the game public in 2021 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and within weeks it had amassed hundreds of thousands of players. It went from 91 players in November 2021 to over 2 million by January 2022. This remarkable success caught the eye of The New York Times, which purchased the game for an undisclosed seven-figure sum.
Part of the game’s appeal lies in its simplicity. Players have to guess a five-letter word, which changes daily. 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.
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“There is a reason that every word is five letters long and that you are allowed six attempts to guess it,” Wardle told Newsweek in 2022. “That might seem arbitrary but, with the prototype version, I tested different word lengths and experimented with the number of tries that players were allowed.
“Through that process of refinement, I figured out that five letters and six tries was the ideal sweet spot. It’s just limited enough to feel challenging and to make you think, but most of the time people still manage to solve it. So, you feel a real sense of accomplishment.”
The answer to Tuesday’s puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll down with caution if you want to work it out for yourself.
‘Wordle’ #1,172, Clues for Tuesday, September 3
Newsweek has put together five hints to help you figure out today’s Wordle puzzle.
Hint #1: Today’s Wordle answer is an adjective, verb and noun.
Hint #2: There are no repeated letters.
Hint #3: The word contains two vowels.
Hint #4: Today’s answer only has one syllable.
Hint #5: Synonyms include “vague.”
‘Wordle’ #1,172, Answer for Tuesday, September 3
The answer to today’s Wordle is “faint.”
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the adjective is defined as “weak, dizzy, and likely to faint” and “lacking courage and spirit.” The verb definition is “to lose consciousness because of a temporary decrease in the blood supply to the brain” and the noun is defined as “the physiological action of fainting.”
Congratulations if you got it right, but don’t worry if you didn’t. Wordle updates every day at midnight in your local time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
Players who would like something to keep themselves busy while they wait can have a go at other word-based puzzles such as Typochondria.