The Wordle game displayed on a phone screen is seen in this illustrative photo taken in Krakow, Poland … [+]
Happy New Year! 2024 is here. Burn your diaries and drown your expectations. Pin those New Year’s resolutions to the wall. Fire up the barbecue and turn on the soccer game. It’s time for one last day of fun, before we head back to the copper haunts, back to the business of starting over — again.
January 1st has been the first day of the new year for quite some time. It dates back to 153 BC—though it’s possible that the day was considered by many to be the start of the new year much earlier, beginning with the Roman king Numa Pompilius who replaced March 1 in the Roman republican calendar sometime during his reign of between 715 and 673 BC. It was Julius Caesar and his sun-based Julian calendar that fixed the day as the start of the new year in 46 BC.
Over 1,600 years later, the Gregorian calendar cemented January 1st as the new year even further. Many regions had begun to celebrate the New Year on Christmas (December 25) or the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25 after the fall of Rome, and Pope Gregory XIII sought not only to unify, but also to correct, the calendar for all of Christendom in 1582 Great Britain and the American colonies did not adopt the Gregorian calendar for nearly two more centuries and continued to celebrate the New Year on March 25 until 1752.
China still celebrates Chinese New Year, but adopted the Gregorian calendar and January 1 as New Year in 1912. The Orthodox Church celebrates New Year on January 14. Ethiopia celebrates the new year – called Enkutatash – in September. Whenever you celebrate, have a wonderful New Year!
If you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, check out my streaming guide here.
Okay, let’s Wordle!
How to solve today’s word
The hint: A very large painting.
The Clue: This word ends with a consonant.
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Today’s Wordle
Check out yesterday’s Wordle #925 here.
Bot Wordle Analysis
After each Wordle I solve, I head on the Wordle Bot home page to see how my guessing game was.
I opened me nadir because often by the end of the year, we’ve hit some kind of low point in our lives and so we end up with all these resolutions to make changes for the new year—changes that will renew and rejuvenate us.
This was more unique than successful, leaving me with 142 possible solutions remaining. Then I got lucky with a really bad continuity guess. Cloud, you’ll notice, it reuses the gray ‘D’ from nadir. I blame someone else—anyone else, god or the president or maybe my dogs—for this blunder. Far be it from me to take personal responsibility!
Fortunately, I lucked out and was left with only three options, although I could only think of two: Rural and mural. I went with the word that didn’t have a double letter, as I often do, and got lucky. Huzzah!
Today’s Wordle Racing Score
A sad, sad wash today. I get 1 point for guessing on three, but immediately lose it when I lose to the Wordle Bot, who grabs the answer to guess #2. I assume shale it really paid off today!
Today’s Wordle etymology
The word “mural” comes from the Latin word “murus”, which means “wall”. This origin is reflected in its use, as murals are large paintings or works of art that are applied directly or placed on a wall or ceiling. The term “mural” came into use in English in the mid-19th century to refer specifically to these large-scale murals. The practice of creating murals, however, dates back thousands of years, found in ancient cultures such as those in Egypt and Mesoamerica.
Play Competitive Wordle Against Me!
I have played a spontaneous PvP Wordle game against my enemy Wordle But. Now you have to play against me! I can be your enemy! (And your handy Wordle guide, of course). You can also play against the Bot if you have a New York Times subscription.
Here are the rules:
- 1 point to get Wordle in 3 guesses.
- 2 points to get it in 2 guesses.
- 3 points to get it in 1 guess.
- 1 point that hit me
- 0 points to get it in 4 guesses.
- -1 point to get it in 5 guesses.
- -2 points to get it in 6 guesses.
- -3 points for the loss.
- -1 point for defeat for me
You can either keep a running tally of your score if that’s your jam, or just play daily if you prefer.
1 Comment
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