My Wordle Way

Like many other people, I've made a habit of starting my day by playing Wordle, the game where you have six chances to guess a five-letter word. Here's a link to the game, along with a list of the rules. Briefly, you type your guess (which must be a real word) into the website. Each box represents a letter. Green boxes indicate the right letter in the right spot; yellow boxes represent letters in the word but in the wrong place; and gray boxes are letters that don't belong. This is my strategy:

1. Start with a word that will give you common vowels and consonants. I use STARE. 

2. Based on how you did with the first guess, choose a word that keeps all green letters the same and moves yellow letters to different positions. (I should note that I play on Hard mode, which requires you to reuse green and yellow letters. Some people like to start fresh with a different set of letters, but I prefer to focus on getting the right letters in the right places.) If you didn't have any luck with vowels, try a word with a different combination. I sometimes use PRION as my second word.

3. Once you have two or three letters, it then becomes a matter of moving them into the right spots and figuring out what the missing letters could be. Sometimes if I get stuck at this point, I take a break from the game and return to it later. Other times, I may try a "brute force" method, where I mentally test unused letters in unfilled spots to see if I make a word. I don't enter these guesses until I find something that clicks with me. Sometimes it takes me all six guesses, but I've had pretty good luck so far. Hopefully, this post won't break my streak.

Do you play Wordle or other word games? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Mental Well-Being and the Middle

 The middle of a story can be the most difficult part to write. Beginnings and endings have their own energy, but middles can get muddled, especially if you're a panster. After six months, we're past the beginning of the pandemic. Many people are dealing with health issues, unemployment, or loss of a loved one. There are plenty of local crises as well. Even if you're not directly dealing with these problems, the changes in routine and the constant stream of bad news add up to overwhelming stress. I'm no well-being expert, but here are a few things I do to help me cope with our new normal:

Enjoy nature--During the summer, I like to go for a walk first thing in the morning. It's good exercise and clears my mind. I don't tolerate cold very well, so I won't be doing that once the weather turns. However, we do have a bird feeder in the back yard, and feeding and watching the birds helps me stay connected with nature.

Try new things--Over the past few months, I've tried new recipes, picked up new sewing projects, tried writing in a new genre, and even experimented with different types of nail art. I'm going to crochet blankets for my son, my husband, and myself this winter--if I can find time

Look for ways to help--I've been writing letters for Vote Forward to encourage people to vote. You can also donate to charities or volunteer your time.

Find a new routine--My husband's board game collection is so extensive it may rival my book collection in the amount of space it takes up. Although there are many that require more than two players, we've found some that work well with two players. It wouldn't be Saturday night without a couple of hours devoted to Mice and Mystics!

 We're all protagonists trying to make it to the end of this story. What's your strategy? Feel free to share in the comments.