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It’s the weekend! Huzzah! The very last weekend of October. I finally got my Halloween decorations up, just in the nick of time. I’ll have to leave them up a while after the holiday because it’s silly to go to all the trouble just to box it all up again. Then it’s Thanksgiving and down come the Christmas decorations. I do love all these holidays, though, so it’s no trouble.
I don’t think I’ll dress up for Halloween this year, though I could change my mind about that. We shall see. My go-to Halloween costume lately has been lumberjack, which is both the mascot of the local university and super easy since I have flannel shirts and all the other trappings of your typical burly, bearded lumberjack. It also has the added benefit of being quite warm as far as costumes go, and I usually have an axe handy to chop wood for the fire I light in my driveway each year to wait for the trick-or-treaters.
What are you doing for Halloween, dearest Wordlers? Other than Wordling of course! Speaking of which . . . let’s do this Wordle!
How To Solve Today’s Word
The Hint: In the second book on this list, the character Tom Builder had this profession. It is also a secret society.
The Clue: This word begins with a consonant.
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Today’s Wordle.
See yesterday’s Wordle #860 right here.
Wordle Bot Analysis
After each Wordle I solve I head over to the Wordle Bot homepage to see how my guessing game was.
I thought of irony today because I was reading the second book in the third selection on this same list of books I linked to above and read the word and thought “That would make a good opening guess for Wordle!” Sure enough, it left me with two yellow boxes and only 66 remaining solutions.
I went for all new letters after that, guessing the Wordle Bot’s favorite opener, slate, which gave me four yellow boxes and, I soon deduced, just one possible solution: mason for the win!
Today’s Score
I get 1 point for guessing in three and 0 for tying the Bot. I’ll take it! Huzzah!
Today’s Wordle Etymology
The word “mason” has its roots in the Old French and Medieval Latin languages:
- Old French: The term “mason” derives from the Old French word “maçon” which means “builder of walls” or “stone worker.”
- Medieval Latin: The Old French term “maçon” itself has its origins in the Medieval Latin word “macio” or “macionem,” which also pertains to the building trade.
- Further back: It’s believed that the Medieval Latin term might have been influenced by “maceria,” which means “wall” in Latin.
The term “mason” came to be used in English in the context of a worker skilled in building with stone or brick. Over time, it also came to be associated with the fraternal organization of Freemasonry, but that’s a separate evolution of the term in terms of its cultural and symbolic meanings.
Play Competitive Wordle Against Me!
I’ve been playing a cutthroat game of PvP Wordle against my nemesis Wordle But. Now you should play against me! I can be your nemesis! (And your helpful 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 for getting the Wordle in 3 guesses.
- 2 points for getting it in 2 guesses.
- 3 points for getting it in 1 guess.
- 1 point for beating me
- 0 points for getting it in 4 guesses.
- -1 point for getting it in 5 guesses.
- -2 points for getting it in 6 guesses.
- -3 points for losing.
- -1 point for losing to me
You can either keep a running tally of your score if that’s your jam or just play day-to-day if you prefer.
