Today’s ‘Wordle’ Hints And Clues For Thursday, January 25th (Wordle #950)

We have officially reached the first last day of the month of January, 2024. This is the last Thursday of the month. We still have one more of each other day of the week ahead of us, with the 31st falling on a Wednesday. Happy last Thor’s Day of January, dearest Wordlers!

It’s also Wordle #950, which means we’re just 50 words away from 1,000 (which lands on the Ides of March). Crazy!

Yesterday I gave you a logic puzzle to solve. Here’s the puzzle with the answer below:

Five people were eating apples, A finished before B, but behind C. D finished before E, but behind B. What was the finishing order?

The answer: CABDE. Good job to everyone who puzzled this out correctly!

Okay, Wordle time!

How To Solve Today’s Word

The Hint: Kids play with these. Builders build with them. Writer’s get it from time to time.

The Clue: This word has way more consonants than vowels.

The Answer:

.

.

.

Wordle Bot Analysis

After each Wordle I solve I head over to the Wordle Bot homepage to see how my guessing game was.

While not as good as yesterday’s two-guess Wordle, I still feel good about today’s. Space left me with just 48 words to choose from, and is a pretty good guess all around and I don’t think I’ve ever used it before. I was thinking of military branches like the Air Force, Army and Marines but none of those had five letters. Then I remembered Space Force! Maybe I’ll use force tomorrow!

Boink is a handy second guess when you’ve used ‘A’ and ‘E’ and ‘S’ already. It left me with just one word to choose from today: block for the win!

Today’s Score (Competitive Wordle)

1 point for guessing in three, 0 for tying the Wordle Bot. 1 point! Huzzah!

Today’s Wordle Etymology

The etymology of the word “block” traces back to various historical roots:

1. Middle English (1100-1500 AD): The word “block” in Middle English primarily referred to a log or stump of wood. This usage likely evolved from the Old French word “bloc,” which also meant a log of wood.
2. Old French (842-1400 AD): The Old French term “bloc” is believed to have come from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, where it similarly referred to a log or a tree stump.
3. Middle Dutch (1150-1500 AD): In Middle Dutch, the word “blok” referred to a block of wood. It’s interesting to note that in some regional dialects, “blok” could also mean a gallows or execution block.
4. Middle Low German (1100-1600 AD): The Middle Low German word “blok” had a similar meaning, referring to a log or a solid piece of wood.
5. Proto-Germanic Roots: The word likely has Proto-Germanic origins, given its presence in various Germanic languages with similar meanings. However, the exact Proto-Germanic root is not definitively known.

Over time, the meaning of “block” expanded beyond a piece of wood to encompass various shapes and forms, as well as figurative uses. The term now has diverse applications in different contexts, such as building blocks, city blocks, blocking movements, and more. This expansion in meaning reflects the natural evolution of language as influenced by cultural and societal changes.