SPOILER ALERT: If you missed game 219 and intend to play it somehow, stop reading now!!!!
I'm going to describe what was going on in my head when I played game 219 on Jan 24th 2022. I think the fact that I'm a tester really helped on this one. I don't know if it will always work but it sure felt like it did this time!
Ok, on to the first guess!
Guess 1 - Eliminate 2 letters at once.
Get that Q outta here!
Typically, in my first one or two guesses, I'm trying to reduce the number of options I have to choose from - 26 letters is a lot! Veritable needle in a haystack territory! Usually, I like to start with a word like "STEAM" because it has common letters and vowels. This time, however, I wanted to get rid of "Q". My testing spidey-sense was tingling that morning - I thought something sneaky was afoot.
So I went with "FLUID"!
Guess 2 - Eliminate moar vowels!
No "U" but what's all that about?
Being preoccupied with the Q meant I was a little surprised to see "L" go yellow. Interesting! I'm still in "letter elimination mode", so I decide to go after more vowels. I want to pick off E in particular.
"LOWER" seems to fit the bill.
Guess 3 - Eliminate some good letters.
Oh! There's an "O"!
Now I have a yellow "L" and "O" and "E" is not in the word! Fair enough. The next letters I need to eliminate are my pals "S" and "T". I struggle to think of a word that combines those 4 letters without any doubles. I'm really trying to avoid doubles to maximise my letter elimination potential!
I blunder into "STYLO" after a few random guesses 😅
Guess 4 - That's weird. I didn't expect that!
The panic has officially arrived!
What kind of bloody word doesn't contain "E", "I", "R", "S" or "T"?! And that's a weird place for an "L" which turned green. I took a loooong time at this guess a good hour plus. I went away, defocused and re-focused to no avail. I couldn't see a word at all! Usually, by guess 4, I'm about the answer is but not this time! I need to eliminate even more letters!!!
I've got "A" in my sights, so I ignore "O" and settle on "CHALK".
Guess 5 - I need to sacrifice another guess to get some clarity.
Now I'm REALLY panicking!
Now I have a yellow "K"! What the bloody hell is going on here?! I had a suspicion in the previous round I was dealing with a double "L" and now I'm even more certain but I can't see a word. The "O" can only be in one of two places at this point and I have to know where.
I ignore everything else but "O" and try "OPERA"!
Guess 6 - It's all or nothing!
The "O" is green at last!
But that is a weird set of letters left. I see a word. I can't see another one. Here goes nothing! I type out "KNOLL" and hit Enter...
Phew I did it!
Epilogue
"The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material" Michelangelo.
I call my approach "The art of guessing without guessing"! Testing to me is less about building confidence and more about eliminating unwarranted or ill-advised confidence. In this game, I don't want to guess too soon. I'd rather the word sort of "falls" out because so many letters have been ruled out.
Let me know how you play!