Today’s Wordle #558 Clues and Answer for Thursday, December 29 Brainteaser
Good Thursday #GoodThursday
Good morning! Another day means another Wordle puzzle, and Newsweek is back with some hints and tips to help you find the answer.
Wordle was first released to the public in October 2021, after being developed by New York software engineer Josh Wardle during the coronavirus lockdown.
The game quickly developed into a viral sensation, and was purchased by The New York Times in January 2022 for an undisclosed seven figure sum.
During the same month, Wardle admitted to Newsweek that, despite inventing Wordle, he sometimes still struggles with the game.
He said: “Well, I did create Wordle and I’m not very good at it, so there’s your answer! I’m afraid I’m not really the best.
“[My partner] and I play it on the couch together each morning. She will consistently get it in three goes, which is way, way better than I can ever hope to achieve. I normally need at least four or five attempts.”
Speaking to Newsweek, Erhan Aslan, an associate professor of applied linguistics at the University of Reading in the U.K., provided some tips for Wordle players.
He said: “One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels (e.g., e, a), consonants (e.g., r, t) and sound sequences might be helpful. Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j, or x, for instance, may not be the best choice.
“As you get more feedback after a few guesses, users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking. For example, if the second letter of the target word is L (indicated by green) and the player feels that the word starts with a consonant, they will need to know that there are only a few consonant cluster possibilities (e.g., bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl).”
The answer to today’s puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll down with caution if you want to work it out for yourself. To help you solve today’s Wordle, Newsweek has provided some tips.
‘Wordle’ #558 Tips and Clues for Thursday, December 29
Wordle players can use these five hints to solve puzzle #558.
Hint #1: There are two vowels.
Hint #2: No letter is repeated.
Hint #3: Both the second and fourth letters are vowels.
Hint #4: Synonyms for the answer include “calamity” and “chaos.”
Hint #5: If you caused this as a child, your parents are unlikely to have been impressed.
‘Wordle’ #558 Answer for Thursday, December 29
The answer to today’s Wordle is “Havoc.”
That was a fun one! The two vowels certainly helped, though it was still a tough brainteaser. Did you get it? Congratulations if so. But please don’t worry if not—Newsweek will be here again tomorrow with more hints and tips for the latest Wordle.
What Does ‘Havoc’ Mean?
The Cambridge University Dictionary defines havoc as “confusion and lack of order, especially causing damage or trouble.”
For example: “The storm wreaked havoc in the garden, uprooting trees and blowing a fence down.”
The next Wordle puzzle will be available at 7 p.m. ET, when the daily update occurs.
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