Starters lists and FAQ for List Makers
--some collected thoughts about themes and challenges, as they have been employed by the WordleTown community.
by Documentalista
- What is a challenge?
- What is a Theme?
- How long should a Theme last?
- What should the Theme be about?
- I have an idea for a Theme what should I do?
see other lists at https://rentry.co/wordle-meta-list
What is a challenge?
A challenge is an open invitation to the community to engage in a specific search for starters. The Dizzying Descent Challenge required identifying the ‘worst’ starters, leaving behind the highest number of words left, per the Bot, and finding the best second word to bring the high number down to a handful of WL. With many tools at one’s disposal, particularly WordleTools by @Mike and his almost silent partner Martin, a simple DDC is not quite the challenge any more, however it would still be possible to challenge ourselves on which PS will come next, and when.
Other challenges include the search for pangrams, for palindromes, Acrostics and ADDLE-LAYED combinations. In a challenge each starter, as well as the second word is different for each player, and in fact it can be a challenge to oneself only. Mike’s U-Phobia (with a Vengeance) vowing not to use a U-containing word before its time, is a personal challenge.
What is a Theme?
A theme is a shared list of starters with “something in common”, the list is shared with the community in advance, and can be voluntarily used by its members. There are of course also personal themes, that some individual players follow, but the lack of advance notice makes them themes, rather than Themes as they are harder to document 😉
The Largest depository of Themes (incomplete as it is) is the List of Lists https://rentry.co/wordle-meta-list since it lists many original themes as well as links out to Mike’s Book of Themes https://bit.ly/WordlersBookOfThemes
How long should a Theme last?
Monthly Themes are common, but a Theme can last a day, a week or any other pre-specified period. Sometimes a Theme for a Day provides several suitable starters, to extend the fun.
What should the Theme be about?
- A classic Theme is of course based on a specific Topic, think various holidays, Mammals, Birds, Geology and Flowers, Music and Dancing, Star Trek, Proper Names, India’s Independence, Weights and Measures, Words about numbers, Words derived from Foreign languages, Doublets, and False friends. Famous Themes such as the Hobbit and Moby Dick, have followed the narrative in a specific book, or enchanted us with series of books ( @WT’s "Mr. Men" and "Little Miss" Theme); sothers, such as the many created by @Bill G., reflect on the career of a band, or a solo artist.
- A different type of Theme looks at a starter based purely on the features of the word itself. Think TuTus, Threepeaters, Aegilops, and more. Extraction by code from the full list of accepted words (valid-wordle-words.txt https://gist.github.com/dracos/dd0668f281e685bad51479e5acaadb93), of those with certain characteristics, is a specialty of @Dez.
- And finally some Themes focus on how good a Wordle starter the word is. The current Best of the Rest, based on Never Used words, with high ratings as starters in Wordle Tools https://wordletools.azurewebsites.net is an example. The WordleTown elite group of players, often uses a specified “high-grade” starter for a week, in-between other Themes. Ratings of starters can also be applied to a topical theme, many of Mike’s Themes are Type 1, but skewing towards 3.
I have an idea for a Theme what should I do?
First thing is advertise the idea by posting often, both early (Eyes-wide shut style), in the middle and late.
Each WR is open for almost two days, and early posters may not come back later. Use an Original post, or reply to an Original posts (a first level reply) for announcements: the new system hides replies to replies.
If you are in the US, the WR for today will have opened around ~3 AM PST, yesterday. Here is the archive: https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/wordle-review For an "early post" choose the WR at the top BUT do not focus your eyes on any other post, before opening the box. Prepare the text in advance, copy and paste it, this will minimize the risk of seeing tomorrow's solution.
if you are in Oceania, just make sure you have completed your game😉.
Second, make the big decision: Do you want to be the Ringmaster/Ringmistress, or would you prefer collaboration?
I want to ring the changes
A) A Ringmaster does the work behind the scenes, compiling a full list, often with dates, posts it, and waits for responses. By and large it is easier to manage. You can get away with a three to four-day lead-time before the start, although earlier is better.
NB For extra, relentless publicity, you can post anytime, but add a note to the Eyes Wide Shut post of the day.
It is quite feasible to provide a list of words with no set date to play. Personally, I like free-form feeding, but I may be alone in that, you may get less traction.
If your list excludes PU words (check https://www.fiveforks.com/wordle/), to satisfy the PU-phobic. be prepared to update your list: Best of the Rest was updated five times, since its first announcement, as some of the words on the list became solutions.
There will always be some who make a note of the original list and play “the wrong starter”, when you change it, but so be it. An older (say #0-#300) Previous Solution might be OK, since they are being sprinkled in again.
I post in the Wordle Review, I am collaborative by nature
B) If you plan on asking for collaboration, lead-time should be longer. You might ask for:
a) help in finding words on a topic
b) have a preset list of words, which can be longer than the period, and ask for ‘sponsors’ ie players who may feel interested in particular words.
Ask for one word to start with, and a date. One can always circle back, but multiple word chosen by one, tend to become confusing in the end.
For would-be collaborators: be decisive if a date is non negotiable, mellow if it isn’t, not greedy (make one choice) and make a note of the post link (now hidden behind the … bottom right of the post) so you can get back to it, and check for other suggestions and replies.. Computers, phones and tablets all have a notes, text or even just draft email apps that you can use to park such links, you’ll be happier when you use them, much better than searching, I guarantee you.
Other considerations for both Ringmasters and Collaboratives
i) If you have double letter words in your list, it is nice when they are placed on a Tuesday, or on the 22 of the month. TuTu, see?
ii) if other themes are running at the same time, look for crossover opportunities, when one word will work for both themes
iii) obvious but - do make sure your Theme only includes valid words by checking the list (valid-wordle-words.txt https://gist.github.com/dracos/dd0668f281e685bad51479e5acaadb93) or by opening a private browser window (to avoid cookies that may automatically log you in or sweep you into the NYT app) and open a new Wordle game https://www.nytimes.com/games/wordle/index.html. once past an ad and the How to play pop-up you will be able to try any word you have doubt on. There are Proper Nouns/adjectives that have a common meaning, but in general all proper nouns are better checked.
iv) if your list includes words that may be offensive, think again, posting them may become difficult and you may upset the Bot as well.
There is a limit of 1500 characters per post (emoji take up two or three ch.) so, if you intend to add extras or explanations, it is easier to have your list on an external paste-bin site like rentry co., Google.Docs to refer to. @Dez and myself can post final lists on rentry at a pinch if you do not feel up to the task. Ask nicely, and you may receive.
For rentry, and for my normal EWS formatting, the best standard for a finished list includes:
Brief Date WORDS Sponsor, w/ location if homonyms exist
Do NOT use parentheses of any kind as they may have specific meanings in the external sites, and they take up space.
Examples:
Mar 25 RINGS @Documentalista - the one and only
Apr 25 STORE @David, Mich. - there may be several Davids
The standard way to denote a valid Wordle word is all-caps.
Again, you can still just post a one-and-done list, but keeping to the standard, and adding a note to me will afterwards provide you with extra publicity. And save me from headaches when I look for Themes to add to my Eyes Wide Shut Post.
Too Long Did Not read? Theme setting may not be your cup of tea.