I’m a sucker for word games. I love playing Scrabble and doing the mini crosswords and puzzles in the NY Times. It must be hereditary. A couple weeks ago on Zoom, I asked my sisters if they had joined the latest word craze. We spent the next ten minutes sharing strategies. For the record, I’ve played 63 times and struck out only twice. If any of you play Wordle, I’d love to hear your approach. The poem below, an ALOUETTE, is in response to my WP friend Muri’s annual poetry challenge. If you’d like to participate, click HERE for the details and join in the fun.
TO EACH HER OWN
The first words I play
are PIOUS and TRADE,
see what turns orange and lime
Sis One does the same
but she starts the game
with STORM and ADIEU each time
Sis Two drags her net
through the whole alphabet,
POUND, LIGHT, BRIMS, WAVEY, and FRACK
taking a gamble
that she can unscramble
the answer in only one crack
Sis Three plays it loose,
like WACKY or JUICE
Weird letters a help or a hurdle
You know, without doubt,
what I’m talking about
if you are addicted to WORDLE
JUST JOAN 42 
So what’s more challenging, solving Wordle or writing a clever poem like this?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wordle takes skill, but you’re done in five minutes. Poems are more labor intensive. Fitting my sisters’ actual wordle words in the Alouette’s meter and rhyme scheme was tricky. Do you play Wordle? What word do you start with? I ran into a friend at a poetry reading last night, she always starts with ATONE.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I played it for a few weeks, when it was just starting to become all the rage. But I’ve been such a busy guy lately, I had to give it up. I had no special word to start with.
LikeLiked by 1 person
STEAR
We don’t do them every day, but when my wife remembers, she makes us do it together. When we get it right away she wants to share it on FB, which is the last thing I want to do. If she wants to share, it has to be done on her account.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never share my results or score on social media. I’ve only gotten it on the first guess once, purely by chance… I decided not to use my go-to word and went with FIGHT instead.
LikeLike
Hehe! I do play but only share with son#2 since he is very a dedicated player. My usual first words are either STARE or RIPEN. I have to say your poem is so much fun to read – for the topic and the form!!
LikeLike
Thanks, Muri. Those are both great starters. It’s strange how everyday things can become poems when the right vehicle (form) lets them hitch a ride. I’m having fun with the Blues Stanza right now.
I participated in a poetry reading earlier this week and read CLOTHING I HAVE HATED, one of the poems I wrote for your 2019 poetry challenge. The audience totally ate it up. If not for you, I would never have written it. Thank you. Here’s the link if you want to see it again: https://justjoan42.wordpress.com/2019/04/26/anybody-need-empty-hangers/
LikeLike
I love word games too. I just love words in general. My family stopped playing Scrabble with me years ago because I know too many weird words. I’ve only played Wordle two or three times on the website. I doubt I’ll ever download the app… too much potential for wasting time.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Try Scrabble Go, an online version where you can play against “Zoey” (the computer) at a variety of skill levels. I can beat her about half the time on HARD, but I’ve only gotten her a few times on MASTER. There’s also GRAND MASTER, if you like to get creamed like corn. It can be a time suck, I guess, but I have to use my brain so it’s better than TV.
LikeLike
My mom and I loved Password. We were a formidable team, having shared the same love of words and vocabulary for decades. When dementia robbed her of recall, I was heartbroken. One of the gossamer ties was broken and many more were to follow in the succeeding years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like you guys had fun while it lasted. Life is full of losses, especially as we get older. Dementia is one of the hardest, for the affected person and (maybe moreso) their family. My mom plays Scrabble with sometimes, but I think we (her 4 college-educated, smarty-pants girls) intimidate her. She prefers Uno, where she can make us skip a turn or pick up 2 or 4 cards.
LikeLike