What People are Getting Wrong This Week: Couches, Dolphins, and JD Vance

Would United States senator and vice presidential hopeful J.D. Vance consider the image at the top of this article pornographic? It depends on if you're asking the internet or not.

You may have heard that a presidential election is coming up in the fall. Naturally, that means a ton of sewage-level information—lies, slander, rumors, and satire mistaken for fact—has been flooding the internet. The most notable piece of digital flotsam from the past week is the widely spread, tongue-in-cheek rumor that Vance, who I must remind you has 50-50 odds of being next in line for the presidency of a world superpower, fucked his couch . I'll attempt to explain where this rumor came from and why it's spreading across social media like cat hair on a wool sectional (short answer: because it's funny). I'll then dive into the other meme about Vance's sexual proclivities that has been making the rounds.

Did J.D. Vance really say he had sex with a couch?

On July 15, X user @rickrudescalves (account since deleted) made online waves when he reacted to Donald Trump choosing Vance as his running mate with a message reading, “can't say for sure but he might be the first vp pick to have admitted in a ny times bestseller to fucking an inside-out latex glove shoved between two couch cushions (vance, 𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘺, pp. 179-181)”

The message was shared millions of times, and quickly boosted, memed, and otherwise entered into the unofficial record. Because it has a citation and it seems so believable, many people took the couch-sex story as fact, at least at first. But it's not. It's just a joke—a shitpost, in internet parlance.

While no one can definitively say that Senator Vance has never fucked a couch (what goes on between a man and a consenting piece of furniture is none of my business), he definitely did not write about fucking a couch in his memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, and there is no other publicly available evidence that indicates he has had sex with a sofa, ottoman, futon, or any other upholstered furniture.

Whatever side of the political spectrum you fall on, it isn't really a mystery why this bit caught on. It's absurd, memorable, and perfectly crafted—kudos to @rickrudescalves for suggesting Vance required three full pages to describe his encounter with the sofa.

Is J.D. Vance a fan of dolphin porn?

While there isn't any evidence that Vance is turned on by his couch, there actually is evidence that he's searched the internet for dolphin porn! It's not the strongest evidence, but still.

On Feb 17, 2024, Vance posted the following to his X account:

Credit: JD Vance - X

I’m not sure what Vance was trying to communicate by sharing this screenshot, but the important thing is that X's search function returns results with the search terms emboldened. For instance, I used to X to search “JD Vance" and "Dolphin.” Here is one of thousands of results that came back to me:

Credit: Antonio Serrata - X

Note the bolded words matching my search terms. The evidence, then, tells us that Vance’s dolphin post is proof enough that he searched the words “woman” and “dolphin” together on Twitter at least once. We don't know why Vance searched those words, but it definitely looks like he searched for them.

Update: Celebrity restaurant banning sprees continue in fake news universe

A few weeks ago, I looked into the sprawling alternative reality created by right wing fake news websites and Facebook forwards targeting ABC's talk show The View. A recurring theme in that mire of incendiary wish-fulfillment are fake stories of celebrities being banned from dining at other celebrity’s restaurants. For reasons unknown, dopes love to read stories about people they hate being banned from chain restaurants.

Since that post, two other stars have reportedly been ejected from celebrity-owned eateries:

• Shaq Throws George Clooney Out Of His Restaurant, Bans Him For Life,“Keep Your Wokeness Out”

• Gordon Ramsay Throws Lia Thomas Out Of His Restaurant, “No Place For You Here”

If you’re keeping score at home, here’s a running tally of who has been banned from which celebrity -owned restaurant:

• Gordon Ramsay’s ban list: Robert Deniro, Lia Thomas, Megan Rapinoe, Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce, Whoopi Goldberg, The Miami Dolphins.

• Guy Fieri’s ban list: Whoopi Goldberg, Megan Rapinoe, Garth Brooks, and Tom Hanks.

• Shaquille O’Neal’s ban list: George Clooney, Joy Behar, Robert Deniro, 

Gordon Ramsay is leading the pack with seven total celebrity ejections (including the entire Miami Dolphins football team), compared to just four for Fieri and only three for O’Neal. The most banned celebrity is Robert Deniro, who is not allowed to dine at eateries owned by Fieri, Ramsay, or O'Neal—a greater honor than winning a third Oscar, if you ask me.

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How to Work Out When You’re Still Sore From Last Time

The hardest part of sticking to a workout routine may be starting, but the second-hardest part is showing up to the next workout when everything feels like fire. You’re not off the hook, though! Staying home actually isn’t your best plan of action.

Know what normal soreness feels like

Your first question might be: did I seriously injure myself? Normal next-day muscle soreness, called DOMS for "delayed onset muscle soreness," can feel pretty brutal. It's not a serious health condition, though.

Normal DOMS:

• Hurts the most when you wake up in the morning or when you've been sitting still for a while

• Feels better with movement

• Hurts when you use the muscle and when you stretch the muscle

• Usually starts the day after exercise, and may last multiple days

• Is often at its worst two days after the exercise that caused it

There are medical conditions that can also cause muscle soreness, so check with a doctor if you think there may be more going on than the usual DOMS situation. One condition worth keeping in mind is rhabdomyolysis, which is muscle damage that gets severe enough to cause muscle breakdown and kidney issues. Dark-colored urine (often described as "tea colored" or "cola colored") is a huge red flag—get to the emergency room if you notice this. I've written more here about the differences between normal soreness and the kind that needs medical attention.

But most likely, you just have a normal case of DOMS. If that sounds right, let's talk about what to do about it.

Don’t skip your workout

When you're feeling sore, you’re probably tempted to just stay home with some Netflix instead of taking your achy body back to the gym. But resting doesn't help much in the long run. Beating the soreness for good comes from getting used to exercise, and you’ll never get used to it if you have to take a week off every time you get the idea to start again.

So go back to the gym, or head out for another run, or whatever is on your schedule for today. Make some effort to continue the schedule that you set up for yourself, whether that was a written program or a promise to yourself that you'd go to the gym a certain number of times per week.

First, do your warmup, but ease into it gradually. If you planned to go for a run, start with a brisk walk and then see how an easy jog feels. If it's a lifting day, start with lighter weights than usual, and only add as much weight as you feel like you can handle today.

Even if you can't manage your regular workout, you're still doing something, and that's buying you insurance against future soreness. You're also not going to get anywhere near as sore after today's workout as you did before. Scientists call this the repeated bout effect: each workout (each "bout" of training) protects against soreness from the next one.

Do some active rest

If a rest day comes when you're still sore, you'll probably think: okay, now is the time to sit around. But DOMS feels better with movement, so even if you don't have any training goals to work toward, you'll feel better if you keep moving.

So go for a walk. That's my go-to when I'm not feeling great. If you have access to a spin bike, moving your legs at low resistance tends to help relieve soreness. Cyclists will talk about "flushing" out their muscles; whether that's scientifically accurate or not, it does seem to help. If you're into yoga, a day you're sore is a good time to do some gentle yoga; you can even look up recovery yoga for some videos to follow.

How to deal with the pain

There are a lot of myths surrounding muscle soreness, and one harsh truth: Nothing but time really works to make the soreness go away. In the meantime, the best tools we have are light activity, massage, and heat. Activity is what I described above, so let's explore the rest.

Heat

Heat tends to make sore muscles feel better, so this is a great time to hit the sauna, if your gym has one. You can also use an electric heating pad like this one, or take a hot bath. Epsom salts don't do anything for your muscles, but adding them to a bath can make it smell nice (get the lavender scented kind) and can make it feel like you're doing something special for yourself.

Massage

Pressure can feel good on sore muscles, so consider treating yourself to a massage or asking someone to give you a back rub. A foam roller is a good way to give yourself some "self-myofascial release" (I'm convinced that's nothing but a fancy word for massage), or consider a massage gun.

Food and sleep

When you’re sore, it's good time to pay more attention to taking care of yourself. Anecdotally, I find sleep helps to deal with soreness: if I stay up late, I’m more likely to be sore the next day. Eating plenty of protein can’t hurt, either, since protein is important to building muscle.

One last note: Pain relievers like ibuprofen are popular among athletes, but they aren’t as good a strategy as the things mentioned above. If you get into the habit of taking ibuprofen regularly, it can hinder your recovery. So it's fine to view it as a short term fix to help you get through a bad day, but try not to make a habit of it. If you have enough soreness that you feel you need medication to get through every day, it's probably time to ask a doctor what else might be going on.

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Apple Is Giving Mysterious 'Points' to Apple Intelligence Beta Testers

Apple Intelligence won't officially ship until the iOS 18.1 update later this year, but Apple's already asking for users to help train it, and it looks like the company might even reward them. That includes you, assuming you're willing to jump through a couple of hoops.

Apple's beta programs have always been big on feedback, so it's not a surprise that its Generative AI efforts are taking the same approach. Here, Apple wants you to tell it if its AI is doing a good job or not, and if it didn't, what's going wrong. Your feedback will then be used to train and improve Apple Intelligence services and the AI models behind the scenes.

For your trouble, Apple will even provide you with some points. What exactly you can do with these points is not entirely clear right now, but I'm hoping they can be redeemed to get a paid upgrade for Apple Intelligence down the line.

You can start your feedback under "Rate Your Experiences" in the Feedback Assistant app, which will be automatically installed with your beta. This is what Apple says about the Rate Your Experiences feature:

Help improve Apple products and services! Content such as your emails from the Mail app and messages from the Messages app will be displayed to you, along with content generated from them for Apple Intelligence features. This data always remains on your device unless you choose to submit it to Apple, after rating your experience.

The app will guide you through some recently generated AI results, and will ask for your feedback. You can respond as "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down", depending on your experience. If your experience wasn't good, Apple will ask you to provide some more details. You can either type out a response, or you can choose from one the pre-filled options.

You will find pre-filled feedback options for many Apple Intelligence features, including Smart reply, Notifications summary, Email summary, prioritized emails, Image Playground, Writing Tools, and more.

Some pre-filled options for Email summary include:

• Hard to understand

• Missed key detail

• Incorrect attributions

• Too long

• Irrelevant additions

• Stereotyping or bias

• Overly suggestive or sexual

• Vulgar or offensive

• Other

Once you provide feedback, Apple will show you a score with your earned points, where you can level up by providing more feedback. As we mentioned above, Apple hasn't made it clear what your points will be used for. As noted by Apple above, the generative AI data and the feedback prompts stay on your device by default. But you can choose to submit the data to Apple after rating.

[h/t MacRumors]

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How to Prepare Now for a Flat Tire (If Your Car Doesn’t Have a Spare)

If you find yourself on the side of the road with a flat tire, your first move is probably to pull out the spare and change it out—or call someone to help you with the switch. Your car's spare may be a smaller space-saving tire meant only to get you to the shop so you can get your full-size tire repaired, but if you drive a newer vehicle, you should check whether you even have a spare on board at all.

According to Consumer Reports, about 40% of cars sold today aren't equipped with any type of spare tire—even a temporary one—likely due to manufacturers' desire to increase fuel economy and decrease costs. Some vehicles don't even come with the tools needed to seal or repair a flat.

If you discover that your car is one of the 40% that lacks a spare, here's how to prepare for the possibility of a flat tire ahead of time.

Learn how to use an emergency repair kit

If your vehicle is without a spare, it may instead have come with emergency repair supplies to repair a deflated tire that has been punctured—this may include tire sealant and CO2 cartridges. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the tools and read any instructions that explain how to apply sealant (which can actually be more straightforward than a tire change). If you don't have any emergency supplies on hand, you can purchase the stuff yourself, including just packets of sealant or full repair kits. A portable air compressor can also come in handy for inflating sealed flats or low-pressure tires on the go.

Repair kits provide a temporary fix, and you shouldn't drive faster than 50 miles per hour or distances longer than 100 miles before getting your tire inspected. Note that tire sealant is ineffective for sidewall tears or severe flat damage, and when used, it may cost extra to be removed during the repair process.

Buy a temporary spare or used tire

Even if your vehicle doesn't come with a spare, it may have space to store one. You can purchase a space-saving temporary tire that fits your vehicle's make and model or consider buying a used (refurbished) full-size spare online. (Check to make sure a full-sized wheel will fit in your spare wheel well first.) Ensure you also have the tools required to change a flat, including a jack and lug wrench.

Check your roadside assistance benefits

Whether or not you choose to add a spare to your vehicle, you should know how to call roadside assistance when you need it. Newer vehicles purchased from a dealership may include complimentary roadside assistance as part of the warranty or service benefits, so check before you pay for an additional subscription. Otherwise, you can add roadside assistance to your auto insurance plan or sign up for AAA.

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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Wednesday, July 31, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 31, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 31, Wordle #1,138! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic. The fifth is fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A type of pasta.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are two repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are is one vowel, used twice.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with P. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is PENNE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, followed by LEDGE. There were a few possible solutions—PEEVE was my next guess, followed by PENNE.

Wordle 1,138 5/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩⬛⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was harder. The hint was “wild, like an animal” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was FERAL.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

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The Out-of-Touch Adults' Guide to Kid Culture: South Korean Pistol Champion Kim Yeji

Young people don't usually vote in huge numbers, and I get it: Voting is boring, and it only encourages politicians anyway. But the entrance of Kamala Harris into the presidential race seems to be invigorating the political interests of young people. It's anyone's guess whether that will lead to engaged new voters in November, but it's resulting in a lot of memes now, and that's the next best thing, right?

And once you've digested that, you can focus on what really matters: A badass Olympic sharpshooter with real Main Character Energy.

The Kamala Harris meme explainer

Since Kamala Harris became the Democratic Party nominee for president a little over a week ago, the internet has been meme-ing her up, and hard. While it's difficult to cut through the hype to really understand how younger people feel about politics, it seems clear that they like Harris better than Biden, and they like her way better than Trump. At the very least, they find her to be better fodder for internet jokes.

Here are some of the most prominent Harris memes that have caught on, and what they mean.

Brat: Some online folks have been are referring to Harris as "brat" (complementary). The honorific was bestowed upon Harris by pop singer Charli XCX in a tweet posted shortly after Harris announced her campaign, which reads: "kamala IS brat." This references the singer's album of the same name, which had already become something of a meme itself, thanks in part to its distinctive lime green cover art. According to XCX, to be “brat” is to be “that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, who feels herself, but then also maybe has a breakdown, but kind of parties through it." So that's how young folks see the future president maybe? I'll take it.

Coconut: Along with "brat," people are are mentioning coconuts in the same breath as Harris, or saying they're "coconut-pilled." This is a reference to a speech Harris gave in 2023 in which she quoted her mother saying, "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” As for why it catching on, it's a clear idea in a concise little package, a little silly and novel enough to be memorable. Or maybe the kids are making fun of her a little bit? Even Lifehacker's Gen Z expert Meredith Dietz thinks it's hard to tell.

Weird: The Democratic Party has seemingly reached an agreement to refer to Donald Trump and and his running mate JD Vance as "weird," and as often as possible. Many people have called Trump weird throughout his life, but it's sticking this time, thanks to a cable news appearance by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in which he painted the GOP with the "they're weird" brush. This message was soon amplified by a Harris campaign statement describing Trump as "old and quite weird?" [Sic.]

In a broader context, "weird" dovetails perfectly with the song of the summer (and probably the decade), "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar, in which Lamar ejects Drake from hip-hop by defining him as "not like us." The same energy is being applied to Trumpworld by the meme-makers (and the Democrats cashing in on the trend.)

What is budots music?

Add "budots" to the list of musical sub-genres you will probably not like. Budots is a genre of electronic dance music that originated on the streets of the Philippines and is taking over TikTok. It's characterized by simple, repetitive eletro-beats and lots of sound effects—strictly music for the feet, not the head.

The breakout piece of budots music is DJ Johnrey Masbate's “Emergency Budots,” a remix of “Dr. Beat” by the Miami Sound Machine. It's has been used in over 400,000 TikTok videos and counting. But the genre has been around longer than that song. It was developed by DJ Love, an internet cafe owner in the Philippines who started releasing Budots videos 11 years ago (although "budots" originally referred to the silly, joyous, overly exaggerated moves of the dance that accompanies the music).

What does EYP mean?

NSFW warning! If someone has been posting "lemme EYP" at you lately, they are asking to eat your pussy. The phrase is blowing up on various online comment sections lately, but like budots music, it's been around a few years, bubbling under the surface, waiting for the right moment to catch on.

Ilona Maher: The 2024 Olympics' viral star

Most Americans don't think much about women's rugby, but younger people are becoming very aware of Ilona Maher. The 27-year-old Olympian is an absolute beast on the rugby pitch, and her TikTok and Instagram have become wildly popular for their mix of body positivity, rugby positivity, and content anyone can relate to—like this video of Maher saying the most awkward thing possible when meeting an Olympic tennis player, and her pure excitement over a photo op with Snoop Dogg.

Viral Video of the Week: "Kim Yeji breaks the world record for 25m Women's Pistol"

Another breakout viral star of the Olympics this week is South Korean pistol champion Kim Yeji. While she's competing in various air pistol events this year, her virality comes from the ISSF World Cup held a few months ago, when Kim broke the world record for 25m Pistol. She did it with such style that the video of the moment must be seen to be believed—it's been viewed over 20 million times in the last day alone. Del Walker, one of many people who posted the video on Twitter, summed up the vibe like this: "The most 'Main Character Energy' I've ever seen in my life."

How it's possible to break a world record while winning a gold medal at an international event and stay that cool is a mystery, but the all black clothes and cyberpunk-looking magnifying glasses don't hurt. (To add to her legend, Kim just won a silver medal at the women's 10m air pistol event.)

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Turn Your Lemon Pudding Cake Into a Fluffy Meringue Pie

Few dessert flavors evoke summer freshness like lemon. To be fair, a lemon dessert is also a great break from winter spices and chocolate. Lucky for us, lemons are available year-round, so let’s embrace the lemon once again with a tangy dessert that’s full of surprises. Whether it’s summer, winter or any time in between, try this lemon pudding cake meringue pie. 

What exactly is lemon pudding cake? 

If I were to call this dessert one thing, then it’s a pie. There is a crust and a filling, so it is a pie. It just so happens that the filling is my recipe for the Insta-worthy and TikTok-friendly lemon pudding cake. If you haven’t had lemon pudding cake yet, you are in for a treat. It’s what I believe the British call a self-saucing pudding—meaning, a cake that provides its own decadent sauce of sorts, in this case a lemon pudding. To clarify, specifically with this recipe, it’s one thin batter that’s leavened with egg whites and it bakes into two layers. The egg white layer rises and bakes into a cake that floats on top of a pudding-like layer. In this case it’s more like a lemon curd. It’s divine, and you can make it pie. 

How to flip it into a meringue pie

You could make lemon pudding cake as a large casserole, but here you get the addition of a lovely crust and fluffy toasted meringue topping. Besides, sometimes the occasion simply calls for pie.

Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann

The procedure for making the lemon pudding-cake filling is the same as in the original recipe linked above; the only changes are blind-baking the crust and making a simple meringue topping. (If you need a refresher on blind-baking, check here.)

Note that after blind-baking the crust gets “sealed” with a light brush of egg white. That’s because the pudding layer is liquid before it cooks. Swiping on a layer of egg white while the crust is hot out of the oven will create a transparent wall of cooked egg white. This will help prevent a soggy crust. I tried a graham cracker crust, which, as you might know, is risky. The results were mixed: some spots were dry and others were gooey, as you can see in the picture. That didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying the pie, however if you’re going for clean lines, I’d recommend an old-fashioned pie crust from the freezer aisle.

The resulting pie is best served chilled so the pudding can set, but with a freshly toasted meringue topping. Personally, I prefer this version of lemon pie to the classic Jersey-diner-style lemon meringue pie any day. Instead of assaulting you with a mouthful of gluey pudding and quickly deflating meringue, this pie has that middle layer of cake to help firm up the textures. You can save any leftovers in the fridge, but know that the meringue won’t be quite the same—which means you have license to finish it on your own. You know, for the sake of the pie’s reputation.

Lemon Pudding Cake Meringue Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

For the pie:

• 1 store-bought pie crust

• 3 eggs, separated

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

• ¾ cup flour

• ¼ cup sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 cup milk, room temperature

For the meringue topping:

• 2 egg whites

• ¼ cup sugar

• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

• ⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Blind bake the crust as needed depending on the crust you chose.

2. Meanwhile, separate your eggs for the filling, so you have three yolks in a large mixing bowl and three whites in another large bowl. Whisk the whites slightly just to break them up and put a teaspoon of the whites into a small bowl. Have a pastry brush ready to “seal” the crust.

3. When the hot crust comes out of the oven, immediately use the pastry brush to apply the teaspoon of egg white all around the bottom and walls of the pie crust. Pay attention to where the bottom meets the walls. Set the crust aside to cool.

4. Add the lemon zest, juice, and butter to the egg yolks and whisk them together thoroughly. In a smaller bowl, mix the sugar, flour, and salt together. Slowly pour in half of the dry mixture while whisking vigorously to break up any lumps. Alternate with half of the milk, and then finish by whisking in the rest of the dry mixture and the remaining milk. It will be very liquidy. 

5. Set up your pie crust in a large baking dish or, like I did, in a larger pie plate. Put a kettle of water on to boil so you can make a water bath when you’re ready to bake.

6. Whisk the three egg whites in the bowl until you have soft peaks and gently fold the whites into the batter. Put the pie shell inside of the larger baking dish, and into the oven. Carefully pour the just-boiled water into the outer dish until it comes halfway up the side of the inner pie dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top is evenly tinged with brown and it jiggles slightly in the center when you move it, but is not watery. Remove the pie from the dish and let it cool. Cool it overnight in the fridge if you’re not in a rush. 

7. Make the meringue just before you’re ready to serve it. Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until frothy. Then add the cream of tartar. Begin whisking again and slowly add the sugar and the vanilla. Beat the mixture until stiff peaks form but the meringue is still glossy. Slather it along the entire surface of the pie and toast it with a torch, or pop it into a 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes to toast the top. Serve immediately. 

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My Favorite Highlights and Drama From Day Three of the Paris Olympics

Hello, fellow Olympians! The Paris games are in full swing, with thousands of athletes from all over the world competing in 32 sports (29 of which you won't hear about until the next Olympics). I'm glued to the competition, with an equal appreciation for athletic excellence and random heroes like Bob the Cap Catcher who gained international acclaim for jumping into a pool to retrieve a swim cap. Here are some highlights, lowlights, ongoing drama, and random observations from the Paris Games.

The Seine is full of shit

Probably the biggest story of the 33rd Olympics is whether the Seine is too polluted for human safety. "Mon Dieu! The river, she is full of merde!" a French official (who I made up) said of the matter. It's a big deal, because you can't hold swimming races in a literal sewer.

Just hours before the scheduled start of the swimming portion of the Men's triathlon on Tuesday, officials were mulling whether the race would go ahead as scheduled, be postponed until later in the week, or be canceled altogether. Everything hinges on the results of water purity tests. The hope is that the levels of E. Coli in Paris's waterway will drop to "safe for humans," but since E. Coli rises when it rains, the race's future may depend on whether the storms scheduled for later this week materialize.

An official of the World Triathlon, the governing body for the sport, told CBS that the swimming portion of the triathlon could be dropped altogether. "Then it would be a biathlon," he added.

While canceling swimming might work for the triathlon (although triathletes who excel in swimming will be pissed), the marathon swim events scheduled for later in the games have no fallback position.

Why Olympic street skateboarding is terrible

Day three of the Olympics featured the finals of the street skateboarding competition. Japan's Yuto Horigome took home the gold medal, and Americans Jagger Eaton and Nyjah Huston won silver and bronze. But it was very stupid and bad because, as a concept, a "street skateboarding competition" is fatally flawed.

First, because of Olympic drug testing. Skateboarders who like to smoke cannabis are ineligible for Olympic competition, which narrows the field of athletes considerably. Step one to improving Olympic skateboarding is ending testing for weed.

But more importantly, street boarding, as it is practiced in reality, is nothing like the way it's "played" in the Olympics. Skaters don't compete by taking 45-second runs and scoring their best two tricks on scale of 0-100 points. Skaters compete by playing S.K.A.T.E.

In S.K.A.T.E, a skater does a trick, then his opponent has five tries to replicate it or lose a point. Then they switch places. This is practiced in schoolyards and random stairways all over the world, and would be a much more interesting way to decide who the best street skateboarder is. S.K.A.T.E. involves direct competition, and has an objective outcome that doesn't depend on judges' interpretation. And it comes from the sport itself, not from whatever Olympic governing body made up the fake-ass rules for Olympic street skating.

This is a great time to be into women's rugby

Why did no one ever tell me that rugby is so amazing? All these years I thought it was like cricket—some foreign game for people who can't handle real sports—but I've been glued to every game of Team USA's women's sevens rugby squad this Olympics, and it is badass. Plus, we are tearing shit up.

We beat Brazil a couple days ago, and on day three, Team USA waged war against our eternal rivals, and the villains of the world, Great Britain. People in Great Britain actually care about rugby—they invented the game, after all—but team USA crushed 'em, 17 to 7, and barely broke a sweat. Highlights included a clutch score from team captain Naya Tapper at the game's halfway point, Sammy Sullivan mean-mugging the camera after putting the game out of reach in the second half, and literally everything Ilona Maher does, both on the field and on TikTok.

This victory puts an American Rugby team into the Olympic semifinals for the first time ever. We're playing New Zealand on day four. They're very good, but I have faith in the mighty USA sevens.

USA Women's Basketball: the anti-\underdogs

While the USA women's sevens rugby team are scrappy underdogs, our Olympic women's basketball team are not. We simply crush every competitor to the point that it's not even fun. Our victory against Japan adds a 56th game to USA's winning streak. The team hasn't lost a game since 1992. We play Belgium on Thursday. I don't think they have much of a shot.

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You Can Get This Eufy Robot Vacuum on Sale for $100 Right Now

You can get this Eufy BoostIQ Wi-Fi robot vacuum on sale for $99.99 right now (reg. $139.99) until August 4. You can control it through the EufyHome app or connect Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to set schedules, create boundaries for the vacuum not to cross, or manually control it in the case of a spill. The robot is narrow enough to fit under furniture, as quiet as your microwave, runs up to 100 minutes on a single charge, and cleans effectively on tile, carpet, and hardwood floors with three different brushes. This is an open-box model—a customer return or extra store inventory—so it's 28% off, even though it’s verified to be in new condition and comes with a 90-day warranty.

You can get this Eufy BoostIQ Wi-Fi robot vacuum on sale for $99.99 right now (reg. $139.99) through August 4 at 11:59 p.m. PT, though prices can change at any time.

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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, July 30, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 30, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 30, Wordle #1,137! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic. The fifth is fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Wild, like an animal.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with F. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with L. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is FERAL.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and CHANT, then went with MOPED and BREAK to eliminate possible consonants and get known letters in the right place. There were a lot of words left with R, E, and A, but only FERAL fit with the letter placements remaining.

Wordle 1,137 5/6

🟨🟨⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨🟨🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “great, excellent, very” and the answer contained four common letters and one pretty common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was SUPER.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

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How to Try Apple Intelligence Right Now

Over the weekend, we learned Apple Intelligence, Apple's brand-name for its generative AI features, would not be shipping with iOS 18 after all, and would instead arrive with iOS 18.1. While Apple won't officially roll out Apple Intelligence until sometime later this fall, that doesn't mean these AI features will be totally absent until then. In fact, you can try them out right now—with some big caveats.

On Monday, Apple dropped the first developer beta for iOS 18.1. This version of the beta is meant for registered developers, so they can test out the new software with their apps and services and make sure there are no critical issues with it. While that used to cost $99 per year, in recent years, Apple has opened up the developer beta to anyone interested, meaning you can install the iOS 18.1 developer beta on your iPhone, even if you're not an iOS developer.

Apple Intelligence is not here for everyone

Some caveats: Apple Intelligence is only available on iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, or iPads with an M1 chip or newer. If you have an iPhone 15 or older, or an iPad without the M-series chip, you're out of luck. In addition, installing the iOS 18.1 beta isn't enough to access Apple Intelligence. The company requires you to sign up for a waitlist for the service first before you can experiment with these AI features. There's no set time for how long Apple keeps you on the waitlist, and Redditors on r/iosbeta had varying experiences: Some were approved instantly, while others had to wait 30 minutes.

As you might expect, this version of Apple Intelligence is in its initial stages of testing, which means it won't come with all the features Apple advertised earlier this year. While features like Genmoji, Image Playground, and ChatGPT integration aren't live yet, some key features are. If you install the update, you'll be able to try Apple's AI writing tools, new AI features in apps like Mail and Photos, and some AI upgrades to Siri.

It's also important to note that because iOS 18.1 is in beta, it's risky to install on your device right now. Beta software is in testing, and unfinished, which means there could be bugs and other issues that would interfere with your normal device use. If you don't have a spare Apple device to install betas on, make sure to back up your iPhone or iPad if you choose to install iOS 18.1.

Installing Apple Intelligence on your iPhone

Assuming you have a compatible iPhone or iPad, open Settings, then head to General > Software Update. Allow the page to load a moment, then choose Beta Updates. Here, choose iOS 18 Developer Beta, then hit Back. Once this page loads again, you should see Upgrade to iOS 18 under "ALSO AVAILABLE." Tap this, which should take you to the iOS 18.1 update screen. From here, hit Update Now, then follow the on-screen instructions to install the update.

Once you're running iOS 18.1, head back to Settings. You should now have an Apple Intelligence option. Tap this, choose Join the Apple Intelligence Waitlist, then hit Join Waitlist on the pop-up.

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You Can Get This 24” Dell Gaming Monitor for $90 Right Now

You can get this 24” Dell LED gaming monitor on sale for $89.99 right now (reg. $229.99). On the outside, it has a black finish with thin bezels, and on the inside, it has full HD resolution, a high-speed response time, and a refresh rate up to 75Hz. It has an anti-glare coating, minimal blue light emissions, and flicker-free visuals, and you can fine-tune the color, brightness, and contrast with simple controls. This monitor is 60% off because it’s an open-box model (a customer return or extra store inventory) verified to be in new condition and including a 90-day warranty.

You can get this 24” Dell LED gaming monitor on sale for $89.99 right now (reg. $229.99), though prices can change at any time.

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The Three Gardening Tasks I Do Every Week

I'm a taskmaster, so when I see a problem, I want to fix it—immediately. The problem in the garden is that this can cause you to displace other priorities and end up burnt out. On Friday, I talked about the three tasks I tackle every day in the garden so I can get in and out in a short time (that will vary based on the size of your garden). It's hard to resist tackling everything that needs to be done, and if I'm not careful, I can get distracted by needing to deadhead the sweet peas or sweep up the garden paths. By keeping clear in my head that some tasks are weekly and thus, don't need to be dealt with until the weekend (or whatever day you designate), helps me stay on task, and keep the garden moving forward.

Once a week, I chuck my pruners, loppers, gloves, some antibacterial spray for the tools, tomato clips, garden velcro and any other clips I need, and my fertilizers into my wheelbarrow or garden tote and head into the garden. I grab the seeds I plan to succession sow and stick them in my pocket. And then here's what I do:

Adjust trellises

I have lots of trellises and lots of plants growing on them. For items like tomatoes, they may need to be pruned and clipped onto the trellis, so I do this weekly. I spend a little time ensuring the beans are clinging to trellises instead of each other, that the espaliers are pruned and moving in the right direction, adjusting the clips. I weave the nasturtiums through the cattle panel so they'll continue to grow up it—the same for the pumpkins and squash. By spending a little time paying attention to all your trellises once a week, you stay on top of the task.

This will already involve some pruning, so take the time to prune anything that needs it. My berry canes are absurd this time of year and must be clipped back weekly. I deadhead flowers that need it, and will spend time on spent shrubs like lilac and peonies, and keep my elderberry trees, which about to fruit, in check. Any pruned greenery goes into the wheelbarrow, unless it looks diseased, and then it goes right to the trash can.

Reseed

I keep the seeds I succession sow by the door and stick them in my pocket: radishes, carrots, scallions, lettuce, and turnips. That way, when I'm at the right bed, I just grab them from my pocket and seed what I'd like to. This ensures the sowing is happening frequently.

Fertilize

I like to apply a fish emulsion fertilizer once a week (I hold strong to the garden saying "once a week, weakly." I hook up to my hose and go around, making sure to focus the water at the root of the plants, not on the plants unless it is a foliar spray. Depending on the plant, I may add additional amendments. For instance, my corn gets a side treatment of blood meal (pure nitrogen) once during the summer. Tomatoes get CalMag every few weeks. I just make sure to go around and treat anything that needs it, but almost all my plants get a general life from the fish emulsion, although this is on top of the slow-release fertilizer and any specialized fertilizer I use when I plant.

Check water systems

I am always mortified how quickly problems can crop up in a watering system, and you tend to only notice it when your plants tell the tale. This time of year, I check my water once a week. I run through each of my water zones on my drip system, and walk around, listening for leaks (you can hear them) and just looking at the farthest beds to ensure water is still reaching them. This has an added benefit of watering in the fertilizer and seeds a bit. You don't need a full cycle for each zone, just long enough to check it.

Pickup one extra task

A garden is a living thing, so there's always something extra that needs to be done. A fountain needs rebuilding, a tree needs trimming, or the garden bench is looking a little loose. The fruit needs to be shrouded, or you want to plant a bed out, the walkways could use a sweep, or the edging should be taken care of. Don't take on too many of these, choose one. Next week, do another.

At the end of the tasks, empty your wheelbarrow into the compost and take a look around. The garden should be pretty well maintained if you stick to the plan, and hopefully, you do not feel overwhelmed.

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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, July 29, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 29, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 29, Wordle #1,136! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic. The fifth is also pretty common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Great, excellent, very.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with R. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SUPER.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and NOTCH followed by MELDS to eliminate common consonants and try to place the known letters. My fourth guess was a shot in the dark that turned out to be correct: SUPER.

Wordle 1,136 4/6

🟨⬛⬛🟨🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

---

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “a piece of clothing similar to an apron” and the answer contained three common letters, one pretty common letter, and one less common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was SMOCK.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, July 28, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for July 28, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for July 28, Wordle #1,135! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!

---

Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Three of today's letters are from our mnemonic. One is also pretty common, one is less common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A piece of clothing similar to an apron.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with K. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SMOCK.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH. There are a lot of words that include the letters O, S, and C, but only one solution fit with C as the fourth letter: SMOCK.

Wordle 1,135 3/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨⬛🟩⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

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Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “a morning beverage” and the answer contained three common letters, one fairly common letter, and one less common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was JUICE.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

• Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

• Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

• Wheeldle, which lets you play one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, which ask you to play two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles at the same time, with the same guesses. There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16.

• Waffle, which shows you several five-letter words, scrambled in a grid; you play by swapping the letters around until you solve.

• Absurdle, which changes the solution after each guess, but needs to stay consistent with its previous feedback. You have to strategically back it into a corner until there is only one possible word left; then you guess it, and win.

• Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people with a timer running. You take damage if you spend too much time between guesses; winner is the last one standing.

• Antiwordle, in which you are trying not to guess the day’s solution. You’re required to reuse any letters that you (oops) guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you are at the game.

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