Another day means there’s another Wordle puzzle to solve and Newsweek is here to help you figure out the answer.
The puzzle game was created by New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle during a COVID lockdown to keep his crossword-loving partner entertained.
He eventually uploaded the puzzle online so it was accessible to everyone and following its debut it exploded from 90 users on November 1, 2021, to 300,000 on January 2, 2022, according to figures by Statista. Thanks to its popularity, The New York Times bought it in early 2022 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum.
In an interview with Newsweek, Joel C. Wallenberg, a senior lecturer in language change at the University of York in the U.K., said the popularity of Wordle reflects a longstanding human interest in language.
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“Language always seems to be fascinating to people,” he said. “This is perhaps because producing and understanding language is a fantastically complex process, and we are only aware of the tiniest bit of that process while it’s going on; most of what we do when we speak, we do unconsciously.
“Language games poke at how conscious (or unconscious) we are of our own linguistic processes, and maybe give us a little more insight into them than we had before. That might be one reason why humans, maybe universally, have always invented and enjoyed language games.”
The concept of Wordle is simple enough. A different puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time, with players having to try and figure out the five-letter word of the day. People get a maximum of six attempts to solve the puzzle by typing in what they think the answer could be.
If a Wordle user guesses a letter that’s in the right place, that tile will turn green. If the letter appears in the word, but not in the place the user has guessed it, it will turn yellow. If the letter does not appear in the word at all, the tile will turn gray.
The answer to today’s Wordle will be revealed at the end of this article, so make sure you scroll down with caution if you want to figure it out for yourself.
‘Wordle’ #961, Clues for Monday, February 5
Newsweek has gathered a few clues to help you solve today’s Wordle.
Hint #1: The answer is a verb.
Hint #2: Today’s answer only has one vowel.
Hint #3: There is one repeated letter in today’s puzzle.
Hint #4: An example of one synonym is “ward off.”
Hint #5: It begins with the letter “R.”
‘Wordle’ #961, Answer for Monday, February 5
The answer to today’s Wordle puzzle is “Repel.”
Merriam-Webster defines the verb repel as “to drive back,” “to drive away” or “to cause aversion in.”
How many tries did it take for you to guess today’s answer? According to Wordsrated, Wordle players typically solve the daily puzzles on their fourth try.
If you managed to figure out today’s puzzle then congratulations but if you didn’t, no need to worry, Newsweek will be back tomorrow with some more hints and tips for the latest offering of the game.
Do you have a good tip for the best starting words when playing Wordle? Share them with us by emailing: [email protected].
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.