Kamala Harris reveals her Wordle strategy and why she’s unable to share her score
Vice President Kamala Harris has revealed the Wordle strategy she uses that has won her a 48-day streak, before noting that the only problem is her phone prevents her from sharing her results with the world.
The daily five-letter word game has become a worldwide sensation since the start of 2022, and has even brought out Ms Harris’s competitive side.
“Wordle, for me, is like a brain cleanser,” she said in an interview withThe Ringer published on Monday. “So it’s in the middle of very long days, back-to-back meetings on a lot of intense issues. If I have a break, let’s say that people are running late or my little 25 minutes for lunch, sometimes while I’m eating I’ll figure out Wordle.”
Ms Harris also shared the go-to word she uses when starting each Wordle game: notes. Explaining the logic behind her strategy, the vice president said: “I think that you have to have a healthy mix of consonants and vowels, and a lot of words come with an S.”
Harris’s strategy has proven to be useful in winning her a 48-day streak, although she noted that when she’s travelling, Wordle tends to get pushed aside.
“My normal is four,” the vice president said regarding how many guesses it takes her to solve a typical puzzle. “That’s my average.”
The vice president explained that her nighttime ritual includes other brain teasers as well, such as the mini New York Times crossword, sudoku, and the New York Times Spelling Bee, for which she never uses hints.
Being the vice president of the United States does have its downsides, however, like not being able to share your Wordle score through text or social media due to the use of a government phone. Ms Harris explained that she can only access the free version of the New York Times Spelling Bee, because her phone doesn’t let her subscribe to better versions of word games.
“It’s really annoying, but it may actually be for the best because I’d probably otherwise spend too much time at night not sleeping,” she said.
The Wordle craze has also hit other members of the White House, including Ms Harris’s staff and her husband, Doug Emhoff. Unlike Ms Harris, who said she prefers the mini New York Times crossword, the second gentleman chooses to tackle the bigger crossword multiple times a week. As for the vice president’s team, they can get “very competitive” playing Wordle but still have “fun with each other.”
The daily word game, which gives users six attempts at guessing a five-letter word, is played by more than 300,000 people daily, according to The New York Times. It was originally created by software engineer Josh Wardle, and was acquired by the New York Times for an undisclosed seven-figure sum last January.
“I grew up in a family where the thing that we do together after a family gathering is we play games. Board games, card games,” Ms Harris said. “My grandfather taught me how to play poker when I was a kid, five-card stud. So it’s kind of just part of how I grew up.”
