Today’s ‘Wordle’ #684, Hints and Answer for Thursday, May 4, Brainteaser

Wordle was first invented during coronavirus lockdown by New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle, who simply wanted a game “for me and my partner to enjoy.”

The game was released to the public in October 2021, and soon built up a dedicated fan base across the world.

Speaking to Newsweek Erhan Aslan, an associate professor of applied linguistics at the University of Reading in the U.K., gave some tips on playing Wordle.

He said: “One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels, for example, e and a, consonants such as r and t, and sound sequences might be helpful. Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j, or x, for instance, may not be the best choice.

“As you get more feedback after a few guesses, users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking. For example, if the second letter of the target word is l (indicated by green) and the player feels that the word starts with a consonant, they will need to know that there are only a few consonant cluster possibilities (such as bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl).”

Wordle’s popularity has helped inspire a number of other online puzzles, including Worldle for geography enthusiasts and even Taylordle for Taylor Swift fans.

The answer to today’s puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll down with caution if you want to work it out for yourself.

‘Wordle’ #684, Clues for Thursday, May 4

Newsweek has put together five clues to help you solve today’s Wordle puzzle.

Hint #1: The third and fourth letters are the same.

Hint #2: The answer contains two vowels, one of which functions as a consonant in a different word structure.

Hint #3: It’s a type of tropical fish.

Hint #4: Often kept in aquariums.

Hint #5: There’s no ‘I’ in team. The same applies to Thursday’s Wordle puzzle.

‘Wordle’ #684, Answer for Thursday, May 4

The answer to today’s Wordle is “guppy.”

Wow, that was a tough one! An uncommon word, without any of the most frequently used vowels. Did you get it? If so, we’re very impressed! But please don’t worry if not. Another Wordle will be along tomorrow, and one of the best things about the game is seeing if you can improve your results over time. Newsweek will of course be back as well, with another round of hints and tips.

What Does ‘Guppy’ Mean?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “guppy” as “a small bony fish especially of Barbados, Trinidad, and Venezuela that is a live-bearer and is often kept as an aquarium fish.”

For example: “I went to the aquarium on Saturday and bought a guppy.”