Today's Wordle Answer #613 - February 22, 2023 Solution And Hints

If you found yesterday's Wordle puzzle a hard nut to crack, you might not be too pleased to learn that it took most players six tries to solve today's. We needed five guesses to crack the code, and even WordleBot didn't turn its tiles green until the fourth try. To help you do it with fewer guesses, we'll provide you with a few hints that should point you toward the winning word. If you prefer to cut to the chase or you've already used up some of your attempts, you can skip to the second section for the full reveal of the answer word.

The word of the day is the comparative form of an adjective that qualifies something as fully developed or mature, often in the context of being ready for consumption. If a fruit has not reached this stage, it might be sour or tangier than normal.

Our mystery word, like yesterday's answer, also contains a repeated letter, and it has two vowels, I and E, as its second and fourth letters respectively. If you replaced its third letter with a D, you'd have the term for someone mounting a horse or bicycle. You could also replace its first letter with P to create the word for a person whom you figuratively pay if you're bearing the consequences of wrong decisions.

If you're still unsure of the bingo word, it's "riper." It's the comparative of the adjective "ripe," which traces back to an Old English word of the same spelling and meaning — a field ready for harvesting, and fruits or animals fit for eating. According to Etymonline, it also has roots in West Germanic "*ripijaz," which is related to Old English "repan," to reap.

Since we were on the topic, we got curious about the science of how fruits ripen, and an article by the University of Maryland answered all our questions. The ripening process in many fruits is induced by a gaseous plant hormone called ethylene. An unripe fruit generally has low levels of ethylene, but it increases as the fruit matures, and triggers ripening signs such as softening, sweetening, and color changes. Ethylene continues to be produced after the fruit is harvested, which is why some fruits and veggies spoil quickly. However, cold temperatures can slow down the release of ethylene, which is why refrigeration preserves easily-perishable produce.

We hope you turn your tiles green in as few tries as possible, and if you're in the mood for more puzzles, here are other games like Wordle to help scratch that itch.