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Wordle’s “EERIE” Rare Vowel-Heavy Puzzle Stumps Players

4/27/2026

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Summary

Wordle Eerie

The New York Times Wordle puzzle for April 27 2026 (game #1,773) had the answer “EERIE.”
The five-letter word contains three E’s and one I, a vowel-heavy pattern that has appeared fewer than ten times in Wordle history.
WordleBot recorded an average of 4.4 guesses, indicating higher difficulty than usual.
By the sixth guess, 89.6% of players had solved the puzzle.
The previous day’s answer on April 26 was “GLOSS.”

Summary

EERIE Stuns Wordle

EERIE appeared as a Wordle answer even though fewer than 1% of solutions repeat a letter three times.
The word derives from Middle English eri, originally meaning a fearful person before shifting to describe spooky settings.
EERIE scores only five points in Scrabble, making it useful for discarding excess vowels.
Analysts note that players’ preference for letter variety can mislead solvers and creates a trend toward unusual answers like EERIE.

History

Historical Context

Architect Alfred Mosher Butts patented Scrabble in 1938, assigning one-point values to common letters and vowels based on New York Times frequency counts. That vowel-heavy scoring set a template for later digital word puzzles, and the 2026 New York Times Wordle featuring “EERIE” demonstrates how the original design still shapes modern gameplay, and even Hasbro’s 2008 board-color update echoes its lasting influence.

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Wordle Eerie

The New York Times Wordle puzzle for April 27 2026 (game #1,773) had the answer “EERIE.”
The five-letter word contains three E’s and one I, a vowel-heavy pattern that has appeared fewer than ten times in Wordle history.
WordleBot recorded an average of 4.4 guesses, indicating higher difficulty than usual.
By the sixth guess, 89.6% of players had solved the puzzle.
The previous day’s answer on April 26 was “GLOSS.”

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