A.Word.A.Day --stela

A.Word.A.Day

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Feb 24, 2025

This week’s theme
Our own Wordle-style game

This week’s words

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A Mayan stela depicting the Calakmul king Yuknoom Took’ K’awiil, 731 CE

Photo: Photo: Thelmadatter / Wikimedia

Previous week’s theme
Words with multiple personas

A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

Have you tried the game Mr. Bugs’ Wordy Nugz?

Believe it or not, that was the original name given by its creator, Josh Wardle, before the world came to know it as Wordle. The game itself is a delight, but for me, its backstory is just as captivating.

It was a true labor of love -- in more ways than one. During the Covid lockdown, Wardle crafted it as a special gift for his partner. As he put it, “I made the game for an audience of one.” Of course, the audience quickly grew from one... to millions. Talk about word spreading fast!

It’s a testament to Wordle’s popularity that it has inspired hundreds of variants -- covering everything from music and math to chemistry, geography, and even vexillology (the study of flags).

I thought it would be fun this week to feature words in A.Word.A.Day as if we were playing a game ourselves. Each day, we’ll take a guess and see if we can work our way toward our own special Wordle word on Fri.

Since this is A.Word.A.Day, you can bet our guesses -- and the final answer -- won’t be everyday words like WATER or DREAM (the actual Wordle list has only 2,309 words, and they're very common words).

Do you play Wordle? What’s your go-to opening word? Share your stories, tips, tricks, and strategies below or email us at words@wordsmith.org. As always, include your location (city, state).

And if you want to take a crack at solving the Wordle word for this week, give it a go here.

stela

PRONUNCIATION:

(STEE-luh)

MEANING:

noun: An upright stone or pillar inscribed or sculpted, often serving as a monument. Also known as a stele.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek stele (pillar). Ultimately from the Indo-European root stel- (to put or stand), which is also the source of stallion, stilt, install, gestalt, stout, and pedestal, and epistolary. Earliest documented use: 1776.

USAGE:

“An Egyptian stela dating from more than four and a half thousand years ago, now in the collection of the Louvre, depicts the Princess Nefertiabet dressed in what looks like elegant contemporary evening wear.”
Rebecca Mead; Saving the Cat’s Pajamas; The New Yorker; Mar 28, 2022.

See more usage examples of stela in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

We're here to put a dent in the universe. -Steve Jobs, entrepreneur and inventor (24 Feb 1955-2011)

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