Over the past month, I’ve considered altering my coffee routine. It’s not about changing the quantity, but rather the flavor of the coffee pods I’ve been using for some time now. Previously, I had a Blue Bottle Coffee subscription, grinding their monthly roasted beans and brewing with a French press. However, due to expenses, I switched to Keurig coffee pods from the local grocery store. While affordable and decent, the taste has become monotonous.
Occasionally, I’ve enjoyed good coffee while out on trips or weekends, and I’d like my home coffee to emulate that flavor instead of the pods’. This doesn’t refer to Starbucks coffee, as I find its burnt taste unappealing. A standout example is Roosevelt Coffee Roasters in Columbus, which serves a delightful oat milk latte with honey. Their smooth coffee flavor is what I prefer over the bitter taste of locally acquired options.
I recently ditched my morning routine of playing word games, such as the New York Times mini crossword and Wordle puzzles. Instead of relying on published online tips for solving Wordle, I thought it’d be interesting to craft my own tool using a unique algorithm. This algorithm considers the number of words left in the dictionary that include the revealed letters from the Wordle puzzle, while also taking into account the frequency of those letters in other words.
Surprisingly, my algorithm has performed quite well. The Wordle bot, which seemingly aims for perfection using a “bits of information” approach, often rates my method as less lucky and skilled. However, my algorithm still solves puzzles in fewer guesses on average. I’ve reached out to the New York Times staff with screenshots of these results, but they haven’t responded. They have, though, adjusted their luck and skill calculations, yet I still occasionally outperform the Wordle bot.
