It’s Friday and that means a few things:

It’s always a little sad to see summer go, but there’s something comforting and lovely about the first chilly evenings, sweater weather, soup and hot apple cider. Early Halloween displays at the big box stores. Everything—and I mean everything—suddenly pumpkin spice flavored.

In any case, let’s do this last summer Wordle, shall we?

The Hint: An important item in Rapunzel’s kit.

The Clue: This word has far more consonants than vowels in it.

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After each Wordle I solve I head over to the Wordle Bot homepage to see how my guessing game was.

I wasn’t actually expecting my opening guess to work. I was starting to type out techie but obviously that’s too many letters but instead of deleting I just popped a ‘Y’ in there instead. It’s also a Scrabble word, it turns out, and doesn’t mean techie, but rather someone who is easily irritated or annoyed.

This slashed the 2,300-something words remaining down to just 78, and laugh gave me two green boxes and just three words to choose from, though I could only think of brush and shush. I took a gamble and got the right answer. Huzzah!

I get 1 point for guessing in three and 0 for tying the Bot. 1 x 2 for 2XP Friday = 2 points. Double huzzah!

The word "brush" has an interesting etymology. It can be traced back to Old English, where it was originally spelled as "bros," "brus," or "bruss," and it meant a device with stiff bristles or fibers used for various purposes like cleaning, grooming, or painting. The word "brush" in this sense had a similar meaning in Old High German ("brust") and Old Norse ("burst"), which suggests a common Germanic origin.

The exact origin of the word beyond the Germanic languages is not entirely clear, but some linguists believe it may have roots in Proto-Indo-European. The word "brush" is related to other Germanic words like the Old English "brysan" (to rub) and Middle Dutch "borse" (a brush), which also have similar meanings. These words are thought to have evolved from a common ancestral word in Proto-Germanic.

Over time, the word "brush" evolved in English to refer specifically to a tool with bristles or fibers used for various purposes, such as cleaning, painting, or grooming. Today, "brush" can refer to a wide range of objects and activities associated with bristles or fibers, and it has become a versatile and commonly used word in the English language.

I’ve been playing a cutthroat game of PvP Wordle against my nemesis Wordle But. Now you should play against me! I can be your nemesis! (And your helpful Wordle guide, of course). You can also play against the Bot if you have a New York Times subscription.

You can either keep a running tally of your score if that’s your jam or just play day-to-day if you prefer.

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