Wordle 1629 Hint

Hint: Tiny Tim tiptoes among its plural. 

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ads below.

New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: T

NFL Week 14 Picks

Week 14 of the NFL season starts tomorrow night with the Cowboys vs. the Lions. My picks:

• Detroit Lions beat Dallas Cowboys
• Seattle Seahawks beat Atlanta Falcons
• Cleveland Browns beat Tennessee Titans
• Washington Commanders beat Minnesota Vikings
• Miami Dolphins beat New York Jets
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat New Orleans Saints
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Indianapolis Colts*
• Baltimore Ravens beat Pittsburgh Steelers
• Buffalo Bills beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Denver Broncos beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Chicago Bears beat Green Bay Packers*
• Los Angeles Rams beat Arizona Cardinals
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Houston Texans
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Philadelphia Eagles

"Upset" picks --  predicted outcomes that go against the majority picks among those playing ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em game as of the time I make my picks -- are marked with asterisks. If I change any picks, I will do so before the games in question kick off and clearly mark changes as changes in updates to this post.

I don't follow "sports analysis" very closely, but I came across this "power rankings" column yesterday. It's ... interesting. I disagree with the inclusion of the Kansas City Chiefs as "strong challengers" to go all the way to the Super Bowl.  I suspect they'll make the Wild Card playoff round by the skin of their teeth, but I'll be very surprised if they make it to the AFC Championship Game, let alone the Super Bowl.

At this point, I expect the AFC Championship to come down to either the Broncos or the Jaguars against the Patriots, and the NFC to come down to either the Cowboys or the Bears against the Rams. But things could change.

Things Just Keep Moving Faster ...

Amazon is running a pilot program on 30-minute delivery. It seems to be focused on groceries, not everything Amazon sells, but still, wow.

Generally, the only time I worry too much about delivery speeds is with delivery of restaurant food, which isn't something I do much of. If we want take-out pizza, we usually just order it at times when a family member is out and about, is coming home soon, and can pick it up. I've used Uber Eats two or three times over the course of several years, when the rest of the family was traveling and I thought I deserved a treat (e.g. a ribeye from Outback or prime rib from Miller's Ale House). I guess it's nice, but it's not something I'd get into habitual use of.

When we order groceries for delivery, we accept the "standard" no-additional-fee delivery time rather than paying for rush. That used to be InstaCart, but we changed to Walmart+ because it's cheaper overall and comes with better bonus features (e.g. free Paramount Plus streaming service and gasoline discounts). That's probably 80% of our groceries (Tamara keeps an eye on Publix's "BOGO" sales and we prefer a couple of Aldi items to the Walmart equivalents), and since Tamara does most of the grocery shopping it means she's not lugging heavy stuff around the store and to the car -- and also isn't making "impulse purchases," which probably saves us more than the annual membership fee.

As for Amazon, I've got no problems with their delivery options. As a Prime member, I get most stuff within a couple of days, and sometimes even on the same day (certain combinations of items that total $25 or more; it's not something I go looking for, but occasionally it works out that way).

I don't have anything against 30-minute delivery in principle, but I just can't imagine most people feeling like they really need it on anything other than a hot pizza.

NFL Week 13 Results

Ten right, six wrong for the week -- I've done better, I've done worse.  I'm in the 77.4th percentile among players in ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em Game. Correct picks in green, incorrect picks in red:

• Detroit Lions beat Green Bay Packers
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Dallas Cowboys
• Baltimore Ravens beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Chicago Bears beat Philadelphia Eagles*
• San Francisco 49ers beat Cleveland Browns
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Tennessee Titans
• Indianapolis Colts beat Houston Texans
• Miami Dolphins beat New Orleans Saints
• Atlanta Falcons beat New York Jets
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angeles Rams beat Carolina Panthers
• Seattle Seahawks beat Minnesota Vikings
• Buffalo Bills beat Pittsburgh Steelers
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Denver Broncos beat Washington Commanders
• New England Patriots beat New York Giants

Wordle 1628 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle makes waste.

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ads below.

New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: H

Wordle 1627 Hint

Hint: Desert plant, plural.

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ads below.

New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: C

Wordle 1626 Hint

Hint: To extract today's Wordle from this hint, you may have to percolate on it a little.

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ads below.

New to Wordle? You can play it at the New York Times, and here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: L

Thanks For Asking! -- 12/01/25

Ask me anything (in comments). I'll answer (in, or linked from, comments).

Pseudonymous trolls only get to participate if they provide interesting content.