Back to puzzles

The Wordle-Strands Trail Mix

AT Edition

Part 1

The Wordle Warm-Up

Find the two secret 5-letter trail words using the colored boxes from the practice guesses.Right spotWrong spotNot in word

Hint: A man-made stack of rocks guiding your way when you are hiking in the alpine zones above the treeline.

C
L
I
M
B
C
H
A
I
R

Hint: The painted rectangular mark on a tree that tells an Appalachian Trail hiker they haven't wandered off the path.

M
A
P
L
E
B
R
A
V
O
Part 2

The Spangram Grid

Take your two 5-letter hiking words and find them in the grid. Like the app Strands, every single letter will be used exactly once. Letters connect up, down, left, or right (no diagonals).

Your Checklist:

  • 1Find and draw a line through your two Wordle answers.
  • 2Find the Spangram! It's a 9-letter word for someone attempting to hike the entire 2,190-mile trail in a single season. It touches the Left edge and snakes to the Right edge.
V
T
C
A
I
I
E
L
A
R
O
L
B
Z
N
T
U
H
E
R
H
R
I
K
E
Part 3

The Final Buzzer

Once you have boxed out your two Wordle answers and your 9-letter Spangram, exactly 6 letters will be left completely untouched. Start at the letter “V” in the top-left corner, and follow the connecting path of the leftover letters.

What color did you find?

Click to reveal the Answer Key

Wordle Answers:

CAIRN (Guess 1 locks in C_I_ _. Guess 2 provides A and R, meaning A is 2nd and R is 4th. C-A-I-R-N).

BLAZE (Guess 2 locks in B_A_ _. Guess 1 tells you it ends in E, and L must fill the empty second slot. B-L-A-Z-E).

Spangram:

THRUHIKER— Starts on the Left edge at Row 4. Path: T → H → R → U → H → I → K → E → R (hits right edge).

Final Color:

Cross off CAIRN, BLAZE, and THRUHIKER. The 6 remaining letters spell VIOLET.
(Path: V → I → O → L → E → T)