Babble: Archived Puzzle for Friday, January 30, 2026

12:03 am

MetFan

Howdy all

12:04 am

Rainiqui

Hi everyone

12:08 am

Dr_God

I may have a clue as to why the site keeps locking up. I was finally around *while* it happened. The "words" table that stores all the words entered, which has millions of records, might be corrupted and need to be repaired. I'm running an analysis of the table now, which ironically, will probably lock up the site again. ;)

12:09 am

Rainiqui

Thanks for letting us know.

12:46 am

Dr_God

Yikes. The "words" table was in bad shape, then worse shape, and now is hopefully ok...for now at least. (fingers crossed)

12:46 am

jeanne314

Bless you, Dr._God!!!

12:47 am

jeanne314

my first word went in!

12:50 am

Robespierre

Thanks, Dr. God!

12:57 am

Gillie

gr7

12:57 am

jeanne314

Oh, Gillie! Just in time!

12:58 am

jeanne314

got all those Gs

1:10 am

Gillie

I still need 5 Gs - I'd just returned when I found the gr7, and then it hung up on me again!

1:14 am

jeanne314

I can give you the list of clues, if you like?

1:15 am

Gillie

Actually, I'm down to just one G left - but thank you (hopefully there will be a list at some point)

1:16 am

jeanne314

lol!

1:32 am

licketySplitAUS

Clues are up

1:33 am

grannyrose

thanks Lickety

6:02 am

MollyL

Today is International Puzzle Day. Get out a jigsaw and go nuts.

6:11 am

Sugrraleona

wow Molly thanks for the heads up - I never knew there was a special day for us puzzlers - I just finished a 1,000 Great Gatsby puzzle. I have a few new ones to choose from - hmm

6:36 am

FrenchToast

phantom relieve

6:59 am

FrenchToast

Fireworks!

7:07 am

Sugrraleona

5 words left - taking a break

8:33 am

bichon

er 5/12, pls

8:33 am

penquis

to build...

8:34 am

penquis

or put up something....

8:34 am

bichon

ty pen

8:35 am

penquis

yw...

8:39 am

hokie carla

howdy folks

8:39 am

penquis

carla!

8:39 am

hokie carla

pen!

8:42 am

hokie carla

okay, not my favorite so far

8:42 am

penquis

nope...

8:44 am

hokie carla

did it ever stop snowing up there?

8:45 am

penquis

yes...got close to 18 inches over the course of a day and a half....

8:45 am

hokie carla

wow

8:46 am

penquis

i think we will dodge the Sunday storm coming up the eastern US....

8:47 am

hokie carla

yeah, right now wer are in the 2-5" snow range. better than the ice crap.

8:47 am

penquis

for sure...my great nephew in Nashville has been without power for 5 days...

8:47 am

crosshair

Good morning, Babblers. :)

8:47 am

penquis

hi crossy...

8:50 am

hokie carla

crossy!

8:50 am

crosshair

:)

8:50 am

hokie carla

I made my chicken and dumplings the other night.

8:50 am

crosshair

Yum!

8:50 am

hokie carla

perfect for this weather, though there's never a bad time for it

8:51 am

crosshair

My slow cooker stays on the counter from end of October until ice-out. :)

8:54 am

crosshair

I have my famous pulled pork in progress as we speak. :)

8:59 am

origami

I love chicken and dumplings (and my slow cooker).

9:00 am

penquis

well i am down to 3 but i have to go....bbl to finish....bye all...

9:00 am

penquis

ooh...found another word... lol...

9:01 am

crosshair

My dad used to make us chicken and dumplings back in the day. The meal still takes me back.

9:03 am

hokie carla

my mom always used a pressure cooker for the chicken and then just added the dumplings to that (no pressure) after. I just used a dutch oven.

9:03 am

hokie carla

my grandmother and my mom used to make them. but my grandmother's would occasionally have bones in it.

9:04 am

origami

My grandma's was a whole cut-up chicken, bones and all.

9:04 am

hokie carla

I don't think my dad ever made any meals ever for us

9:04 am

crosshair

I don't do pressure cookers. When I was young a cooker exploded in our kitchen.

9:05 am

hokie carla

I had a stovetop one for a while but have had an InstantPot for years now. I actually use that for my slow cooker too.

9:06 am

crosshair

I do most of the cooking for the house--always have.

9:06 am

origami

I have an instapot gathering dust after I got a serious burn from it (user error).

9:07 am

phaeton

did you see Dr.G's message at 12am?

9:07 am

hokie carla

mr. homie used to do more but it's like he has no creativity or imagination now. "there's nothing to eat here" then I proceed to make a full meal with what there is here.

9:07 am

hokie carla

I didn't phae, will go look, thanks.

9:07 am

crosshair

Have yet to try an instapot, but we do have our very first air fryer now.

9:08 am

hokie carla

interesting

9:08 am

hokie carla

(the dr god msg, not the air fryer)

9:08 am

phaeton

Glad he finally found the problem

9:08 am

crosshair

Lol

9:08 am

hokie carla

I mean, I guess it's interesting you have an air fryer

9:09 am

crosshair

Yes, props to Dr. G taking care of us. :)

9:10 am

crosshair

Most devs would have sent a small legacy game like this to the trash heap long ago.

9:11 am

hokie carla

yep

9:14 am

crosshair

I mentioned to Dr.G that he should add a "buy me a coffee" link be cause most of us here got our moneys worth from our lufetimevsubscription many years ago, and servers don't run on fresh air and sunshine. :)

9:14 am

hokie carla

we had the air fryer lid for the instapot but then I got a toaster oven with air fryer. Our new regular oven has air fryer setting.

9:14 am

hokie carla

true

9:14 am

crosshair

Good grief. Just translate--if you can. :/

9:19 am

hokie carla

I figured it out ;)

9:19 am

MollyL

This is not a money maker for Dr. God. He has had offers to buy it and turned them down

9:20 am

markbowers7

phantom: eg-ist

9:21 am

hokie carla

how are there 7 v's?

9:37 am

hurshy

hi

9:37 am

hurshy

since you said that i started with V and got 6 of them anyway, 4 normal and two other fours

9:39 am

hurshy

finding the L just as difficult

9:39 am

MollyL

There is a dumb vr

9:39 am

hurshy

thanks molly

9:40 am

hurshy

phantom: heave

9:41 am

hurshy

one more L for top row grey

9:43 am

hurshy

oh drat that i before e EXCEPT AFTER C

9:44 am

bichon

re 6/18, pls

9:46 am

hurshy

got up again

9:46 am

MollyL

or when sounding like A, as in neighbor or weigh

9:47 am

hurshy

phantom: roger

9:48 am

hokie carla

rehi, got distracted trying to read the forecast

9:48 am

hokie carla

and yes, I only found 5 L's

9:48 am

hokie carla

but also need 3 H and 1 A on top row

9:49 am

hurshy

2nd row grey!

9:49 am

hokie carla

2 H now

9:49 am

trentsnana

ees

9:51 am

hurshy

my tuxie fritz is wandering about seeking what he may devour

9:52 am

hokie carla

rewear/rewore still not words

9:52 am

hurshy

yeah cause it doesn't change lol

9:52 am

hurshy

except when we got doc to add stent

9:52 am

hokie carla

I know, but doesn't keep me from typing them in

9:53 am

hurshy

yeah i mean it is a thing when it comes to celebrities

9:53 am

hokie carla

well, they don't do that, so that's a case for it not being a word

9:54 am

hurshy

but when they DO it's a big deal and that is when the word gets used!

9:54 am

hurshy

i know i saw things about Kate Middleton after marrying Will about oh my gosh she rewore that outfit

9:55 am

hokie carla

couldn't figure out why dream we6 was stuck in my head

9:57 am

hokie carla

ooh, found the 7

9:57 am

hurshy

me too!

9:58 am

hokie carla

now just need 1 O for 4th row gray

9:59 am

hurshy

2 ob4, 1 os5

9:59 am

hurshy

i need another G tho

9:59 am

hurshy

oh got it!

10:00 am

hokie carla

my last was great green things of greasy grimy gopher guts

10:00 am

hokie carla

4th row gray!

10:01 am

hokie carla

phantom soiree

10:01 am

hurshy

phantom: sorrow

10:03 am

hokie carla

and borrow

10:03 am

Aloyisius

Is the so6.27 a weirdo? Can't monkey it..

10:03 am

hurshy

haven't got it, will look

10:04 am

Aloyisius

ty, I'll keep looking too..

10:05 am

hurshy

aha

10:05 am

hurshy

tis like what_____ or... oh i know, john 3:16, who_____ believeth in him shall not perish but have eternal life

10:06 am

Aloyisius

ty so much, hurshy! great clue!

10:06 am

hurshy

:)

10:06 am

hurshy

name that proper noun! capital of Idaho

10:06 am

Aloyisius

that was fw.. any clues needed?

10:06 am

Aloyisius

Boise

10:07 am

hokie carla

Aloy! congrats

10:07 am

hurshy

ding ding ding!!!

10:07 am

hokie carla

thanks for the s6

10:07 am

Aloyisius

ty.. was really stuck on that last one

10:07 am

hurshy

well i need some other S too

10:07 am

hurshy

but idk what

10:07 am

hokie carla

still have 4 S left

10:08 am

hurshy

and one each L W B

10:08 am

hurshy

and three R

10:08 am

hokie carla

oh, I still have 26 total

10:08 am

Aloyisius

do you have si5.16, to put through a fine net?

10:08 am

hokie carla

10-10-6

10:08 am

hurshy

yes, was proud of finding that one :D

10:09 am

hokie carla

did not, thanks

10:09 am

hokie carla

I gotta make some breakfast. TTFN

10:09 am

Aloyisius

yvw.. time to scoot.. it is 9 below here! Happy Babbling!

10:09 am

hurshy

yikes

10:11 am

hurshy

found 2 Rs

10:12 am

hurshy

tho they were not a pair

10:12 am

hurshy

2-2-1

10:15 am

hurshy

found my B!

10:16 am

hokie carla

of course I'm still here - what was it? I need 1 B

10:16 am

hurshy

it was one of three bi4/6

10:17 am

hokie carla

that was mine, but the most regular of the 3

10:17 am

hurshy

found my S!

10:18 am

hokie carla

still need 2

10:18 am

hurshy

mine was so5/14

10:18 am

hokie carla

hmm, do not have

10:18 am

hurshy

also there are two so5/18

10:19 am

hokie carla

I do have both those

10:19 am

hurshy

and two ways to spell a certain plant

10:20 am

hokie carla

finally got the 5

10:21 am

hokie carla

are you talking about the mushroom? or a cactus?

10:21 am

hokie carla

is that a cactus or something else?

10:21 am

hurshy

neither

10:22 am

hurshy

it's a leafy green with powerful antioxidants

10:22 am

hokie carla

s4?

10:22 am

hurshy

no

10:22 am

hurshy

so5 and so6 are the two spellings

10:22 am

hokie carla

okay, I have those. thought so5 was a mushroom and so6 was a horse color

10:24 am

hurshy

i believe so6 is also a horse color, yes

10:24 am

hurshy

idk about the mushroom, you might be thinking of the one that starts with M

10:24 am

hokie carla

of course M-W says so5 is a male fallow deer

10:24 am

hokie carla

yes, you are correct

10:25 am

hurshy

ah well i was just assuming it was an alt sp but you know how assuming goes

10:25 am

MollyL

Never heard of the leafy green

10:25 am

hokie carla

sorry, male fallow deer in the 3rd year. really

10:25 am

hokie carla

+1 on never hearing that def

10:26 am

hokie carla

found an R!

10:27 am

hokie carla

6-6-4 need to look for 4s

10:29 am

hurshy

omg i cannot believe they actually arrested don lemon

10:30 am

hurshy

they have a weird enjoyment of bringing cases that will shortly be dismissed

10:42 am

MollyL

The Feds?

10:47 am

KnightTime

i cannot believe it took that long

11:04 am

hokie carla

well, just found my S - a 4 babblet. but oddly only found 2 4s. still 4-6-2 left.

11:04 am

BzznBea

arre you still missing an s

11:05 am

hokie carla

no, S gray

11:05 am

hokie carla

bottom 2 rows gray

11:05 am

hokie carla

L H A E VV RRR R R W left

11:06 am

hokie carla

found my A!

11:07 am

hokie carla

and a right side R

11:08 am

hokie carla

and the H

11:09 am

hokie carla

4-4-1

11:09 am

hokie carla

odd that I am finding 6s faster than 4s and 5s

11:10 am

hokie carla

name that reading rainbow host!

11:18 am

BzznBea

levar

11:34 am

moolingwa

morning

11:35 am

hokie carla

moooo

11:35 am

hokie carla

and ding ding ding, bea!

11:35 am

moolingwa

hey hoke :)

11:36 am

hokie carla

was just catching up on the forecast. Bea, I think y'all might not get as slammed as Charlotte.

11:36 am

hokie carla

how've you been, moo?

11:37 am

moolingwa

fine hoke, filling my days, you know. How about you?

11:37 am

hokie carla

fine, just preparing for snow this week after the mostly ice/snow last week. getting over covid hopefully.

11:38 am

moolingwa

oh, how much are they predicting (and sorry about the COVID thing)

11:38 am

hokie carla

I think we're in the 2-6" zone

11:38 am

moolingwa

lot for you guys

11:38 am

hokie carla

they are saying it's a boom/bust storm so hard to predict totals

11:39 am

hokie carla

what kind of bird do you have there? is that a kiwi?

11:39 am

moolingwa

kakapo

11:39 am

hokie carla

never heard of it

11:39 am

moolingwa

a flightless parrot, the heaviest parrot in the world

11:40 am

hokie carla

it does look a little chonky

11:40 am

moolingwa

I would have been impressed if you had :)

11:40 am

hokie carla

ha

11:42 am

hokie carla

I see it is endemic to NZ

11:42 am

moolingwa

yep

11:43 am

hokie carla

I am pretty much stuck here with 4-4-1

11:43 am

moolingwa

2OFOET

11:44 am

moolingwa

9-7-3

11:44 am

hokie carla

out of ideas

11:44 am

moolingwa

found a couple of 4s

11:45 am

hokie carla

hold on, found my L!

11:45 am

moolingwa

lovely!

11:45 am

hokie carla

now E VV RR R R W

11:46 am

moolingwa

found a 5 and a 6

11:47 am

hokie carla

found my W!

11:47 am

hokie carla

both were 5s

11:47 am

hokie carla

4-2-1 very odd indeed

11:47 am

moolingwa

4-6-2

11:48 am

moolingwa

found 2 5s

11:48 am

hokie carla

super

11:50 am

hokie carla

well, my E was a very regular 4 that I thought I had all day

11:50 am

moolingwa

L H E V R R W G SS

11:50 am

hokie carla

glad I typed it again

11:50 am

moolingwa

found my E

11:50 am

hokie carla

VV RR R R 3-2-1

11:51 am

moolingwa

found my W

11:51 am

hokie carla

wow

11:51 am

moolingwa

and my G

11:52 am

moolingwa

2-3-2

11:52 am

hokie carla

great

11:54 am

moolingwa

found an S

11:54 am

hokie carla

oh, just remembered I saw a V in the chat but I can't find it

11:54 am

moolingwa

probably the 4

11:55 am

hokie carla

oh, just got it

11:55 am

moolingwa

was it the 4?

11:55 am

hokie carla

and statistcally it would be more likely to be a 4. but yes, it was.

11:55 am

moolingwa

found my last v, a different 4 :)

11:55 am

hokie carla

2-2-1

11:55 am

moolingwa

1-2-2

11:56 am

moolingwa

L H R R S

11:56 am

moolingwa

found my last H (and 4)

11:56 am

hokie carla

V RR R R

11:56 am

hokie carla

don't like the Rs today

11:56 am

moolingwa

right

11:58 am

hokie carla

not reorg

11:58 am

moolingwa

heh, I just tried that too

11:58 am

hokie carla

oh, found a 4 from that R

11:59 am

hokie carla

1-2-1

11:59 am

moolingwa

0-2-2

12:00 pm

hokie carla

so how many v4 do you have? I have 4.

12:00 pm

moolingwa

found my left r

12:00 pm

hokie carla

rad

12:00 pm

moolingwa

4 v4

12:00 pm

hokie carla

what was it?

12:00 pm

moolingwa

sorry 5

12:00 pm

moolingwa

ri6

12:01 pm

hokie carla

appears to be my missing left R then

12:01 pm

hokie carla

and my last 6

12:01 pm

hokie carla

got it, thanks

12:02 pm

hokie carla

so if I need a v4, that means my last 2 r are 5s

12:02 pm

moolingwa

right

12:03 pm

hokie carla

finally got the V

12:03 pm

BzznBea

I know that v

12:03 pm

moolingwa

victory!

12:03 pm

cybernan

good morning - did anyone ever get signed on last night? I gave up after 20 minutes

12:03 pm

hokie carla

I was asleep

12:04 pm

hokie carla

but he put a message in the chat you might want to read

12:05 pm

hokie carla

found my right R!

12:06 pm

hokie carla

now just one R5 from 2nd column

12:06 pm

hokie carla

feels like it has to be RO

12:06 pm

moolingwa

that would be a fair guess

12:07 pm

hokie carla

and it's not roger, no matter how many times I see that

12:07 pm

moolingwa

no, it's not roger, roger is just not acceptable today

12:07 pm

moolingwa

because he's not here

12:07 pm

hokie carla

roger, roger

12:08 pm

moolingwa

you have clearance clarence

12:08 pm

hokie carla

over, under

12:08 pm

moolingwa

what's our vector victor

12:09 pm

hokie carla

hmm, maybe there is an RW?

12:10 pm

moolingwa

no

12:10 pm

moolingwa

I'd go with your first instinct :)

12:11 pm

hokie carla

but I think I've tried every RO5 combo there is

12:11 pm

moolingwa

you'll likely groan then when you find it

12:11 pm

hokie carla

possible

12:11 pm

moolingwa

or maybe you don't care that much :)

12:12 pm

hokie carla

oh, moo. are you playing the NYT Crossplay? I am CJHokie but I would probably only last one game against you.

12:12 pm

moolingwa

Crossplay?

12:12 pm

hokie carla

I played one against a random and won then she/he has destroyed me every game since.

12:12 pm

hokie carla

It's their new Scrabble/Words with Friends

12:12 pm

moolingwa

Looking at it now

12:13 pm

hokie carla

only beating my oldest kid regularly ;)

12:14 pm

hokie carla

some random (unless it was someone here that hasn't identified themselves) started a game with me last night and I am beating them for now. I did tell pen the other day I was still undefeated and that's when that first rando started killing me.

12:14 pm

moolingwa

ah, just downloaded it

12:15 pm

moolingwa

I'm moolingwa

12:15 pm

hokie carla

been a while since I played lexolous or wwf but it looks more similar to that board-wise

12:15 pm

moolingwa

ooh, lexolous, that takes me back

12:15 pm

moolingwa

I was heavy into scrabble until scopely turned it into a clownshow

12:16 pm

hokie carla

yeah, IIRC FB did scrabble, then lexolous, then WWF?

12:16 pm

moolingwa

Well there was scrabble that evolved into lexolous I believe because it got copyright claimed

12:16 pm

moolingwa

WWF was a different company, Zynga I think

12:17 pm

hokie carla

okay, I have the ro5 that is a boat person. put me out of my misery so I can make all my crossplay moves.

12:17 pm

moolingwa

I played WWF a bit, but the scoring system was so unbalanced

12:17 pm

moolingwa

very similar to that one hoke

12:18 pm

hokie carla

agreed, I played WWF for a while but didn't like the scoring. I'm afraid this one is closer to that. There doesn't seem to be a 50+ for using all 7. not sure what it is.

12:18 pm

moolingwa

yeah, the double triples were too easy to get in WWF

12:18 pm

hokie carla

yeah

12:18 pm

moolingwa

or triple triple I guess

12:18 pm

hokie carla

okay, finally got this word

12:18 pm

moolingwa

too easy to blow out a game

12:19 pm

hokie carla

that's what happened to me last night. person was getting like 50+ points on every turn and I had all 1pt tiles for a long time. I think they won by 80 pts.

12:20 pm

moolingwa

not sure how I'd invite you to a game

12:21 pm

hokie carla

oh, I guess you can't add by username

12:21 pm

moolingwa

yeah looks like it's just email, or facebook

12:21 pm

moolingwa

or QR code

12:21 pm

moolingwa

or through a messenger

12:22 pm

hokie carla

I have my regular email on that NYT account, not the one in my profile here

12:22 pm

moolingwa

yeah me too

12:23 pm

hokie carla

well, you can do "send a link" and send to my email in the profile

12:25 pm

moolingwa

okay, doing that

12:28 pm

hokie carla

oh, one thing I don't know if you noticed in the rules - when the tiles run out each person has one turn left and no points deducted for remaining tiles on your rack. I have kinda liked that so far.

12:28 pm

moolingwa

Sorry, had to setup my email account on my phone

12:31 pm

hokie carla

LOL, I just went through the same thing on mine

12:31 pm

hokie carla

I thought I would do it on my laptop but that didn't lead to an obvious game invite

12:31 pm

hokie carla

but now we're in! you can commence the butt kicking.

12:32 pm

hokie carla

or I guess I go first ;)

12:33 pm

moolingwa

I guess I started one too

12:34 pm

hokie carla

yeah, just got the notice. that's fine.

12:34 pm

moolingwa

Best time to play me though, still learning how it works :)

12:34 pm

hokie carla

oh no, just read Catherine O'Hara died.

12:34 pm

moolingwa

and there's still an element of luck in these games..and looks like they are using a hamstrung dictionary :)

12:34 pm

moolingwa

yeah, saw that...though I didn't really know her

12:35 pm

moolingwa

I mean I recognize her picture, but wasn't invested in any way

12:36 pm

hokie carla

oh, I loved her in Schitt's Creek and most everything she is in.

12:36 pm

moolingwa

oh yeah, never watch that

12:36 pm

moolingwa

found my last r

12:36 pm

hokie carla

yes, the dictionary is interesting.

12:36 pm

moolingwa

siborg - a sibling, who is also part machine

12:37 pm

hokie carla

lol

12:38 pm

moolingwa

sicere - to be sincere in a letter, but with misspellings or misused words

12:39 pm

moolingwa

found my last l, so s6 for the win

12:39 pm

hokie carla

still trying to make a first move. looks like the center square is not a double word.

12:39 pm

moolingwa

nope

12:39 pm

moolingwa

double words are 5 letter out on each axis

12:42 pm

cybernan

mool are you talking about this game or something else?

12:43 pm

hokie carla

we are talking about NYT new scrabble-like game

12:43 pm

cybernan

stats for the u please?

12:44 pm

hokie carla

speaking of NYT games, did I mention/did you all see they are started to add back previously used wordle words this Monday?

12:44 pm

BzznBea

uv4

12:44 pm

hokie carla

u4/8

12:44 pm

cybernan

ty bea and carla

12:44 pm

moolingwa

oh hadn't noticed. I fluked it out in 2 yesterday

12:45 pm

moolingwa

3 today

12:45 pm

hokie carla

I had one yellow after 3 guesses today and managed to get it in 4. of course there were no letters left to try.

12:46 pm

moolingwa

1 yellow on first, then 2 yellow and a green on the 2nd

12:46 pm

moolingwa

nut the green was the 4th letter

12:46 pm

moolingwa

nut=but

12:56 pm

hokie carla

well, winston calls and I need to get off the couch. later, people.

12:56 pm

moolingwa

enjoy :)

2:02 pm

sajarn

phantom: reverie

2:24 pm

Book Doctor Gwen

staying indoors (hi all)

2:34 pm

dcseain

i can hear reverie and taps from Arlington National Cemetery when i have the east windows open. Which i vehermently do not due to nights in single digits and days barely of 20.

3:06 pm

Gillie

I don't remember seeing vr4 before (although I probably have)

3:07 pm

Atalante

vr!!

3:07 pm

Gillie

it's Dutch, I guess

3:08 pm

Gillie

or possibly a version of an Afrikaner word (same diff)

3:09 pm

Atalante

huh. sounds like a cat noise

3:11 pm

Gillie

Actually, I'm now pretty much certain it's been in the grid at least once before

3:12 pm

Gillie

Anyway - fw! Good luck everybody

3:18 pm

Book Doctor Gwen

35 to go, 1 tile short of hoet, tra

4:38 pm

MollyL

Single digits? We are going below zero at night. It's ridiculous.

9:47 pm

72 Temple Owl

re6/18 pls?

9:58 pm

72 Temple Owl

gn

View Word List Friday, January 30, 2026

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