The Hardest Canuckle Answers
Canuckle started on February 10, 2022. By checking the average scores shared on Twitter, Canuckle’s co-creator, Mark Rogers, was able to determine which puzzles gave people the most trouble. He used this method to track the hardest words for the first seven weeks of the game.
Beginning in April, Mark started using Google Analytics to obtain a more complete record of everyone’s performance. For all of those words, we are able to share the average number of guesses it took all Canuckle players to solve that day’s puzzle.
The 12 hardest Canuckle words to date are:
Canuckle #12 - Aboot
Canuckle #13 - Banff
Canuckle #25 - Spuds
Canuckle #40 - Scoff
Canuckle #58 - Foxes: 5.80 guesses
Canuckle #70 - Klick: 5.56 guesses
Canuckle #73 - Poppy: 5.27 guesses
Canuckle #54 - River: 5.08 guesses
Canuckle #68 - Brier: 4.89 guesses
Canuckle #79 - Elder: 4.89 guesses
Canuckle #77 - Rugby: 4.59 guesses
Canuckle #57 - Curds: 4.52 guesses
To get day-by-day reports of Canuckle performance statistics, be sure to follow @CanuckleGame on Twitter.
Assigning the Difficulty Scores
The rankings for these hardest Canuckle words came straight from Mark Rogers and the Canuckle Twitter account. This is why we opted to list the average difficulty scores rather than using a relative score system like the one we made for the hardest Wordle words.
We separated everything into two Canuckle word list categories to mark the change in the data-collection process. The first category represents the words measured using only Twitter, and the second category includes data from Google Analytics.
Why Are These Canuckle Words So Hard?
Much like with Wordle answers, there are a number of key factors that contribute to a word’s difficulty in Canuckle. Specifically, there are three main factors here: Canuckle’s word list criteria, certain spelling patterns, and the “Canadian-isms.” You may have used our Wordle solver to help with some of these along the way.
All of the “fun facts” listed below come from the Canuckle Twitter account.
Hard Canuckle Answers Not in Wordle
Wordle has a specific rule regarding using plural words as answers: It doesn’t. Canuckle has no such rule for its five-letter words. As you can imagine, playing Wordle and then playing Canuckle can cause problems for anyone who doesn’t remember the different rules for each word game. Not having daily Wordle hints surely made things harder too.
Spuds (#25): Prince Edward Island produces more potatoes for Canada than any other province, harvesting and shipping over 2.5 billion lbs. of spuds per year to destinations around the country and beyond.
Foxes (#58): Four species of foxes live in Canada: arctic, swift, grey, and red being the most common & most widely distributed and populous carnivore in the world. The grey fox is one of only 2 members of the dog family that can climb trees.
Curds (#57): In Canada, cheese curds + fries + gravy = poutine, which some consider the country's national dish. When it comes to poutine, it's really all about the cheese curds. It's the quintessential Canadian snack. We also like the term "Canadian Salad"!
Traditionally Troublesome Words
These are words that drive us all nuts no matter what word game we’re playing. They left players scratching their heads, trying to find words with letters they've already lit up red or yellow. They can have duplicate letters or include less common letters like Z or V. If you’re someone who doesn’t have a mastery of five-letter words or prefers playing Canuckle on hard mode, these words represent some of your greatest hurdles.
Brier (#68): The Brier is the annual Canadian men’s curling championship that has been held since 1927. Team Gushue won the 2022 Brier, their fourth championship in six years.
Elder (#79): Elders are respected individuals who play key roles in Indigenous communities. They are important knowledge keepers, and they play an important role in fostering intergenerational relationships and passing on cultural and traditional teachings.
Klick (#70): Klick is a military term used to denote a distance of one kilometre. It is commonly used in Canada when referring to distance or speed, i.e., "Guelph is about 475 klicks from Ottawa" or "I was doing about 120 klicks." One of the trickiest words yet!
Poppy (#73): From the last Friday in October to Remembrance Day, millions of Canadians wear a poppy as a visual pledge to never forget those who sacrificed for our freedom.
River (#54): We are a country of rivers. There are more than 8,500 named rivers in Canada. Annually, Canada’s rivers discharge 7% of the world’s renewable water supply at a flow rate per second more than four times that of Niagara Falls.
Rugby (#77): Buoyed by its inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games, rugby is one of the fastest-growing team sports in Canada, particularly in youth and women.
Canadian-isms in the Canuckle Game
Canadians have a reputation for being nice and polite. But, if you aren’t from Canada, you probably don’t believe there’s anything nice about these words. They are words that don’t look real to people unfamiliar with their significance. Plus, proper nouns aren’t allowed in Wordle, so a lot of players struggled with “Banff” on February 22.
Aboot (#12): This word is a humorous (though incorrect) take on the Canadian accent saying the word "about". This spelling has been used to represent a variety of regional pronunciations in Canada.
Banff (#13): The town of Banff is located in Banff National Park and has over 1,600 km of hiking trails. Banff was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Banff has an elevation of 1,383 metres making it the highest town in Canada!
Scoff (#40): Scoff is Newfoundland slang for a big feed, typically Jiggs dinner but could be any large, satisfying meal. Good times are had by all! "Yes b'y, let's fire up a scoff!”
Wordle-Like Games That Offer a Challenge
Many gamers fell to these hardest Canuckle words, but many other players also rose to the occasion. For the dedicated and hardcore word game fans out there, harder usually equals better. Are you that type of player? Are you always looking for a chance to take on harder games and puzzles? If so, you’ll want to see all of the Wordle-inspired games that do their best to up the difficulty levels. You’ll be sure to find at least a few that offer the challenge you crave.
Zac Pricener has been a content creator for the past eight years. He’s a bit of an all-around nerd, and he has a bad habit of working movie and TV show references into conversations whenever possible.
