Christine Mielke has been an avid fan of word games and puzzles for over two decades. She loves to unscramble words, challenge herself to crossword puzzles and try out the latest word games. As a published author and database architect, it was natural for her to take her love for all things word games to the next level!

Cut straight through today’s puzzle with a quick click-through to the answer to today’s Wordle answer if you want to—some days the simplest solution is the best one. Or use our tips to polish your own ideas until they shine, and make use of the January 16 (1307) hint if you’d like someone to point you in the right direction. However you enjoy Wordle, we can help you win.

An absolute disaster of an opener was more helpful than I initially gave it credit for. Fine. If Wordle was going to be like that, then I may as well just type in whatever the heck I like and… almost instantly stumble upon today’s answer. Neat. Not exactly smart. But definitely neat. 

Today’s Wordle hint

Wordle today: A hint for Thursday, January 16

World of Warcraft’s infamous Plunderstorm event is back with significant improvements. The pirate-themed battle royale feature had mixed reactions when it was first released. While it did tons for the PvP scene, its unbridled chaos wasn’t for everyone. Fortunately, the improvements this time around made the grind for all Plunderstorm rewards worth it.

Pluderstorm Rewards List 

One of the most significant changes for this event is how all rewards are now housed within the Plunderstore. Now, players don’t need to win the game mode to get all the cool items in the event. All they need to do is play. Here are all the Plunderstorm rewards.

Plunderstorm Mounts

• Plunderlord’s Midnight Crocolisk: 5000 Plunder
• Hooktalon: 5000 Plunder
• Silver Tidestallion: 3000 Plunder
• Royal Seafeather: 7500 Plunder
• Polly Roger: 7500 Plunder

Plunderstorm Pets

• Sparklesnap: 3000 Plunder
• Parley: 3000 Plunder
• Happy: 500 Plunder
• Bubbles: 1000 Plunder
• Glamrok: 2000 Plunder

Plunderstorm Transmog Armor

• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Tricorne (Helm): 1500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Spaulders (Shoulders): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Waistcoat (Chest): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Cuffs (Wrist): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Pilferers (Hands): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Cinch (Waist): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Trousers (Stormridden): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Muckscrapers (Stormridden): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Drapery (Back): 1500 Plunder
• First Mate’s Dashing Cap (Head): 1000 Plunder
• First Mate’s Dashing Headgear (Head): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Old Eye Patch (Head): 2000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Old Hat (Head): 2000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Monocle (Head): 2000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Tricorne of Admiralty (Helm): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Tassled Spaulders (Shoulders): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Waistcoat (Chest): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Cuffs (Wrist): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Pilferers (Hands): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Golden Cinch (Waist): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Fancy Trousers (Legs): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Muckscrapers (Feet): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Drapery (Back): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Tabard (Tabard): 5000 Plunder
• Warm Woolen Cap (Head): 500 Plunder
• Spun Cotton Shirt (Shirt): 500 Plunder
• Swabbie’s Gloves (Hands): 500 Plunder
• Quilted Breeches (Legs): 1000 Plunder
• Surefooted Boots (Feet): 500 Plunder
• Skulker’s Cloak (Back): 500 Plunder
• Storm Captain’s Hat (Head): 500 Plunder
• Fine Crimson Doublet (Shirt): 1000 Plunder
• Swindler’s Cutouts (Hands): 500 Plunder
• Handwoven Trousers (Legs): 1000 Plunder
• Silent Leathers (Feet): 500 Plunder
• Weatherproven Drape (Back): 500 Plunder

Plunderstorm Transmog Weapons

• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Hand Cannon (Gun): 1500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Neck-Severer (One-Handed Axe): 1500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Rapier (One-Handed Sword): 1500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Cutlass (Two-Handed Sword): 1500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Stormridden Sigil (Staff): 1500 Plunder
• Swabbie’s Shovel (One-Handed Weapon): 1000 Plunder
• Swabbie’s Oar (Two-Handed Mace): 1000 Plunder
• Copper Cannon (Gun): 500 Plunder
• Marvelous Multi-Shot (Gun): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Hand Cannon (Gun): 1000 Plunder
• Deadly Dagger (Dagger): 500 Plunder
• Blacksteel Saber (One-Handed Sword): 500 Plunder
• Bloody Iron Cleaver (One-Handed Axe): 500 Plunder
• Calcified Claymore (One-Handed Sword): 500 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Neck-Severer (One-Handed Axe): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Fine Rapier (One-Handed Sword): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Silver Cutlass (Two-Handed Sword): 1000 Plunder
• Plunderlord’s Gilded Sigil (Staff): 1000 Plunder

Plunderstorm Toys

• A Tiny Plumed Tricorne: 500 Plunder
• Swarthy Warning Sign: 1000 Plunder

Plunderstorm Achievement and Titles

Aside from the rewards, you can collect several titles and achievements. Most of them are connected to the rewards system. Here are all the achievements and titles for the event.

Titles

• Swabbie %s: get Renown Rank 2
• Swashbuckler %s: get Renown Rank 10
• Buccaneer %s: get Renown Rank 20
• First mate %s: get Renown Rank 30
• Plunderlord %s: get Renown Rank 40

Achievements

• Plunder Wonder: Win a game of Plunderstorm
• Plunderkind: Obtain 1,000,000 Plunder

How to Earn Plunder

You’ll need to farm at least 39,000 Plunder to get all the new items in the Plunderstore. Fortunately, winning isn’t the only way to get Plunder. Here are all the ways to collect Plunder gold in Plunderstorm:

• Collected from the ground throughout the Plunderstorm map
• Collected from enemy mobs
• Collected from other players via elimination
• Collected from golden chests
• Collected from completing Plunderstorm quests
• Collect bonus Plunder for finishing the first quest of the day
• Winning Matches yields 500 Plunder

Aside from this, you don’t lose any Plunder upon dying, so it’s easier to farm them during the event.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy’s 4K Blu-ray collection is on sale for only $55 at Amazon and Walmart, which matches the box set’s price during Black Friday last year. The collection includes the theatrical and extended cuts of Peter Jackson’s beloved adaptations of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. If you’ve only seen the original theatrical releases, the extended cuts alone are worth the price of admission, as they add roughly two hours of runtime to the already epic (and lengthy) adventure.

You can pair The Lord of the Rings Trilogy with Jackson’s trilogy adapted from The Hobbit for $59.

$55 (was $90)

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy’s move to 4K UHD resolution is fittingly marvelous. Middle-earth comes alive with the visual and audio enhancements provided by Dolby Vision HDR10 and Dolby Atmos 5.1 surround sound. The only downside to this collection is that it no longer comes a voucher for the digital versions of the movies.

The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy doesn’t include any conventional special features, but you’re still getting two hours of content not shown in theaters. If you haven’t watched the extended cuts, you’re in for a treat. Each movie is substantially longer than its theatrical counterpart, which is impressive considering the trilogy already eclipsed nine hours in theaters. The Fellowship of the Ring’s extended cut is 30 minutes longer, The Two Towers is 44 minutes longer, and The Return of the King is 51 minutes longer. Return of the King’s extended version is one of the rare movies that eclipses four hours.

Each film’s extended cut is spread across two discs, while the theatrical releases get one disc each. Here’s the total runtime of the theatrical and extended versions of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy:

The Lord of the Rings Theatrical Cuts

• The Fellowship of the Ring – 178 minutes (2 hours and 58 minutes)
• The Two Towers – 179 minutes (2 hours and 59 minutes)
• The Return of the King – 200 minutes (3 hours and 20 minutes)

Total runtime: 9 hours and 18 minutes

The Lord of the Rings Extended Cuts

• The Fellowship of the Ring – 208 minutes (3 hours and 28 minutes)
• The Two Towers – 223 minutes (3 hours and 43 minutes)
• The Return of the King – 251 minutes (4 hours and 11 minutes)

Total runtime: 11 hours and 22 minutes

The Hobbit Trilogy’s 4K Blu-ray box set is available for $59 at Amazon

$35 | Released January 7

Big fans of The Lord of the Rings may want to add the recently released Walmart-exclusive version of The Fellowship of the Ring to their shelves–as long as you don’t already own it. The case shown above is the same one from The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Steelbook Collection; Walmart is simply selling the first film on its own. Hopefully The Two Towers and The Return of the King will be released next, but it’s unclear if Walmart will have all three.

Nevertheless, The Fellowship of the Ring’s Limited Edition Steelbook is a gorgeous display piece on its own. It comes with the same 4K Blu-ray remaster and special features as the film does in the $55 collection, but you also get a voucher for the digital edition.

The Fellowship of the Ring’s 4K Limited Edition Steelbook has already sold out at least once since preorders opened, but it’s in stock for $35 and available to ship now.

If you don’t have a 4K media player, there are numerous standard Blu-ray collections of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Most notably, you can get the remastered Lord of the Rings Trilogy Blu-ray box set for only $18.19 (was $25) at Amazon. Remastered in 2021 for Fellowship of the Ring’s 20th anniversary, these are higher quality than earlier Blu-ray releases. This particular set features the theatrical cuts, but there is a version of the remaster with the extended cuts for $40 (it’s not on sale).

The 4K UHD editions are certainly better–and you get both cuts–but the remastered 1080p releases still look great.

The Hobbit Trilogy Theatrical Collection, meanwhile, is available for only $16.36 at Amazon. Alternatively, you can get The Hobbit Trilogy Extended Collection for $30 (was $40) at Walmart.

Tolkien’s beloved fantasy world returned to the big screen in December with The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, the first anime set in Middle-earth. The War of the Rohirrim releases on 4K Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray on February 18. Three different editions are up for preorder right now, including a 4K Limited Edition Steelbook. Here’s a quick look at each edition at Amazon and Walmart.

Preorder The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim at Walmart:

Preorder The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim at Amazon:

The War of the Rohirrim was adapted from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. If you want to read Tolkien’s novel before watching The War of the Rohirrim (or Peter Jackson’s trilogy), Amazon has great deals on the recently released hardcover Collector’s Editions:

The Lord of the Rings 2024 Hardcover Collector’s Editions