This may have been mentioned already (I didn't read the prior 30'ish pages of this post), but I had a friend ask me "what does the number mean" when I was posting my daily results. I had guessed that it was a daily incrementing number, but was wrong. I then looked at the code of the website, and indeed it is a incrementing number, however it represents the index used in the array of random 5 letter words that comprise the game. Today was the 285th word in the array, tomorrow will be the 286th word, etc. I wish I hadn't looked, 'cause now I can see the solutions for each day. It would be nice if NY Times would move that piece of code out of the public eye, or encrypt it, or ? and not have it embedded in the web page and viewable. I still play the game over morning coffee though, and I avoid looking under the sheets for the solution.