NADIR

Meaning

The point of the celestial sphere, directly opposite the zenith; inferior pole of the horizon; point of the celestial sphere directly under the place of observation.

• nounThe lowest point; time of greatest depression.
• nounThe axis of a projected conical shadow; the direction of the force of gravity at a location; down.
• verbTo extend (a beehive) by adding an empty box at the base.

NADIR as a word-puzzle answer

NADIR is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (A, I) and 3 consonants (N, D, R). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (N, A, I, R), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. There are no rare letters here, so it is a fair, mid-difficulty answer for the daily Classic puzzle.

NADIR by the numbers

Across the 1,734 curated answers in the Wordocious bank, A appears in 40% of answers (the 2nd most common letter), R appears in 37% of answers (the 3rd most common letter), I appears in 29% of answers (the 6th most common letter). 7 other answers share the opening “NA-”, so two green tiles up front still leave real guessing to do.

Difficulty: 1/5 — very approachable, because its letters are common and no close neighbors compete with it.

Near misses

Same letters, different order: DRAIN — yellow-heavy boards can be hiding this anagram instead.

Put it to use

Words like NADIR are exactly what the daily puzzles throw at you. Warm up in Practice, race the clock in the Daily Challenge, or study the best starting words before your next run. New to the multi-board modes? The mode guides cover all nine.