Understanding How to Play Wordle

Wordle is available here on the New York Times website. A fresh puzzle becomes accessible daily at midnight, tailored to your local time zone.

Your journey begins by selecting a five-letter word. The letters will be indicated in different colors: green for the correct letter in the right spot, yellow for the right letter in the wrong position, and gray for letters that are not included in today’s answer. For more information, feel free to check out this Wordle guide and this advanced strategy guide for additional techniques. (More insights can be found at the end of this article after the clues and answers.)

Ready for some assistance? Let’s dive into the hints!

Are There Any Uncommon Letters in Today’s Wordle?

We categorize common letters based on the terms from the old typesetters’ mnemonic, known as ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize it! Picture it as the name “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a friend of yours.)

Today, there are three frequently used letters from this saying! The other two letters are also quite common.

Can You Provide a Hint for Today’s Wordle?

A hint involving a relative position.

Does Today’s Wordle Have Repeated Letters?

Yes, there is one letter that appears more than once today.

How Many Vowels Are Present in Today’s Wordle?

Today’s word contains two vowels.

Which Letter Does Today’s Wordle Start With?

The word begins with the letter U.

Which Letter Does Today’s Wordle End With?

The last letter of today’s word is R.

What Is Today’s Wordle Solution?

Here it is: Today’s answer is UPPER.

How the Solution Was Found

I kicked off with guesses like RAISE, TOUCH, and BLEND, and then guessed FRUMP to test some likely consonants. My final guess was UPPER.

Wordle 1,314 5/6

Answer for Yesterday’s Wordle

Yesterday’s challenge was slightly easier. The hint was “as a verb, to cover a distance,” containing four common letters and one rather common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was REACH.

Fundamentals of Wordle

The goal of Wordle is to guess the secret word of the day. Upon opening the game, you are presented with a blank letter grid. It’s up to you to make the first move by typing in any five-letter word.

The colored feedback you receive will guide you in your subsequent guesses:

• Green indicates a correctly guessed letter in the right position. (For example, if you guess PARTY and the solution is PURSE, then P and R will light up green.)

• Yellow denotes a correct letter that is not placed correctly (like guessing PARTY, where R, A, and T will be yellow if the correct word is ROAST).

• Gray signifies the letter is absent from the solution completely. (If guessing PARTY yields all gray results, then the answer cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

Use this information to make further guesses, aiming to identify the correct word before your six attempts are exhausted.

Optimal Starting Words for Wordle

Wondering what to use for that initial guess? The most effective starting words typically include a mix of common letters, which increases your likelihood of getting yellow and green squares to navigate your next guesses. While there isn’t an absolute “best” starting word, the Wordle analysis bot from the New York Times recommends trying one of these:

• CRANE
• TRACE
• SLANT
• CRATE
• CARTE

Additionally, an analysis from MIT suggests that starting with these words eliminates the most options:

• SALET
• REAST
• TRACE
• CRATE
• SLATE

Other reasonable options could be ARISE or ROUND. While words like ADIEU and AUDIO incorporate more vowels, it’s debatable whether beginning with more consonants is advantageous, utilizing starters such as RENTS or CLAMP. Test different approaches and see which one favors you.

Tips for Winning at Wordle

For anyone deeply committed to mastering Wordle, several strategic guides may prove useful. One resource discusses leveraging consonants to gain an edge, while another focuses on employing the most prevalent letters. In an advanced guide, a comprehensive tactic is presented that maximizes your chances of success while gathering helpful hints.

Successful Wordle players excel at utilizing their guesses to extract information about the letters present in the word. If you determine that the word ends with -OUND, avoid wasting several guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; instead, consolidate consonants and try MARSH. If an H lights up yellow, you are that much closer to solving the puzzle.

Another important strategy note: after the New York Times acquired Wordle, the game now features an editor who curates the solution list. This means that sometimes the words might be slightly trickier or aligned with current themes, such as FEAST being a past solution around Thanksgiving. Keeping an eye out for potential themes could be beneficial.

Alternative Games to Wordle

If the thrill of five-letter guessing games leaves you wanting more, consider these engaging alternatives, ranked by difficulty:

• Wheeldle, a game that allows you to solve one puzzle after another

• Dordle and Quordle, where you must tackle two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles simultaneously, using the same guesses. There’s even Octordle for eight puzzles or Sedecordle for sixteen.

• Waffle, where you rearrange scrambled five-letter words within a grid to find the solution.

• Absurdle, which changes the designated solution after each guess. Your goal is to narrow it down to just one possible answer.

• Squabble, where you compete against others in real-time, facing penalties for delays; the last player standing wins.

• Antiwordle, where your objective is to actively avoid guessing the day’s solution. You must reuse any letters you guessed unintentionally, so the longer the game extends, the better your skill at it.