For those in pursuit of the Wordle solution for March 8, 2025, you’re in the right place. This post offers hints, techniques, and ultimately the answer to today’s challenge. Today’s puzzle proved to be a bit tricky; it took me five guesses to arrive at the solution. Heads up, spoilers await for Wordle #1,358 below! Keep reading for some clues (and the answer) to today’s game.

Wordle Gameplay Instructions

You can find Wordle on the New York Times website. A new puzzle becomes available daily at midnight, based on your local time zone.

To get started, type in a five-letter word. Following your guess, letters will show different colors: green indicates a correct letter in the correct position; yellow signifies a correct letter, but in the wrong spot; and gray indicates that the letter is not included in the day’s secret word at all. For further details, check out our comprehensive Wordle guide here, and my strategy guide here for advanced insights. (Additional information can be found at the end of this article, after the hints and answers.)

Are you ready for the hints? Let’s dive in!

Uncommon Letters in Today’s Wordle

Common letters are defined by the classic typesetter phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (A fun way to remember this is to pronounce it as “Edwin Shirdloo,” as if he were a friend of yours.)

Virtually all the letters we assign as common appear in this mnemonic. Only one letter today doesn’t fit that bill, and it’s a rare one.

A Hint for Today’s Wordle

Consider “innie or outie.”

Are There Any Repeated Letters Today?

Today’s puzzle does not feature any repeated letters.

Vowel Count in Today’s Wordle

The word contains two vowels.

Starting Letter of Today’s Wordle

The answer begins with the letter N.

Ending Letter of Today’s Wordle

The word concludes with L.

Solution to Today’s Wordle

Here it is! The answer for today is NAVEL.

My Approach to Today’s Wordle

Starting with the words RAISE, TOUCH, and BLEND, I eventually guessed PANEL as a potential solution. This led me to determine NAVEL as the only fitting word.

Wordle 1,358 5/6

⬛🟩⬛⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Answer from Yesterday’s Wordle

In contrast, yesterday’s word was simpler. The clue was “found in the military,” featuring four common letters alongside one fairly common letter.

The answer for yesterday was TROOP.

Understanding Wordle Fundamentals

The aim in Wordle is to identify the weekday’s secret word. Upon entering the game, you will see a blank grid of letters; it is up to you to begin by entering any five-letter word.

Once you proceed, the colors revealed offer hints about the letters: Green indicates correct letters in their proper positions; Yellow signifies the letter is present in the word but not placed correctly; and Gray denotes that the letter does not appear in the target word at all.

• Green: Indicates the letter is in the correct position (e.g., if your guess is PARTY and the actual word is PURSE, P and R will glow green).

• Yellow: Shows that the letter is included in the word but mispositioned (e.g., guessing PARTY when the word is ROAST will yield yellow for R, A, and T).

• Gray: Implies that the letter does not exist in the word (if every letter in PARTY is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST).

Based on this feedback, continue your guessing process, striving to identify the correct word before your six attempts run out.

Optimal Starter Words for Wordle

Wondering what to use as your first guess? The most effective starting words include letters that frequently appear, enhancing the likelihood of achieving yellow and green squares for better guidance. If you receive entirely gray results with common letters, it still provides valuable information to eliminate potential answers.

While there’s no single “best” starting word, the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has recommended these:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Furthermore, an MIT study suggested that the best initial guesses for eliminating possibilities include:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other viable options could include ARISE or ROUND. While ADIEU and AUDIO introduce more vowels, focusing on consonants initially might be more advantageous using starters like RENTS or CLAMP. Adapt your approach and observe the outcome.

Winning Strategies for Wordle

For those seeking strategic guidance, several articles focus on enhancing Wordle gameplay that could be useful. One guide examines how to leverage consonants effectively, while another emphasizes strategies based on the most frequently used letters. A more advanced guide presents a tripartite strategy to maximize hints while achieving favorable outcomes quickly.

What differentiates successful Wordle players from those less successful is the ability to extract information about the letters present in the word through their guesses. If the word must end in -OUND, for instance, don’t waste guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; instead, try a combined guess, like MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, the solution becomes clearer.

One last point on tactics: the original version of Wordle comprised around 2,300 solution words. However, since its acquisition by the NYT, an editor now curates the answers. Occasionally, the chosen words might be slightly challenging ones that wouldn’t have made the original list, or they can relate to current events, such as FEAST being the solution during Thanksgiving. Thus, be aware of potential thematic elements in the answers.

Alternative Games to Wordle

If the allure of five-letter guessing games captivates you, then explore these top Wordle alternatives ranked by difficulty:

• Wheeldle, which offers consecutive puzzles.

• Dordle and Quordle, which involve solving two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles simultaneously, using the same guesses. For an extra challenge, there’s Octordle, featuring eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16 puzzles.

• Waffle, a game where challenges you to unscramble several five-letter words in a grid by swapping letters.

• Absurdle, which dynamically alters the solution with each guess, while remaining consistent with feedback provided to you; your goal is to narrow it down to a single valid word.

• Squabble, where you compete against others in Wordle with a countdown timer, taking damage for prolonged pauses between guesses; the victor is the last player remaining.

• Antiwordle, where your goal is to avoid guessing the day’s solution. You must reuse any correctly guessed letters, so taking longer to guess can work to your advantage.