Playing Wordle: The Basics

You can find Wordle here on the New York Times site. Every day, a new puzzle becomes available at midnight, local time.

To start, make a guess with a five-letter word. The results will show colors: green for correct letters in the right positions, yellow for correct letters in the wrong spots, and gray for letters not found in the day’s word at all. For further insights, check out our playing guide here and this advanced strategy guide. (Additional details can be found later in this post, after the hints and answers.)

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

Unusual Letters in Today’s Wordle

Common letters are defined by the old typesetters’ adage ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Try to remember this and pretend it’s a friend’s name: “Edwin Shirdloo.”)

Every letter used in today’s puzzle falls within the realm of common letters, except for one which is less frequent.

A Hint for Today’s Wordle

The beginning of a question.

Repeated Letters in Today’s Wordle

Today’s solution has no duplicate letters.

Vowel Count in Today’s Wordle

It contains two vowels.

Starting Letter of Today’s Wordle

The word begins with W.

Ending Letter of Today’s Wordle

The word ends with E.

Solution to Today’s Wordle

Are you ready? The answer for today is WHOSE.

My Solution Process for Today’s Wordle

My initial guesses were RAISE and TOUCH. The only fitting word was WHOSE.

Wordle 1,413 3/6

⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩
⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Answer from Yesterday’s Wordle

Yesterday’s challenge was simpler. The hint was “at this game, for example,” leading to an answer featuring four common letters and one that is relatively common as well.

The answer was ADEPT.

Wordle: The Fundamentals

The objective of Wordle is to guess the day’s hidden word. Upon entering the game, an empty grid awaits you, and the first move is entirely up to you: enter any five-letter word.

Utilize the color feedback provided: Green indicates a correct letter in the correct spot (e.g., guessing PARTY with the actual word being PURSE will make P and R green), while Yellow signifies that a letter exists in the word, albeit not in the position guessed (e.g., in PARTY, if the actual word is ROAST, R, A, and T will turn yellow). Gray tells that the letter is absent from the target word altogether (if you get gray for PARTY, it cannot be PURSE or ROAST).

Following this logic, continue guessing new words, aiming to deduce the solution before exhausting your available attempts. You have six tries in total.

Optimal Starter Words for Wordle

Which word should be your first guess? The best choices usually include common letters to enhance the likelihood of receiving yellow and green markers that can direct your subsequent guesses. If all letters appear gray after guessing, it’s still valuable information for ruling out options. While there isn’t a definitive “best” starter word, the Wordle analysis bot has recommended starting with one of the following:

• CRANE

• TRACE

• SLANT

• CRATE

• CARTE

Moreover, an analysis from MIT determined that certain starting words help eliminate the most possibilities right away:

• SALET

• REAST

• TRACE

• CRATE

• SLATE

Other strong candidates could include ARISE or ROUND. While words like ADIEU and AUDIO introduce more vowels early on, focusing on consonants first may offer a strategic advantage by using words like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your approach and see how it impacts your game.

Winning Strategies for Wordle

For those keen on mastering Wordle, several strategic guides are available for review. This guide delves into leveraging consonants, while this one emphasizes a strategy built around the most commonly used letters. An advanced strategy guide outlines a three-part method for fishing for clues while increasing winning chances swiftly.

The primary distinction between successful and unsuccessful players lies in how effectively they use their guesses to uncover which letters belong to the target word. If you determine the word concludes with -OUND, don’t squabble over multiple guesses like MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; instead, optimize by guessing MARSH. If the H lights up yellow, you’re on course to the right answer.

It’s worth noting: the original version of Wordle employed a list of approximately 2,300 words as solutions, but after being acquired by the NYT, a new editor selectively curates new solutions. Occasionally, words may be somewhat tricky or even seasonally relevant; for example, FEAST was today’s word during Thanksgiving. Be mindful of potential themes.

Exploring Wordle Alternatives

If five-letter guessing games pique your interest, consider checking out some of the top alternatives to Wordle, categorized by their level of challenge:

• Wheeldle, where consecutive puzzles await you.

• Dordle and Quordle, challenging you to tackle two (Dordle) or four (Quordle) puzzles simultaneously, using your guesses for all.

• Octordle, featuring eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with a whopping 16.

• Waffle, where you shuffle a grid of scrambled five-letter words to solve them.

• Absurdle, which changes its answer after each guess, while retaining feedback from prior guesses. Strategically corner the solution until only one letter remains; then guess to win.

• Squabble, that allows competing in real-time against others in Wordle; take damage if you take too long between guesses, making the last player standing the victor.

• Antiwordle, where the aim is to avoid guessing the correct word; you must reuse any letters guessed correctly, leading to a more complex challenge.