How to Use Our Wordle Hints
Our progressive hint system helps you solve without spoiling the challenge. Reveal hints one at a time, starting with basic clues like vowel count and working up to more specific information.
Wordle Strategy Tips
- Start with vowel-rich words like SALET, CRANE, or SLATE
- Don't repeat eliminated letters in your second guess
- Watch for common patterns like -IGHT, -OUND, or -TION
- Remember double letters are possible (about 20% of answers have them)
- Need more word ideas? Browse our complete list of 5 letter words or filter by starting letter, ending letter, or letter combinations
How to Play Wordle
Wordle is a daily word puzzle where you guess a five-letter word in six attempts. After each guess, every letter is highlighted in one of three colors: green means the letter is correct and in the right position, yellow means the letter is in the answer but in the wrong position, and gray means the letter is not in the answer at all. Using this feedback, you narrow down the possibilities with each guess until you find the word or run out of attempts.
Everyone in the world gets the same Wordle word each day. The puzzle resets at midnight local time, giving you one new word every 24 hours. There is no timer — you can take as long as you need. Wordle tracks your streak (consecutive days solved) and guess distribution, which you can share as a spoiler-free grid of colored squares. The game is free to play on the New York Times website with no subscription required.
Best Starting Words for Wordle
Your first guess matters more than any other because it is your only guess made with zero information. A strong starting word maximizes the number of common letters you test. Based on letter frequency analysis of all valid Wordle answers, here are proven starting words ranked by effectiveness:
- SLATE — covers S, L, A, T, E — five of the most frequent letters in Wordle answers
- CRANE — covers C, R, A, N, E — strong consonant and vowel mix
- TRACE — covers T, R, A, C, E — high-frequency letters with no repeats
- CRATE — covers C, R, A, T, E — same letters as TRACE in different positions, useful for alternating
- ARISE — covers A, R, I, S, E — three vowels for maximum vowel elimination
If your first word returns mostly gray tiles, try a second word that uses entirely different letters. For example, if SLATE gives you nothing, follow up with CRONY or HUMID to test a completely new set. This two-guess strategy typically eliminates 10 of the 26 letters, leaving you with strong information for guesses three through six. Explore more options in our 5 letter words database where you can filter by starting letter or ending letter.
Advanced Wordle Strategy
Beyond choosing a good starting word, experienced Wordle players use several techniques to solve consistently in three or four guesses:
- Letter position frequency: Certain letters appear far more often in specific positions. S is the most common first letter, E is the most common last letter, and A is the most common second letter in Wordle answers. When you have a yellow letter, try placing it in its most statistically likely position first.
- Hard Mode discipline: Even if you are not playing Hard Mode (which forces you to use all confirmed letters in subsequent guesses), adopting this discipline prevents you from wasting information. Every guess should build on what you already know.
- Avoid rare letter combinations: If your remaining options include a word with QU, X, or Z, try the more common alternative first. Wordle answers tend to be everyday English words, not obscure vocabulary.
- Watch for double letters: About 20% of Wordle answers contain a repeated letter (such as CREEP or ABBEY). If you are stuck after four guesses, consider whether a double letter could be the missing piece.
- Use the process of elimination: Sometimes the best third or fourth guess is not a word you think could be the answer, but a word that tests multiple remaining possibilities at once. For example, if the answer could be TRAIN, TRAIL, or TRAIT, guessing a word with L, N, and T in different positions resolves all three at once.
About Wordle
Wordle was created by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner in October 2021. The game gained millions of players within months, driven by its simple one-puzzle-per-day format and the shareable grid of colored squares that spread across social media. The New York Times acquired Wordle in January 2022 and has since maintained the free daily puzzle as part of its NYT Games suite alongside Connections, Strands, and the Mini Crossword.
Since its launch, Wordle has published over 1,600 puzzles. The word list is curated to include only common, recognizable English words — you will never encounter obscure jargon or proper nouns. The puzzle editor, Tracy Bennett, reviews each word to ensure it is fair and solvable. If you enjoy the challenge of word deduction, explore our other word puzzle tools including Wordle Clues for historical patterns and our 5 letter word finder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wordle resets at midnight local time. Our hints page updates shortly after.
Yes, there is one official Wordle answer per day, the same worldwide.
Some Wordle puzzles are harder due to uncommon letters, double letters, or multiple possible answers. Check our difficulty rating at the top of this page. If today's Wordle is particularly challenging, our progressive hints can help you solve it without completely spoiling the answer.
Our Wordle hints are automatically generated each day based on the official answer. We analyze the word to provide helpful clues like vowel count, starting letter, and whether it contains repeated letters. Our hints are designed to help you solve the puzzle yourself rather than just giving away the answer.
In theory, Wordle answers can repeat, though the puzzle editor curates the word list to avoid recent repetitions. With over 2,300 common five-letter words in the answer pool and only one puzzle per day, repeats are extremely rare. You should not eliminate a word just because it has appeared before.
Data analysis suggests SLATE, CRANE, and TRACE are among the strongest starting words because they test the most frequently used letters in Wordle answers (S, L, A, T, E, C, R, N). The ideal first word contains no repeated letters, includes at least two vowels, and uses common consonants.
Wordle launched publicly in October 2021. Check the puzzle number displayed at the top of this page for the exact count — it represents the number of days since launch. The puzzle publishes one new word every day with no breaks.
The New York Times has not officially increased the difficulty, but some players perceive later puzzles as harder because the easier, more common words have already been used. The difficulty rating on our hints page (shown at the top) tells you how today's word compares to average — based on letter commonality and pattern uniqueness.