A new NYT Wordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Friday's puzzle instead then click here.
Skip the hints and jump straight to today's column.
It's time for your guide to today's Wordle answer, featuring my commentary on the latest puzzle, plus a selection of hints designed to help you keep your streak going.
Don't think you need any clues for Wordle today? No problem, just skip to my daily column. But remember: failure in this game is only ever six guesses away.
Want more word-based fun? TechRadar's Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, and you can also take a look at our NYT Strands today and NYT Connections today pages for our verdict on two of the New York Times' other brainteasers.
SPOILER WARNING: Today's Wordle answer and hints are below, so don't read on if you don't want to see them.
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief and has been obsessed with Wordle for more than four years. He's authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom's Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in Wordle in every position and a guide to the best Wordle start words. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
Wordle hints (game #1953) - clue #1 - Vowels
How many vowels does today's Wordle have?
• Wordle today has vowels in two places*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Wordle hints (game #1953) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is H.
H is not a particularly common starting letter in Wordle: only 69 games begin with it, and it ranks in 15th place.
Wordle hints (game #1953) - clue #3 - repeated letters
Does today's Wordle have any repeated letters?
• There are no repeated letters in today's Wordle.
Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it's still more likely that a Wordle doesn't have one.
Wordle hints (game #1953) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is Y.
Y is the second most common ending letter in the game, behind only E. In total, 364 Wordle answers end with a Y.
Wordle hints (game #1953) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1953.
- Today's Wordle answer has perforations or openings in it.
If you just want to know today's Wordle answer now, simply scroll down – but I'd always recommend trying to solve it on your own first. We've got lots of Wordle tips and tricks to help you, including a guide to the best Wordle start words.
If you don't want to know today's answer then DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER BECAUSE IT IS PRINTED BELOW. So don't say you weren't warned!
Today's Wordle answer (game #1953)
- NYT average score: 4.4
- My score: 5
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 68
- My luck score: 51
- My start word performance: SANER (167 remaining answer)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (98)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1953) is… HOLEY.
Well I made a right old mess of this one, didn't I?
It's been more than a month since my last score of 5 — for PAGER, which had an average of 4.4 and which caused problems for plenty of people. Coincidentally HOLEY also has an average of 4.4 and I suspect will be similarly tricky for many.
It gave me my lowest skill score in absolutely ages, mainly because my fourth guess was rated at zero on account of being "a valid guess" but not one that the 'Bot "considers to be a likely solution".
It may well have a point about that, and HOLEY is undeniably a more common word, but zero seems a bit harsh; after all, is LOVEY really less likely than PSHAW was? Some 3% of people went with it on either the third or fourth guess, so I wasn't the only one to make the mistake.
Still, I can admit that it was a mistake; if I'd spotted HOLEY sooner then I would have played it earlier, but I didn't, so that's that. Unfortunately, it's not an easy word to spot. Not too many words start with an H in general, and HO as an opening combination only occurs 17 times among the original 2,309 solutions. EY at the end is even less common: there are a mere 13 of these.
SANER was not a great start, and CLOUT was unlucky to leave 17 options, so a 3 was never on the cards. But I should have at least matched the 'Bot and beaten the average when MODEL cut the shortlist to just one word. The trouble was, I thought that one word was a different one from the one word that the NYT had in mind. Ah well, there's always tomorrow.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1952)
In a different time zone where it's still Friday? Don't worry — I can give you some clues for Wordle #1952, too.
- Wordle yesterday had a vowel in one place*
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
- The first letter in yesterday's Wordle answer was T.
T is one of the most common starting letters in the game, beginning 149 of Wordle's 2,309 answers. That gives it a ranking of fourth in the alphabet, behind only S, C and B.
- There were repeated letters in yesterday's Wordle.
Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it's still more likely that a Wordle doesn't have one.
- The last letter in yesterday's Wordle was L.
L is a really common letter to find at the end of a Wordle. There are 155 games that finish with an L, and it ranks as the fifth most likely letter there.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1952.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is a bird sound.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1952)
- NYT average score: 3.8
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 97
- My luck score: 40
- My start word performance: SANER (139 remaining answer)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (17)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1951) was… RESET.
I've had such a good run of luck lately that it would be unfair for me to complain about today's game, so I won't. I will simply remark that I made the best of a difficult situation, albeit not a difficult game.
TRILL has an average score of 3.8, so couldn't in any way be considered hard; that's below the global average for Wordle of 3.96. But some people will have found it easier than others. Specifically, SLATE left only 17 options, while IRATE — which is played by around 1% of Wordlers each day — left 10.
In contrast, SANER left me with a pool of 139 words to choose from, and though DROIT cut that to a trio of TRICK, TRILL and FRITZ, I picked the wrong one of those.
If I had consulted a past Wordle answers list, rather than merely compiling one, I would have seen that TRICK was the solution to game #1543 in September 2025. That's recent enough that it was never going to be a repeated answer yet, so if I'd known that I'm sure I would have picked TRILL instead. But I didn't, so a 4 it was.
On the plus side, the 'Bot scored a 3 — and so beat me for the first time in two weeks. Why is this a good thing? Well, it gets boring winning every day. Success is only ever worthwhile if there's an actual challenge there…
Wordle answers: The past 50
I've been playing Wordle every day for more than four years now and have tracked all of the previous answers so I can help you improve your game. Here are the last 50 solutions starting with yesterday's answer, or check out my past Wordle answers page for the full list.
- Wordle #1952, Friday 23 October: TRILL
- Wordle #1951, Thursday 22 October: RESET
- Wordle #1950, Wednesday 21 October: PENNY
- Wordle #1949, Tuesday 20 October: WREST
- Wordle #1948, Monday 19 October: STINK
- Wordle #1947, Sunday 18 October: ADORN
- Wordle #1946, Saturday 17 October: GAFFE
- Wordle #1945, Friday 16 October: SHADY
- Wordle #1944, Thursday 15 October: DUNCE
- Wordle #1943, Wednesday 14 October: PSYCH
- Wordle #1942, Tuesday 13 October: WIDER
- Wordle #1941, Monday 12 October: YODEL
- Wordle #1940, Sunday 11 October: UNCAP
- Wordle #1939, Saturday 10 October: BUMPY
- Wordle #1938, Friday 9 October: MAJOR
- Wordle #1937, Thursday 8 October: STREW
- Wordle #1936, Wednesday 7 October: PROVE
- Wordle #1935, Tuesday 6 October: DIMLY
- Wordle #1934, Monday 5 October: MOCHA
- Wordle #1933, Sunday 4 October: SHACK
- Wordle #1932, Saturday 3 October: PEEVE
- Wordle #1931, Friday 2 October: USURY
- Wordle #1930, Thursday 1 October: RITZY
- Wordle #1929, Wednesday 30 September: RIVER
- Wordle #1928, Tuesday 29 September: SCUBA
- Wordle #1927, Monday 28 September: TRUNK
- Wordle #1926, Sunday 27 September: SLOOP
- Wordle #1925, Saturday 26 September: ELEGY
- Wordle #1924, Friday 25 September: COPSE
- Wordle #1923, Thursday 24 September: MESSY
- Wordle #1922, Wednesday 23 September: FORTH
- Wordle #1921, Tuesday 22 September: STOKE
- Wordle #1920, Monday 21 September: PAGER
- Wordle #1919, Sunday 20 September: SHONE
- Wordle #1918, Saturday 19 September: WAKEN
- Wordle #1917, Friday 18 September: SNOWY
- Wordle #1916, Thursday 17 September: THETA
- Wordle #1915, Wednesday 16 September: WISPY
- Wordle #1914, Tuesday 15 September: DEALT
- Wordle #1913, Monday 14 September: RINSE
- Wordle #1912, Sunday 13 September: FOCUS
- Wordle #1911, Saturday 12 September: NIFTY
- Wordle #1910, Friday 11 September: ASTER
- Wordle #1909, Thursday 10 September: DRYLY
- Wordle #1908, Wednesday 9 September: BURST
- Wordle #1907, Tuesday 8 September: LIVEN
- Wordle #1906, Monday 7 September: BLIND
- Wordle #1905, Sunday 6 September: BEIGE
- Wordle #1904, Saturday 5 September: SOUPY
- Wordle #1903, Friday 4 September: WAGER
What is Wordle?
If you're on this page then you almost certainly know what Wordle is already, and indeed have probably been playing it for a while. And even if you've not been playing it, you must surely have heard of it by now, because it's the viral word game phenomenon that took the world by storm in 2022 and is still going strong in 2026.
We've got a full guide to the game in our What is Wordle page, but if you just want a refresher then here are the basics.
What is Wordle?
Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day. You get six guesses, with each one revealing a little more information. If one of the letters in your guess is in the answer and in the right place, it turns green. If it's in the answer but in the wrong place, it turns yellow. And if it's not in the answer at all it turns gray. Simple, eh?
It's played online via the Wordle website or the New York Times' Games app (iOS / Android), and is entirely free.
Crucially, the answer is the same for everyone each day, meaning that you're competing against the rest of the world, rather than just against yourself or the game. The puzzle then resets each day at midnight in your local time, giving you a new challenge, and the chance to extend your streak.
What are the Wordle rules?
The rules of Wordle are pretty straightforward, but with a couple of curveballs thrown in for good measure.
1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.
2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow.
3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray.
4a. Answers are never plural.
4b. …unless they are. There have been a couple of plural words that don't end in an S or ES, including FUNGI (game #439), ATRIA (#1478) and TEETH (#1551). But S and ES plurals are definitely outlawed.
5. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.
6. Each guess must be a valid word in Wordle's dictionary. You can't guess ABCDE, for instance.
7. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses unless you play on Hard mode.
8. You have six guesses to solve the Wordle.
9. You must complete the daily Wordle before midnight in your timezone.
10a. All answers are drawn from Wordle's list of 2,309 solutions…
10b. …unless they are not. That's because the NYT has added in some of its own words which weren't in that list of 2,309 solutions. More will undoubtedly come over the next few years.
10c. Plus, the NYT has now started repeating answers that have already appeared in Wordle. We have no idea how often it will do this, so you'll need to be on your guard.
11. Wordle will accept a wider pool of words as guesses – some 10,000 of them. For instance, you can guess a plural such as WORDS. It definitely won't be right (see point 4a above), but Wordle will accept it as a guess.
