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 Tuesday'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.
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 three 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 #1656) - 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 #1656) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is S.
S is the most common starting letter in the game, featuring in 365 of Wordle's 2,309 answers. In fact, it's almost twice as likely to begin an answer as the next most common starting letter, C.
Wordle hints (game #1656) - 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 #1656) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is N.
N is a pretty common ending letter in Wordle: it's the seventh most likely in that position and features in 130 solutions.
Wordle hints (game #1656) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1656.
- Today's Wordle answer produces a warning sound.
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 #1656)
- NYT average score: 3.5
- My score: 2
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 99
- My luck score: 99
- My start word performance: SANER (1 remaining answer)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (38)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1656) is… SIREN.
What better way is there to finish the year than with successive twos in Wordle? Well, I suppose it could have been successive ones, but that would be nigh-on impossible.
I'm very happy to have ended 2025 in this fashion, although admittedly I didn't play much of a role in my success today. This was one of those games that instead was inevitable after the first word: SANER left only a single solution, SIREN, and I played it without fuss on the next guess (obviously).
I doubt it will have caused too many problems for those of you who didn't enjoy quite so much good fortune with their openers. SIREN has an average score of 3.5, meaning we've ended the year with a run of three rather easy ones: 3.5, 3.7, 3.5.
What will 2026 have in store for us on the Wordle front? Well, it'll see us go from game #1657 to game #2021 – meaning that by the time it's over there will be fewer than 300 words remaining among the 2,309 original solutions. With the NYT having added 30 of its own words, and assuming it keeps doing so at a rate of one or two per month, we might still have 350 left at the end of 2026 – or just enough to keep us going until 2027 finishes.
That's fine in itself; Wordle will have been running for seven years by then, which is a decent return for a game that was originally only intended for a few people. However, it again highlights a theme I keep returning to: past answers. By the end of 2026, past answers will outnumber future answers by a ratio of roughly 6:1. If you use a list you'll be at a massive advantage compared to those who don't – and if you don't use one, you'd better have a very good memory…
Anyway, that's all to worry about later. For now, I'll just bask in the light of an easy two. Happy New Year, everyone.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1655)
In a different time zone where it's still Tuesday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1655, too.
- Wordle yesterday had 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).
- The first letter in yesterday's Wordle answer was D.
D is the ninth most common starting letter in the game, so maybe slightly less likely than you might expect.
- There were no 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 R.
R is a very common letter to end a Wordle answer – it's actually the 4th most common there, behind E, Y and T.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1655.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is the style of interior furnishings.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1655)
- NYT average score: 3.7
- My score: 2
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 86
- My luck score: 93
- My start word performance: SANER (8 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (329)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1655) was… DECOR.
It's fair to say that luck was with me, but I do take issue with WordleBot's decision to only award me a skill score of 86. I understand why it did it, but it points to a flaw in the way the 'Bot works – namely that it doesn't know about past answers, and it treats all possible solutions as equals.
What happened here was that my opening guess, SANER, was incredibly fortunate, giving me a green R and a yellow E that – together with the letters ruled out – left only only eight possible solutions.
Those words were as follows: ERROR, DECOR, FEMUR, RECUR, DEMUR, THEIR, LEMUR and KEFIR. Now, LEMUR in particular may well stand out to you – because it appeared almost exactly a year ago, game #1291. I don't generally recall past answers from 12 months back, but LEMURs are very cute creatures and I remember writing about how fascinating they are.
I dismissed that, then, and didn't spot KEFIR – but I had the other six possibles jotted down, and worked out that a) playing DECOR next would guarantee me a solve in three at worst and b) it might also be the solution itself.
The 'Bot had slightly differently logic, because in its mind, both LEMUR and KEFIR were valid answers. Now, it might be correct about KEFIR, but while I am fairly certain that the others will all appear (if they haven't already, I haven't checked), I'm nowhere near as positive that KEFIR will, given that it's a relatively uncommon word.
If if KEFIR could be a solution, the fact that LEMUR was ruled out meant that I faced a 50/50 at worst – whereas the 'Bot's top choice, FLUID, could not possibly have been correct itself, and its first pick out of the actual answers, FEMUR, might have left a 50/50 between either ERROR/THEIR or DEMUR/LEMUR.
The upshot: I think my logic was sound. But once again, it reinforces how much of an advantage it can be to know about what's gone before. I've actually come up with a solution to this now: the NYT should simply start repeating answers. Bang – problem solved in one fell swoop.
Wordle answers: The past 50
I've been playing Wordle every day for more than three 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 #1655, Tuesday 30 December: DECOR
- Wordle #1654, Monday 29 December: FRUIT
- Wordle #1653, Sunday 28 December: ABBOT
- Wordle #1652, Saturday 27 December: BATCH
- Wordle #1651, Friday 26 December: SPEED
- Wordle #1650, Thursday 25 December: PRISM
- Wordle #1649, Wednesday 24 December: SPOOL
- Wordle #1648, Tuesday 23 December: GLINT
- Wordle #1647, Monday 22 December: CONCH
- Wordle #1646, Sunday 21 December: QUILT
- Wordle #1645, Saturday 20 December: WHITE
- Wordle #1644, Friday 19 December: MYRRH
- Wordle #1643, Thursday 18 December: RUGBY
- Wordle #1642, Wednesday 17 December: GRASS
- Wordle #1641, Tuesday 16 December: SEGUE
- Wordle #1640, Monday 15 December: DODGY
- Wordle #1639, Sunday 14 December: SWING
- Wordle #1638, Saturday 13 December: MISER
- Wordle #1637, Friday 12 December: TRUCK
- Wordle #1636, Thursday 11 December: GUESS
- Wordle #1635, Wednesday 10 December: ERASE
- Wordle #1634, Tuesday 9 December: SNIDE
- Wordle #1633, Monday 8 December: GRAVY
- Wordle #1632, Sunday 7 December: FLUTE
- Wordle #1631, Saturday 6 December: WAIST
- Wordle #1630, Friday 5 December: WAIST
- Wordle #1629, Thursday 4 December: TULIP
- Wordle #1628, Wednesday 3 December: HASTE
- Wordle #1627, Tuesday 2 December: CACTI
- Wordle #1626, Monday 1 December: LEACH
- Wordle #1625, Sunday 30 November: MUGGY
- Wordle #1624, Saturday 29 November: GRUFF
- Wordle #1623, Friday 28 November: COLIC
- Wordle #1622, Thursday 27 November: REMIT
- Wordle #1621, Wednesday 26 November: HOVEL
- Wordle #1620, Tuesday 25 November: PLEAD
- Wordle #1619, Monday 24 November: DOUGH
- Wordle #1618, Sunday 23 November: BUNNY
- Wordle #1617, Saturday 22 November: THICK
- Wordle #1616, Friday 21 November: VOWEL
- Wordle #1615, Thursday 20 November: GRAVE
- Wordle #1614, Wednesday 19 November: MAKER
- Wordle #1613, Tuesday 18 November: OPINE
- Wordle #1612, Monday 17 November: CLAMP
- Wordle #1611, Sunday 16 November: WIELD
- Wordle #1610, Saturday 15 November: CLUNG
- Wordle #1609, Friday 14 November: LURID
- Wordle #1608, Thursday 13 November: TINGE
- Wordle #1607, Wednesday 12 November: DEUCE
- Wordle #1606, Tuesday 11 November: GIZMO
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 2025.
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.
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.
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