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 Sunday'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 #1962) - 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 #1962) - 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 #1962) - clue #3 - repeated letters
Does today's Wordle have any repeated letters?
• There are 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 #1962) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is T.
T is a very common letter to end a Wordle answer – in fact only E and Y are more likely in that position.
Wordle hints (game #1962) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1962.
- Today's Wordle answer is to move swiftly.
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 #1962)
- NYT average score: 3.9
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 97
- My luck score: 66
- My start word performance: SANER (87 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (43)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1962) is… SCOOT.
Regular readers of this column will be well aware of my feelings about OO words — I wrote a whole article a year or so ago about why it's my least favorite Wordle format. Or at least that used to be the case, because these days I appear to have mastered them: a 3 here, a 4 for YAHOO on Saturday, a 3 for each of SLOOP, BLOOD and LOOSE over the past few months…
They've not got any easier, of course. Instead, I've taken to playing CLOUT as my second guess after SANER, or at least doing that on days when I get a green S or draw a blank, and CLOUT has the benefit of containing an O in the middle.
The good thing about that is that it usually confirms the possibility of an OO word right away. If the O turns yellow, it can't be an OO word unless it's at the end of the solution, as it was in YAHOO, and those are really rare (it could also be at the start, but that's rarer still). If it turns green, however, then there's a good chance that there's another O lurking either side of it.
My task today was made easier still by the fact that CLOUT also gave me a green T and a yellow C. That left only one possible solution, meaning that I needed very little brain power to score that 3.
It doesn't look like it will be too tricky for others either, compared to some OO games. The average here is only 3.9 — which if nothing else indicates that it's a lot simpler than yesterday's VIPER or Saturday's YAHOO. I suspect the reason for that is that S, C and T, the other three letters here, feature in so many start words. Trust me, not all OO words will be as easy as this one.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1961)
In a different time zone where it's still Sunday? Don't worry — I can give you some clues for Wordle #1961, 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 V.
V is a fairly uncommon starting letter in Wordle. There are only 43 answers that begin with a V, and it ranks just 16th.
- 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 #1961.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is a snake — or a treacherous person.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1961)
- NYT average score: 4.4
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 5
- My skill score: 98
- My luck score: 63
- My start word performance: SANER (111 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (329)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1961) was… VIPER.
This has been a tough old weekend in Wordle Land, with the 4.4-rated VIPER following Saturday's YAHOO, which ended with an average of 4.3.
It is of course an ER game, the first we've had since WIDER nearly three weeks ago. That one was also a 4.4 game, although the one before that — RIVER — had a 4.8 average, so in that company VIPER doesn't seem quite so bad.
It's another ER word with a V in it, and as I've explained before V is a remarkably common letter in ER games compared to how often it turns up in general. Admittedly, it usually appears in the middle of a word, where it's the second most common letter in ER games behind T. At the start, it's a different matter: I think there's only one other V--ER answer, and that's VOTER, which was the solution to game #644 in March 2023.
My knowledge of ER letter patterns is not much use in my life in general, or in Wordle outside of a select few games. But here it was very helpful because I knew to go with DIVOT as my second guess having already confirmed the ER format on my first.
That V was even more helpful than usual because the fact that it turned yellow, rather than green, immediately reduced my options to one: VIPER.
I duly played that next for my much-appreciated 3, but the poor WordleBot, in contrast, had to settle for a 5. I suspect many others will face a similar fate (or worse).
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 #1961, Sunday 1 November: VIPER
- Wordle #1960, Saturday 31 October: YAHOO
- Wordle #1959, Friday 30 October: SLIDE
- Wordle #1958, Thursday 29 October: MOTOR
- Wordle #1957, Wednesday 28 October: GRIST
- Wordle #1956, Tuesday 27 October: BINGO
- Wordle #1955, Monday 26 October: GEEKY
- Wordle #1954, Sunday 25 October: DRESS
- Wordle #1953, Saturday 24 October: HOLEY
- 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
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.
