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 Monday'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 #1872) - 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 #1872) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is M.
M is a middling letter when it comes to starting a word. It sits 10th in the rankings, with 107 occurrences in the 2,309 answers.
Wordle hints (game #1872) - 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 #1872) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is F.
F is not a particularly common ending letter in Wordle. It only ranks 17th in this regard, and a mere 26 of the 2,000-plus original Wordle answers end in this letter.
Wordle hints (game #1872) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1872.
- Today's Wordle answer is a (typically repeated) visual theme.
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 #1872)
- NYT average score: 3.9
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 99
- My luck score: 34
- My start word performance: SANER (304 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (102)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1872) is… MOTIF.
MOTIF is a very different word from yesterday's REPLY; they have no letters in common and completely different formats. However, they do have a certain similarity when it comes to Wordle. For instance, they each feature three very common letters and two middling ones, and have several letters out of their standard positions. And to top it off, both are being solved in an average of 3.9 guesses.
MOTIF looks like it ought to be tougher than REPLY, because it's a less commonly used term and that F at the end is really very unusual; a mere 25 other games have that construction. The fact that it's not proving too difficult is probably due to the fact that O, T and I all feature in many popular start words, thus giving Wordlers a head start towards solving it. It's another reminder, if you needed one, of the importance of that first guess: even if you don't choose a really good one, you should at least ensure it contains plenty of those common letters.
SANER, which has been my opener of choice for a long while now, is formed from five of the top 10 most frequently appearing letters, so it ticks that box at least. However, as if to negate everything I just said, it was of very little help today, giving me a blank board and leaving 304 options. The exception always proves the rule, right?
The good news, for me at least, was that CLOUT performed far more adeptly, giving me the O and T and reducing the pool of options to six. I was particularly pleased to see that O turn yellow rather than green, because a green O in the middle often indicates a double-O format, which I hate with a vengeance. Instead, I was mostly looking at words that featured it in the second position: DOTTY, POTTY, TODDY and MOTTO; or at the end, as in DITTO (and MOTTO again).
Surprise, surprise: MOTIF was the only one of the six that I didn't consider. So, when I played DITTO next and it confirmed the yellow 'I', I was confused — that wasn't in any of my words. I spent another few minutes looking, and eventually spotted MOTIF for my second four in a row, and fourth in five days. Hopefully I'll be back below the average tomorrow.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1871)
In a different time zone where it's still Monday? Don't worry — I can give you some clues for Wordle #1871, 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 R.
R is a surprisingly uncommon starting letter. Despite ranking third overall in Wordle, it's merely the 11th most likely to begin an answer.
- 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 Y.
Y is the second most common ending letter in the game, behind only E. In total, 364 Wordle answers end with a Y.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1871.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is a response.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1871)
- NYT average score: 3.9
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 92
- My luck score: 41
- My start word performance: SANER (125 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (98)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1871) was… REPLY.
This is a bit of a mixed bag of a game, and that's reflected in its middling score of 3.9, bang on the average for Wordle as a whole. It has a few minor complications, but also some aspects that should make it easier, and those balance each other out to leave an unremarkable whole.
It contains three of the most common letters, but a couple of them are not necessarily where you'd expect them: R is far less likely at the start than in any other position, while E crops up far more regularly in the last two slots.
Against that, the LY combo at the end is very common: it features in 56 of Wordle's 2,309 original solutions, the same number as CH, with only ER (141 instances) more likely there.
The other thing that might have cost you a guess is that REPEL was an obvious alternative. We're not exactly in too-many-answers territory, but it's similar enough that lots of people did play it on guesses three and four.
I was not among them, because my opening SANER had already ruled out that possibility by virtue of the E in that spot turning yellow rather than green. I had a yellow R, too, but chased it around the board for the next two guesses, with neither DROIT or PURGE managing to place it.
In fact, I still had only yellows after those guesses — but fortunately I now had three of them. By this stage they could only be assembled to make one word, REPLY, so I scored a fairly mundane four.
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 #1871, Monday 3 August: REPLY
- Wordle #1870, Sunday 2 August: PENAL
- Wordle #1869, Saturday 1 August: SLUSH
- Wordle #1868, Friday 31 July: PURSE
- Wordle #1867, Thursday 30 July: FLUME
- Wordle #1866, Wednesday 29 July: VALVE
- Wordle #1865, Tuesday 28 July: SONAR
- Wordle #1864, Monday 27 July: POSER
- Wordle #1863, Sunday 26 July: GRAPE
- Wordle #1862, Saturday 25 July: ALOHA
- Wordle #1861, Friday 24 July: PUTTY
- Wordle #1860, Thursday 23 July: ORBIT
- Wordle #1859, Wednesday 22 July: LORRY
- Wordle #1858, Tuesday 21 July: SHILL
- Wordle #1857, Monday 20 July: DIVER
- Wordle #1856, Sunday 19 July: CHURN
- Wordle #1855, Saturday 18 July: BOOTH
- Wordle #1854, Friday 17 July: LEGAL
- Wordle #1853, Thursday 16 July: BUTTE
- Wordle #1852, Wednesday 15 July: PSHAW
- Wordle #1851, Tuesday 14 July: STEAK
- Wordle #1850, Monday 13 July: STOUT
- Wordle #1849, Sunday 12 July: CLACK
- Wordle #1848, Saturday 11 July: AVIAN
- Wordle #1847, Friday 10 July: CANAL
- Wordle #1846, Thursday 9 July: AMEND
- Wordle #1845, Wednesday 8 July: DEMON
- Wordle #1844, Tuesday 7 July: SLING
- Wordle #1843, Monday 6 July: TODDY
- Wordle #1842, Sunday 5 July: SWAMI
- Wordle #1841, Saturday 4 July: PIZZA
- Wordle #1840, Friday 3 July: BATON
- Wordle #1839, Thursday 2 July: MAVEN
- Wordle #1838, Wednesday 1 July: DEMUR
- Wordle #1837, Tuesday 30 June: PUPPY
- Wordle #1836, Monday 29 June: CRUDE
- Wordle #1835, Sunday 28 June: EMCEE
- Wordle #1834, Saturday 27 June: SCOOP
- Wordle #1833, Friday 26 June: ACUTE
- Wordle #1832, Thursday 25 June: UNITY
- Wordle #1831, Wednesday 24 June: QUEER
- Wordle #1830, Tuesday 23 June: CURRY
- Wordle #1829, Monday 22 June: OVATE
- Wordle #1828, Sunday 21 June: ALIBI
- Wordle #1827, Saturday 20 June: DRAKE
- Wordle #1826, Friday 19 June: EMOJI
- Wordle #1825, Thursday 18 June: ENTRY
- Wordle #1824, Wednesday 17 June: TOKEN
- Wordle #1823, Tuesday 16 June: AMAZE
- Wordle #1822, Monday 15 June: BROIL
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.
