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.
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 #1689) - 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 #1689) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is C.
C is a very common starting letter in Wordle – in fact, it's the second most common of all, behind only S.
Wordle hints (game #1689) - 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 #1689) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is 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.
Wordle hints (game #1689) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1689.
- Today's Wordle answer is smoked.
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 #1689)
- NYT average score: 3.8
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 86
- My luck score: 83
- My start word performance: SANER (16 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (202)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1689) is… CIGAR.
I really should have guessed. In fact, I almost did.
This was the first day in Wordle's much-heralded new era of repeating answers, and the NYT did the least original thing it could possibly have done – namely, revisit the game's first ever answer.
Yes, CIGAR was game #0 (rather than #1, for some reason) back in June 2021. And while that was a time before most people were playing, keen students of the game (Wordleologists?) will be well aware of its place in history.
In one sense, it's a nice word to revisit, both for the sense of occasion and for the fact that so few will have solved it first time round. Against, that, though, there's the fact that it was an incredibly obvious move to make. Plus, some people will already remember it, because the Wordle Archive is a thing, and I would guess that most people who have made the effort to play that will have started at the beginning.
I had a hunch that the NYT might do this, and almost guessed it on my second attempt. I could see it was a possibility the moment that my A turned yellow and my R went green, but resisted the temptation to go for it in favor of playing it safe. Silly boy.
Anyway, Wordle's second act has officially begun, and if you don't like this approach to past Wordle answers then you still have a few hours left to register your displeasure.
One consequence of this change to the game is that I'll probably pick up a new start word in the next few weeks. There's nothing wrong with SANER – in fact, I rather like it – but the main reason I went with it is because it offered a chance of a 1/6. The same could now apply to the likes of SLATE, CRANE and STARE though, so maybe I'll go with one of those.
For now, I'm sticking with it – not least because I want to see how often repeated answers appear. So far we're at 100%, but I still suspect we'll only get one or two of these a week at most.
Today, SANER was a real success and left only 16 words. I came up with only six of them – POLAR, MOLAR, VICAR, CIGAR, CHAIR and FLAIR – but that wasn't because I failed to spot the likes of ARMOR, ARBOR, BRIAR and FRIAR as such. Instead, it was more a case of me having found some very likely words and deciding to crack on with things, rather than being too diligent about it.
The fact that CIGAR was among the options did also play on my mind, so it was a deliberate decision to go with CLAMP in order to try to identify the green C at the start.
I got my wish, and with the A also now confirmed in position #4 (even though it was technically still yellow), CIGAR was the only remaining solution.
I'll be keeping track of how many repeats we get from here on, but hopefully the next one will be a little less predictable.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1688)
In a different time zone where it's still Sunday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1688, 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 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.
- 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 #1688.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is covered in pointy bits.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1688)
- NYT average score: 4.0
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 92
- My luck score: 54
- My start word performance: SANER (31 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (70)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1688) was… SPINY.
This is one of those games where knowledge of past Wordle answers – and the fact that they were not yet repeating – may well have helped you.
That's because SPINE has already been a solution (game #1251 in November), as has SPICY (#103 way back in 2021). However, that still left SHINY and SPIKY, as single-letter alternatives, which may explain why the average is currently 4.0 rather than a lot lower.
I don't know exactly when Wordle will begin repeating answers, beyond that it will be "starting on Monday". Does that mean Monday will be a repeat or just that it might be? Will every day next week be a repeat? If not, how often will repeats occur? We're in the dark here, but based on the results of my poll most people are either on the fence about the change, or against it; there are very few who actively applaud it.
Back to SPINY then, which was one of those classic 50/50 games for me. SANER was very lucky and gave me a green S and yellow N. That left only 31 possible answers, but a dilemma for me as to where that N would go.
After the N was an obvious option that would lead to the likes of SNOOP, SNOWY and SNOUT – but I didn't have too many of those words. There were far more that had the N in position #4, generally before either a T or G such as STINT, STUNT, SHUNT, STUNG, SLING, SLUNG, SWING, SWUNG and SUING.
THING therefore felt like a good second guess, as it contained a T and G, put the N in that position, and included an H which might well go after the S at the start.
It was a good hunch, and gave me two green letters in the middle of the board. I now had S-IN-, and quickly established that only two answers fit: SPINY and SLINK. With no reason to favor one over the other I simply picked at random and today got the wrong one. That left me with yet another four, my fifth in seven games. Hopefully my luck turns next week.
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 #1688, Sunday 1 February: SPINY
- Wordle #1687, Saturday 31 January: ALLOT
- Wordle #1686, Friday 30 January: JUMBO
- Wordle #1685, Thursday 29 January: FLAKY
- Wordle #1684, Wednesday 28 January: CRUEL
- Wordle #1683, Tuesday 27 January: DUSKY
- Wordle #1682, Monday 26 January: FREAK
- Wordle #1681, Sunday 25 January: STRUT
- Wordle #1680, Saturday 24 January: CLIFF
- Wordle #1679, Friday 23 January: BARON
- Wordle #1678, Thursday 22 January: CLINK
- Wordle #1677, Wednesday 21 January: CUBIC
- Wordle #1676, Tuesday 20 January: SULLY
- Wordle #1675, Monday 19 January: WAXEN
- Wordle #1674, Sunday 18 January: SUMAC
- Wordle #1673, Saturday 17 January: FIERY
- Wordle #1672, Friday 16 January: RACER
- Wordle #1671, Thursday 15 January: CHASM
- Wordle #1670, Wednesday 14 January: AVOID
- Wordle #1669, Tuesday 13 January: GUMBO
- Wordle #1668, Monday 12 January: TRIAL
- Wordle #1667, Sunday 11 January: QUARK
- Wordle #1666, Saturday 10 January: MANIC
- Wordle #1665, Friday 9 January: EIGHT
- Wordle #1664, Thursday 8 January: BLAST
- Wordle #1663, Wednesday 7 January: PECAN
- Wordle #1662, Tuesday 6 January: OOMPH
- Wordle #1661, Monday 5 January: FILLY
- Wordle #1660, Sunday 4 January: POSSE
- Wordle #1659, Saturday 3 January: SITAR
- Wordle #1658, Friday 2 January: PROOF
- Wordle #1657, Thursday 1 January: FABLE
- Wordle #1656, Wednesday 31 December: SIREN
- 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
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.
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