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 #1960) - clue #1 - Vowels
How many vowels does today's Wordle have?
• Wordle today has vowels in three 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 #1960) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is Y.
Y is not a common starting letter at all. In fact, it's the third least common ahead of only Z and X!
Wordle hints (game #1960) - 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 #1960) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is O.
O is a middling ending letter. It ranks 12th in this regard, and finishes 58 Wordle answers in total.
Wordle hints (game #1960) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1960.
- Today's Wordle answer is a cry of excitement.
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 #1960)
- NYT average score: 4.4
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 94
- My luck score: 46
- My start word performance: SANER (99 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (202)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1960) is… YAHOO.
I had an interesting discussion with two regular commenters yesterday (if you're not getting involved, check it out below) about whether the NYT's additional words are more unusual or obscure than those on the original list. Today's game adds more weight to the evidence that they are — or at least that they are more difficult.
YAHOO was not an original answer, and has an average score of 4.4. The previous NYT addition, GRIST, was 4.1. The one before that, HOLEY, was another 4.4. These are tough words.
In all, there have now been 74 NYT additions, the majority of which (44) have come in 2026. Those 74 Wordles have an average score of 4.17, against an overall average for the game of 3.96.
Or you could look at repeated and uncommon letters (Q, Z, X and J). Among the original answers, 35% contain either an uncommon or repeated letter. Among the 74 NYT additions, that jumps to 45%.
When you consider that some of the toughest NYT extras aren't even part of that 45% — there are no uncommon letters or repeats in the likes of SNAFU, GOFER, KEFIR, GUNKY, CAROM, MAVEN, WAKEN, PAGER or PSHAW, after all — it's clear that these words are harder to solve than the originals.
We can't entirely blame the NYT for that. After all, part of the criteria Josh Wardle and his partner used when selecting the original list was that the words should not be too obscure. It stands to reason, then, that many of the new words will be less common.
However, I suspect it's also a deliberate move to keep the game interesting. After all, there are many less difficult words the NYT could include if it wanted to. Or it could repeat more previous answers from the first 200 or so games before most people started playing — I doubt anyone would struggle too much with BENCH, CRATE or POUND, for instance.
To be clear, though, I am not complaining. I like Wordle to be difficult, even if I might moan about it at the time. And YAHOO was certainly an interesting challenge, with a format that is unlike that of any other word.
Here's a fascinating fact about it: the Y at the start and H in the middle are only slightly more common than the OO ending: only six words (among the original word list) begin with a Y, only nine have an H in the middle, only two end with a double-O.
It's a good word, though — and one that has a particular resonance for people (especially tech journalists) of a certain vintage. Plus, I scored a 4, which is entirely acceptable on a day when the average is 4.4.
Most of the hard word was done by my second guess, TOPIC, which the 'Bot didn't like too much but which reduced 99 possibles to five. I will happily admit that I only thought of three of those — BAYOU, which was a previous answer that I recalled from 2022, KAZOO, which I remembered from 2023, and MAMBO, which — you guessed it — I knew had been an answer in 2024.
Okay, so I didn't remember when they appeared, but all stuck in my mind. I decided to go with BAYOU as the most likely to be repeated — because I did recall that it was a fairly early answer — and was a little nonplussed when it was wrong, because it also ruled out the other two.
It took me a while to spot YAHOO, but I got there eventually and was mightily relieved to see all five letters turn green.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1959)
In a different time zone where it's still Friday? Don't worry — I can give you some clues for Wordle #1959, 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 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 E.
E is the most common letter to end a Wordle answer by far. That's one of the reasons why many of the best start words, including SLATE, CRANE, CRATE and STARE, all end with one.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1959.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is a favorite in the playground or workplace.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1959)
- NYT average score: 3.5
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 99
- My luck score: 42
- My start word performance: SANER (44 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (4)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1959) was… SLIDE.
I spent many happy hours on SLIDEs as a child, and many terrifying hours standing beside them as a parent, convinced my daughters were only seconds away from a broken bone. And it is a slightly odd concept, really: "Hey, wouldn't it be a good idea if we placed our most precious things on this steep metal chute then propelled them down it at speed!" Except in my experience the real problems started when the slide didn't work properly; I have a video which my (now grown) kids love seeing, of one of them getting her foot stuck halfway down and tumbling face first on to the cold, hard metal and then down on to the cold, hard ground. Character forming, I suppose!
Some Wordles can be SLIDE-like, with disaster only a wrongly placed foot (letter) away, but today's is not one of them. On the contrary, its average of 3.5 implies it's the easiest since RESET more than a week ago.
As is usually the case, your mileage may vary. SLIDE will have been exceptionally easy for people who open with SLATE, given that it gave them three green letters and left only four options. But the rest of us may have had a harder time narrowing down the many S---E options.
It took me four guesses, which I'm happy enough with given that I scored 99 for skill; this was more about luck than a major failing on my part.
SANER had given me the S and E, the latter yellow, and I decided to follow it today with PILOT. P, L and T are all letters that regularly follow an S, and although I usually go with CLOUT in this scenario I like the fact that PILOT has I and O as the vowels, rather than the less common U.
PILOT gave me yellow I and L, and reduced the choice to four: SLICE, SLIDE, SLIME and SMILE. There was no way I could play any of those and not be left with a possible 50/50 and ultimately a 5 — so instead I went with SCAMP, which was guaranteed to confirm the answer in 4. It was the safe approach — the coward's way out, perhaps — but I couldn't face scoring a third 5 in a week…
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 #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
- Wordle #1911, Saturday 12 September: NIFTY
- Wordle #1910, Friday 11 September: ASTER
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.
