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 #1717) - 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 #1717) - 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 #1717) - 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 #1717) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is 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.
Wordle hints (game #1717) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1717.
- Today's Wordle answer is a viscous, glutinous substance.
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 #1717)
- NYT average score: 3.6
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 93
- My luck score: 48
- My start word performance: STARE (32 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (4)
- Tomorrow's start word: STEAL
Today's Wordle answer (game #1717) is… SLIME.
I am baffled by the 'Bot.
This is not a new thing, but today is the most extreme example yet of the silicon-brained wordsmith going seriously off kilter from its task to solve Wordle as quickly as possible.
And make no mistake — that is its goal. In the WordleBot FAQ, its creators state that it is "programmed to solve Wordles in as few steps as possible on average." Further down, it describes how it is often 'better' to play a narrowing-down word rather than try to solve it early on, a fact we all know by now.
So why, then, did it play the way it did today? Its first guess, SLATE, left only four possible solutions — SLIDE, SLICE, SLIME and SLOPE. The smart thing to do next would surely be to guarantee a three by playing COPED, say; if the C turned yellow it would be SLICE, if the P then SLOPE, if the D then SLIDE and if none then SLIME. Instead, it guessed SLICE first, the SLIDE, and eventually had to settle for a four with SLIME.
Now, I don't always do the narrowing-down thing myself; sometimes, I gamble that my odds are such that it's worth me trying for a two or three, safe in the knowledge that I would only score a four at worst, i.e. exactly what the 'Bot did today. But I'm not a digital tool designed to maximize my score (almost, but not quite). Surely it should have just done what it needed to do to get a three? It's a mystery.
Anyway, that confused me today far more than the actual answer did. SLIME is one of those classic Wordles with a consonant-consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel format, and indeed a particularly likely one given that it has the S---E format — which is the most common one in the game for first-and-last-letter combinations.
I didn't have quite the luck that the 'Bot did with my first guess, but it was still successful. I returned today to STARE, the word I used for most of my first couple of years in Wordle, and still my favorite. The fact that it's now been the solution dissuades me from sticking with it (and yes, I know it could appear again, but that doesn't seem very likely), but as a one-off I enjoyed revisiting it.
STARE left 32 options, and COLIN then cut that to four. How was I allowed to play COLIN? As well as being a name it's also a type of bird, apparently… Anyway, COLIN left only SLIDE, SLIME, SMILE and SIDLE, and playing any of them would guarantee me a four at worst. So I was free to pick my favorite, and being a happy(ish) person I went with SMILE. This was wrong, but it gave me SLIME on the next guess.
Tomorrow: I'm trying STEAL, which puts the E and A in the 'wrong' places, but which otherwise has a lot going for it.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1716)
In a different time zone where it's still Sunday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1716, 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 F.
F is a very common starting letter in Wordle. It ranks seventh behind only S, C, B, T, P and A and overall there are 135 solutions that begin with this letter.
- 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 #1716.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is a very lucky thing.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1716)
- NYT average score: 4.0
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 91
- My luck score: 32
- My start word performance: SANER (182 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (16)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1716) was… FLUKE.
Oh, how I'd sell my soul for a FLUKE right now. I've not had a lot of luck in Wordle, and though I did score a few threes last week, I've had far too many fours and fives in general.
FLUKE should not be a particularly tricky word, although the K is not a particularly common letter and there are a few similarly spelled words, with FLUTE, FLUME and FLAKE the most obvious.
It has an average score of 4.0 — the same as that for Saturday's HYDRA — and that relatively high figure appears to be related to the too-many-answers aspect more than anything else. That said, though the first two of those three words above garnered plenty of guesses here, it was another word, PLUME, that led to the biggest number of wrong guesses.
My game played out in a way that meant I never faced that direct choice. SANER had left 182 options, and when TILDE cut that to 15 I knew that I needed a narrowing-down word rather than to try for the answer.
I went with FLOCK, and that did the job nicely, leaving only one possible solution.
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 #1716, Sunday 1 March: FLUKE
- Wordle #1715, Saturday 28 February: HYDRA
- Wordle #1714, Friday 27 February: DIZZY
- Wordle #1713, Thursday 26 February: LANCE
- Wordle #1712, Wednesday 25 February: SHRED
- Wordle #1711, Tuesday 24 February: BUYER
- Wordle #1710, Monday 23 February: ATTIC
- Wordle #1709, Sunday 22 February: GUAVA
- Wordle #1708, Saturday 21 February: AWAKE
- Wordle #1707, Friday 20 February: STANK
- Wordle #1706, Thursday 19 February: HOIST
- Wordle #1705, Wednesday 18 February: MOGUL
- Wordle #1704, Tuesday 17 February: SQUAD
- Wordle #1703, Monday 16 February: ROOST
- Wordle #1702, Sunday 15 February: SKULL
- Wordle #1701, Saturday 14 February: BLOOM
- Wordle #1700, Friday 13 February: MOOCH
- Wordle #1699, Thursday 12 February: SURGE
- Wordle #1698, Wednesday 11 February: VEGAN
- Wordle #1697, Tuesday 10 February: SCENE
- Wordle #1696, Monday 9 February: CELLO
- Wordle #1695, Sunday 8 February: EMBED
- Wordle #1694, Saturday 7 February: BLEAT
- Wordle #1693, Friday 6 February: GAVEL
- Wordle #1692, Thursday 5 February: SWOOP
- Wordle #1691, Wednesday 4 February: CHIDE
- Wordle #1690, Tuesday 3 February: WEIGH
- Wordle #1689, Monday 2 February: CIGAR
- 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
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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