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 two 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. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
Wordle hints (game #1274) - 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 #1274) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is D.
D is the ninth most common starting letter in the game, so maybe slightly less likely than you might expect.
Wordle hints (game #1274) - 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 #1274) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is L.
L is a really common letter to find at the end of a Wordle. There are 155 games that finish with an L, and it ranks as the fifth most likely letter there.
Wordle hints (game #1274) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1274.
- Today's Wordle answer is what my dog does when he sees food.
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 #1274)
- NYT average score: 3.5
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 3
- Best start word performance*: TRADE (16 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: DRYLY (2)
* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words
Today's Wordle answer (game #1274) is… DROOL.
And relax…
After two very, very difficult Wordles – the 4.8-average VYING and 5.3-average BOXER, each of which took me five guesses to solve, we have the much simpler DROOL. This has an average of 3.5, according to WordleBot, and is objectively easier. I got it in three, WordleBot got it in three, you probably got it in three or four, and we can all forget about it quickly and move on to Sunday's game.
Not that DROOL is entirely without complications, given that it contains a repeated letter O. But then again, as my analysis of every Wordle answer shows, O is a likely letter to be repeated, and it's paired here with the very-common R and L. D is more of a middling letter in general – which always surprises me – but DR at the start is very common, ranking 15th in this regard.
My game was something of a formality, although the curse of the 50/50 hit me again. This could easily have been a 2/6 day for me, because my opening word was DRYLY – which the 'bot said was "extraordinarily lucky" and which left me with only two words to choose between.
These were DRAWL and DROOL, and I went with the one that didn't have the repeated letter. I was wrong. Again. But hey, I scored a three anyway, so all is well with the world of Wordle.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1273)
In a different time zone where it's still Friday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1273, 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 B.
B is a very, very common starting letter in Wordle. In fact, it's the third most common overall, behind only S and 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 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 #1273.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer hits.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1273)
- NYT average score: 5.3 (revised)
- My score: 5
- WordleBot's score: 3
- Best start word performance*: TASER (105 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: KAPPA (1,466)
* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1273) wais… BOXER.
You thought yesterday's Wordle was tough? Well today's is far, far worse.
According to WordleBot, BOXER is being solved in an average of 5.2 guesses. That makes it the equal third hardest so far in 2024, behind only CORER (5.8) and JOLLY (5.4) and level with PIPER. It's also the equal tenth hardest ever. (Note – since I wrote this it's actually climbed to a 5.3 average, so it's now the ninth hardest ever and third hardest in 2024 outright).
Seven of the 12 words to have had a score of 5.2 or above have had the ER format, so it's obvious what the problem today was. Except it wasn't the only problem, of course, because it also contains an X.
As my analysis of every Wordle answer shows, X is the third least common letter in the game, appearing in only 37 words in total (out of the original 2,309 solutions at least). BOXER is the 23rd of those to feature so far, so we still have plenty more to, um, look forward to.
I wasn't helped at all here by my start word, which was KAPPA. My random start word generator is really not making life any easier for me right now, is it? I mean come on – KAPPA only contains three distinct letters, and one of them (for the third day in a row) was an uncommon K.
Hilariously, KAPPA left me 1,466 words to choose from. I'm not sure I even know 1,466 words. So I did the sensible thing and played a word containing five common letters next. What's more, I (even more sensibly) made sure it ended in ER just in case.
Did that make a difference today? You bet! I was ultimately able to score a five here, so under the global average, whereas if I hadn't identified that ER format right away I could potentially have been looking at a failure.
TONER had cut my word list down to a far more manageable 22 options and given me three greens. I knew what was required now: list every combination I could think of. I missed a couple – SOBER and BOWER – but came up with the other 20 and decided to go with CLAWS next.
This couldn't be right, of course, but came close to maximizing my chance of ruling out many words. WordleBot prefered MEWLS, but there wasn't much in it, and as it happened CLAWS was slightly more successful and cut those possible answers to nine.
At this point, WordleBot's verdict on my guesses became useless – because unlike me, it doesn't remember any past Wordle answers. I didn't look at a list, but FOYER and HOMER are not Wordle answers I'd ever forget (even two years on), given how difficult they were. In my mind, then, these were not options – so my fourth guess, ROVED, was perfectly acceptable. It might have left a couple of 50/50s, but would otherwise guarantee a five.
As it happened, it did leave a 50/50, between GOFER and BOXER. But once again, WordleBot was confused, because it still thought HOMER and FOYER were options and therefore awarded me a skill score of zero when I guessed BOXER. How rude!
BOXER was right, of course, which meant that whatever the 'bot thinks I played fairly well today. Then again, it scored a three, so I guess I can't be too smug about my game…
Wordle answers: The past 50
I've been playing Wordle every day for more than two 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 #1273, Friday 13 December: BOXER
- Wordle #1272, Thursday 12 December: VYING
- Wordle #1271, Wednesday 11 December: PLUMB
- Wordle #1270, Tuesday 10 December: PATIO
- Wordle #1269, Monday 9 December: FLUNG
- Wordle #1268, Sunday 8 December: HYENA
- Wordle #1267, Saturday 7 December: HILLY
- Wordle #1266, Friday 6 December: SHOVE
- Wordle #1265, Thursday 5 December: ENDOW
- Wordle #1264, Wednesday 4 December: CRYPT
- Wordle #1263, Tuesday 3 December: SHAKY
- Wordle #1262, Monday 2 December: GUILE
- Wordle #1261, Sunday 1 December: MAUVE
- Wordle #1260, Saturday 30 November: DOGMA
- Wordle #1259, Friday 29 November: HIPPO
- Wordle #1258, Thursday 28 November: CHOCK
- Wordle #1257, Wednesday 27 November: SLANG
- Wordle #1256, Tuesday 26 November: WITCH
- Wordle #1255, Monday 25 November: BROWN
- Wordle #1254, Sunday 24 November: TWIST
- Wordle #1253, Saturday 23 November: JELLY
- Wordle #1252, Friday 22 November: PEARL
- Wordle #1251, Thursday 21 November: SPINE
- Wordle #1250, Wednesday 20 November: NICHE
- Wordle #1249, Tuesday 19 November: GOING
- Wordle #1248, Monday 18 November: FRAIL
- Wordle #1247, Sunday 17 November: TALLY
- Wordle #1246, Saturday 16 November: VISOR
- Wordle #1245, Friday 15 November: TACKY
- Wordle #1244, Thursday 14 November: UVULA
- Wordle #1243, Wednesday 13 November: PRIMP
- Wordle #1242, Tuesday 12 November: FLOWN
- Wordle #1241, Monday 11 November: STOIC
- Wordle #1240, Sunday 10 November: INNER
- Wordle #1239, Saturday 9 November: SWELL
- Wordle #1238, Friday 8 November: READY
- Wordle #1237, Thursday 7 November: EVENT
- Wordle #1236, Wednesday 6 November: TRULY
- Wordle #1235, Tuesday 5 November: OCTET
- Wordle #1234, Monday 4 November: VINYL
- Wordle #1233, Sunday 3 November: BLAZE
- Wordle #1232, Saturday 2 November: SNOOP
- Wordle #1231, Friday 1 November: SIXTH
- Wordle #1230, Thursday 31 October: WEIRD
- Wordle #1229, Wednesday 30 October: EASEL
- Wordle #1228, Tuesday 29 October: TUNIC
- Wordle #1227, Monday 28 October: BAWDY
- Wordle #1226, Sunday 27 October: SANDY
- Wordle #1225, Saturday 26 October: WREAK
- Wordle #1224, Friday 25 October: FROWN
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 last year and is still going strong in 2024.
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' Crossword 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.
4. Answers are never plural.
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.
10. All answers are drawn from Wordle's list of 2,309 solutions. However…
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 4 above), but Wordle will accept it as a guess.
