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 Tuesday'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 #1929) - 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 #1929) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is 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.
Wordle hints (game #1929) - 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 #1929) - 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 #1929) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1929.
- Today's Wordle answer is a watercourse.
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 #1929)
- NYT average score: 4.7
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 98
- My luck score: 55
- My start word performance: SANER (111 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (329)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Today's Wordle answer (game #1929) is… RIVER.
And so September ends as it started: with a really tough Wordle beginning with an R. Back on the 1st of the month it was REMIX, which had an average score of 4.3; that's pretty difficult, but RIVER is harder still, at 4.7.
It is of course an ER word, which are usually tricky beasts to solve, but surprisingly most recent ones have been below 4.5 — PAGER was 4.4, WAGER was 4.2, RULER only 3.9 and ASTER 3.7.
RIVER is actually the hardest ER word since May, when MOVER (game #1792) and WAVER (#1790) had scores of 4.7 and 5.3 respectively. The common factor in those three games is the V in the middle, which makes sense given that as a letter it's far less common than the G in PAGER or WAGER or the L in RULER.
However — and this is one of those rare moments where I will boast a little — I anticipated its presence today, because V is rather more common in an ER word than it is elsewhere. In fact, it's the second most frequently appearing middle letter in an ER word, behind only T.
There are 14 of these --VER words among the 2,309 originals, and RIVER is the final one. Yes, really! Here's the full list:
Game |
Answer |
My score |
Average |
|---|---|---|---|
380 |
SEVER |
3 |
4.6 |
390 |
LIVER |
3 |
4.4 |
644 |
VOTER |
4 |
4.1 |
781 |
LOVER |
4 |
4.3 |
967 |
NEVER |
4 |
4.2 |
1039 |
ROVER |
6 |
5 |
1095 |
COVER |
4 |
4.3 |
1319 |
FEVER |
4 |
4.6 |
1351 |
HOVER |
4 |
4.7 |
1574 |
LEVER |
4 |
4.2 |
1790 |
WAVER |
6 |
5.3 |
1792 |
MOVER |
4 |
4.7 |
1857 |
DIVER |
3 |
4.2 |
1929 |
RIVER |
4 |
4.7 |
This is exciting, no? We've closed off an entire avenue in the game. Except we haven't really, because the NYT could repeat one (or two, or all of them), or it could add in a --VER word that wasn't on the original list. RAVER or SAVER or GIVER, perhaps. But still, it feels like a landmark of sorts.
As I was saying before I got sidetracked with excitement, I anticipated the V's arrival, playing DIVOT as my second guess. This worked wonderfully well, giving me the -IV-- part to add to the ---ER bit that SANER had already provided. I was flying!
Sadly, I still had three options, LIVER (which has appeared before, see above, but which I didn't know at the time) and GIVER (which I didn't know was not on the original list, but now do).
I decided to guarantee myself a four rather than shooting for a 3, so went with GOLFS in order to confirm either the G of GIVER or the L of LIVER. Neither changed color, which meant it had to be RIVER — and I scored my 4.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1928)
In a different time zone where it's still Tuesday? Don't worry — I can give you some clues for Wordle #1928, 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 A.
A is a relatively common ending letter. It ranks 10th in this regard and today's game is one of 63 in which you'll find an A there.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1928.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is used underwater.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1928)
- NYT average score: 3.8
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 97
- My luck score: 76
- My start word performance: SANER (43 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (22)
- Tomorrow's start word: SANER
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1928) was… SCUBA.
I've been trying really hard lately to improve my shortlisting, because it's a vital skill when it comes to selecting second (and sometimes third) guesses.
By shortlisting, I mean that process of thinking of as many possible words as you can, not so that you can guess one — but so that you can think of a narrowing-down word that would rule out as many as possible.
When it works, it's incredibly satisfying; you get that feeling of really having controlled the game, as opposed to blindly stabbing around in the dark in search of the solution.
Well, it did work here — but once I saw WordleBot's analysis I realized that most of that was pure luck.
My opening SANER had given me a green S and yellow A, which immediately narrowed down the word pool to 43. I didn't know there were that many, but could see there were at least a couple of dozen, because there are lots of letters that can go between an S and an A: STA--, SLA--, SHA-- and so on.
Sometimes, I can be quite methodical about this, working through the options and listing them all on a notepad before choosing my second guess. And I was quite pleased to have found the following:
STALL, STALK, STAID, STACK, STAMP, STAFF and STASH for the STA group, plus STOAT as another with an ST combo.
SCAMP and SCALY for SCA, plus SCUBA as another SC word.
SMACK, SMALL, SMASH for SMA.
SQUAT for SQUA, which I usually forget.
SWAMP, SWATH, SWASH for SWA.
SLACK, SLASH, SLACK for SLA.
And finally, SHALL, SHACK, SHAWL and SHAKY for the SHA parade.
So that's only 25 out of 43. And I thought I'd done so well! Among the ones I missed were a few really obvious ones — for instance, I didn't have a single SP word. I have no idea why not, but it meant that SPASM, SPLAT and SPLAY were not in there. Almost as frustrating was the fact that despite remembering to look for SQ words, I missed SQUAD and SQUAB, while somehow thinking of SQUAT. Bizarre.
Anyway, as it turned out my choice of MULCH could not have been much better, because it removed 42 options, including all of the ones that I hadn't thought of, and left SCUBA as the only solution. Who needs skill when you've got luck, eh?
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 #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
- Wordle #1909, Thursday 10 September: DRYLY
- Wordle #1908, Wednesday 9 September: BURST
- Wordle #1907, Tuesday 8 September: LIVEN
- Wordle #1906, Monday 7 September: BLIND
- Wordle #1905, Sunday 6 September: BEIGE
- Wordle #1904, Saturday 5 September: SOUPY
- Wordle #1903, Friday 4 September: WAGER
- Wordle #1902, Thursday 3 September: JOIST
- Wordle #1901, Wednesday 2 September: RULER
- Wordle #1900, Tuesday 1 September: REMIX
- Wordle #1899, Monday 31 August: MOUND
- Wordle #1898, Sunday 30 August: INTEL
- Wordle #1897, Saturday 29 August: BLOOD
- Wordle #1896, Friday 28 August: TWEEN
- Wordle #1895, Thursday 27 August: UNCUT
- Wordle #1894, Wednesday 26 August: CAPON
- Wordle #1893, Tuesday 25 August: CLICK
- Wordle #1892, Monday 24 August: RUNNY
- Wordle #1891, Sunday 23 August: OLDEN
- Wordle #1890, Saturday 22 August: PRAWN
- Wordle #1889, Friday 21 August: TRACE
- Wordle #1888, Thursday 20 August: MURKY
- Wordle #1887, Wednesday 19 August: GRILL
- Wordle #1886, Tuesday 18 August: STRIP
- Wordle #1885, Monday 17 August: TRIBE
- Wordle #1884, Sunday 16 August: ASPIC
- Wordle #1883, Saturday 15 August: LOOSE
- Wordle #1882, Friday 14 August: GEODE
- Wordle #1881, Thursday 13 August: CRASH
- Wordle #1880, Wednesday 12 August: WIMPY
- Wordle #1879, Tuesday 11 August: FENCE
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.
