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? My Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, and you can also take a look at my NYT Strands today and NYT Connections today pages for my 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.
Wordle hints (game #1148) – 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 #1148) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is M.
M is a middling letter when it comes to starting a word. It sits 10th in the rankings, with 107 occurrences in the 2,309 answers.
Wordle hints (game #1148) – 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 #1148) – clue #4 – ending letter
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today’s Wordle is C.
C is a fairly uncommon letter to end a Wordle answer – it’s only the 16th most likely to be found there.
Wordle hints (game #1148) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1148.
- Today’s Wordle answer is someone who heals.
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 #1148)
- NYT average score: 3.8
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: TRICE (5 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: RIFLE (41)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1148) is… MEDIC.
I had a fair bit of luck with today’s Wordle – although it may not have mattered too much either way, because it’s not a particularly difficult one.
WordleBot says it has an average score of 3.8, which puts it slightly above yesterday’s OUNCE (which was revised down to 3.7 during the day) but still below the mean for the game, which sits at 3.96. There are no particular complications to be aware of, beyond the fact that M is only a middling start letter, probability-wise – but that’s hardly on a par with it containing an X or J, for instance.
My game began well enough, with RIFLE giving me two yellows and cutting my options to 41. WordleBot was luckier still – CRANE left 21 – but the pick of the most popular words was AUDIO, which reduced the options pool to a trio.
I wanted to include S and T in my second guess, because with R and L already ruled out they were the two most common consonants left. Ideally I’d also have added in a C or N, but couldn’t think of a good word so instead went with HEIST. This worked pretty well, turning the E green and cutting my shortlist to four.
At this stage I set about finding the possible answers, and came up with three of them: MEDIC, MEDIA and BEGIN. The fourth, WordleBot said afterwards, was DENIM. Both MEDIA and MEDIC were guaranteed to give me the answer in four at worst, assuming I hadn’t missed any answers, so there was no reason for me to play another narrowing-down word.
Instead, I had to pick between those two – so which one to choose? I had an inkling that MEDIA might have been a past Wordle answer and indeed it had – game #1,056 in May this year. I only checked that afterwards, but I guess that’s why I vaguely recalled it, although I certainly wasn’t sure enough to rule it out entirely.
Anyway, that was enough reason for me to play MEDIC, and I was rewarded with another 3/6.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1147)
In a different time zone where it’s still Friday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1147, too.
- Wordle yesterday had 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).
- The first letter in yesterday’s Wordle answer was O.
Vowels are generally less common than you’d expect at the start of a word, and O is only the 17th most likely letter to begin a Wordle answer.
- 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 #1147.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is a weight.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1147)
- NYT average score: 3.7 (revised)
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: CRANE (11 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: SERIF (388)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1147) was… OUNCE.
Wordles with three or more vowels are typically much easier to solve than those with one (or none). The average for the game overall (from the nearly 900 Wordles I have a score for) is currently 3.962. For those answers with one or zero vowels, that goes up to 3.998 – but for those with three or four, it drops to 3.942.
It’s not a huge difference, admittedly, but it’s there – and it’s understandable. Vowels are easier to find than consonants, because there are only five standard vowels but 21 consonants. Plus, most of the best – and most popular – start words contain two, three or even four vowels (in the case of AUDIO and ADIEU).
OUNCE not only contains three vowels, but the two consonants are also the super-common C and N, so you’d expect it to have a nice, low average today. At the time of writing, it’s at 3.8 – which is below the average, but not super-low. I suspect it may drop further over time, though [note: it did – to 3.7], because there’s really nothing to fear here.
As is usually the case, a couple of popular start words made big inroads into the answers list today: AUDIO, the second most-played opener of all, left 14, while CRANE was at 11. Others were not so lucky, with STARE leaving 107, for instance. My opener today was SERIF, and it was in the latter category – and then some. SERIF was “a strong opening guess,” said WordleBot, but it left a whopping 388 options.
OUNCE’s easiness is reflected by the fact that I still got home in three despite that start. With S and R ruled out I wanted to include three from T, L, C and N, plus either A or O as a second vowel. CLONE was my pick, and it was incredibly lucky, giving me yellow C, O and N, and turning the E green. That left me with only one answer left, so I played it next for my 3/6.
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 #1147, Friday 9 August: OUNCE
- Wordle #1146, Thursday 8 August: SAUCY
- Wordle #1145, Wednesday 7 August: MACAW
- Wordle #1144, Tuesday 6 August: ANVIL
- Wordle #1143, Monday 5 August: ENSUE
- Wordle #1142, Sunday 4 August: LOWER
- Wordle #1141, Saturday 3 August: SCALE
- Wordle #1140, Friday 2 August: FLAKE
- Wordle #1139, Thursday 1 August: CHALK
- Wordle #1138, Wednesday 31 July: PENNE
- Wordle #1137, Tuesday 30 July: FERAL
- Wordle #1136, Monday 29 July: SUPER
- Wordle #1135, Sunday 28 July: SMOCK
- Wordle #1134, Saturday 27 July: JUICE
- Wordle #1133, Friday 26 July: AWASH
- Wordle #1132, Thursday 25 July: PORCH
- Wordle #1131, Wednesday 24 July: FORTE
- Wordle #1130, Tuesday 23 July: PRONG
- Wordle #1129, Monday 22 July: CADET
- Wordle #1128, Sunday 21 July: SPECK
- Wordle #1127, Saturday 20 July: SHAFT
- Wordle #1126, Friday 19 July: REFER
- Wordle #1125, Thursday 18 July: NERDY
- Wordle #1124, Wednesday 17 July: QUITE
- Wordle #1123, Tuesday 16 July: DECOY
- Wordle #1122, Monday 15 July: SWOON
- Wordle #1121, Sunday 14 July: VIDEO
- Wordle #1120, Saturday 13 July: ENACT
- Wordle #1119, Friday 12 July: JIFFY
- Wordle #1118, Thursday 11 July: CAMEO
- Wordle #1117, Wednesday 10 July: GAUNT
- Wordle #1116, Tuesday 9 July: BLARE
- Wordle #1115, Monday 8 July: SHAPE
- Wordle #1114, Sunday 7 July: CANON
- Wordle #1113, Saturday 6 July: SCOFF
- Wordle #1112, Friday 5 July: CRUSH
- Wordle #1111, Thursday 4 July: DEBUT
- Wordle #1110, Wednesday 3 July: THIGH
- Wordle #1109, Tuesday 2 July: INLAY
- Wordle #1108, Monday 1 July: ADAGE
- Wordle #1107, Sunday 30 June: BUDDY
- Wordle #1106, Saturday 29 June: ZEBRA
- Wordle #1105, Friday 28 June: DROVE
- Wordle #1104, Thursday 27 June: ORDER
- Wordle #1103, Wednesday 26 June: KNEAD
- Wordle #1102, Tuesday 25 June: SAVOR
- Wordle #1101, Monday 24 June: DOLLY
- Wordle #1100, Sunday 23 June: BUGLE
- Wordle #1099, Saturday 22 June: EDICT
- Wordle #1098, Friday 21 June: PAINT
- Wordle #1097, Thursday 20 June: SCENT
- Wordle #1096, Wednesday 19 June: TERSE
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.
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