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.
Wordle hints (game #1284) – 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 #1284) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is E.
We don’t get many Wordle answers that start with an E – though it’s the most common letter in the game, it’s only the 14th most likely to begin a solution.
Wordle hints (game #1284) – 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 #1284) – 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 #1284) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1284.
- Today’s Wordle answer is a bird.
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 #1284)
- NYT average score: 4.5
- My score: 5
- WordleBot’s score: 4
- Best start word performance*: STALE (14 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: NOMAD (439)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1284) is… EAGLE.
This will be one of those Wordles that divides opinion, mark my words. WordleBot says it currently has an average score of 4.5, which is super high; higher, in fact, than all but three other Wordles in the past month, the ridiculously tough uncommon-letter-and-ER-word BOXER (5.3), the uncommon-letter-and-too-many-answers word VYING (4.8), and the too-many-answers-tastic WITCH (also 4.5).
EAGLE has a different problem from any of those: a repeated E. That in itself shouldn’t explain such a high score, though, because E is a very likely letter to be repeated. In fact, as I show in my analysis of every Wordle answer, there are 172 games in which there are multiple Es, which is more than the total number of games in which V, X, Z, Q or J feature. In fact, it’s more than the combined total for the last four of those.
Given that the other letters here are A (the second most common letter in the game), L (the sixth) and G (less common at 17th, admittedly, but hardly rare) it’s at first glance hard to see what the real problem is here.
My suspicion is that the cause of some people’s discomfort here is the two vowels at the start. There are in fact only 23 of these pairings among the game’s 2,309 original solutions – which is around 1%. Here’s how they break down:
- AI (2)
- AO (1)
- AU (4)
- EA (7)
- EE (1)
- EI (1)
- IO (1)
- OA (1)
- OU (5)
As you can see, EA is the most common of them, but there are still only seven in total, of which EAGLE is the fourth. The others so far have been EARTH (game #752), EARLY (#993) and EASEL (#1229, not too long ago).
My other theory is that it was the commonality of the -A-LE format that tripped people up. And in fairness, that was the culprit in my game. FABLE, MAPLE, GABLE and CABLE were the most likely wrong answers to be played on guesses three, four and five at any rate – and it was the first of those that turned a four into a five for me.
I did have another problem, though – namely my start word. This was NOMAD, which gave me only a yellow A and which left 439 words. Those of you who played one of the best Wordle start words will likely have fared better; CRANE left 57, SLATE 20, STARE 47. Those people – particularly the SLATE crowd – may well be wondering what all the fuss was about today.
My second guess was STARE, and it cut down my shortlist to a far more manageable 19. I didn’t find them all, but was fairly certain that A would go second and that L would also be included; I had CABLE, FABLE, GABLE, VALVE, HALVE, CALVE and VALUE on my list. I also had some with A at the start, but again with an L: APPLE, AGILE, ALIKE.
Playing CAULK was designed to cut down those words, and it did the trick, leaving only three: FABLE, EAGLE and GABLE. Any of the three would guarantee me a solve in five at worst, so I picked my favorite, FABLE, and had to settle for that ‘worst’ option when it wasn’t right.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1283)
In a different time zone where it’s still Monday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1283, 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 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 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 #1283.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is hot and steamy.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1283)
- NYT average score: 3.7
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: SAINT (1 remaining answer)
- My start word performance: BRAND (30)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1283) was… SAUNA.
I’d love a nice SAUNA right now. It’s dreary where I am just outside of London; rather than being a lovely winter wonderland, with snow on the ground and icicles dangling from branches, it’s just cold, wet, dark and depressing. But hey, here’s Wordle to cheer us all up!
And it did cheer me up today, mainly because I scored a three that owed a lot to luck and not much to skill – a real festive gift for me.
SAUNA is potentially quite difficult, what with its repeated letter A, but it shouldn’t have been a nightmare before Christmas so long as you played sensibly. WordleBot says it has an average score of 3.7, and it doesn’t feature the too-many-answers problem that beset BLADE and BRAWN (to an extent) over the weekend.
The S at the start will have made things easier for many, too; if you began with SLATE you’ll have had only 22 words to choose from, while STARE was at 24.
My opener was BRAND – which would have been incredibly fortunate yesterday, but which was slightly less so today. Still, it cut the shortlist to 30 and put me on the path to success.
With a green N in the fourth slot, and a yellow A before it, I had a good idea of the kind of word formats to focus on. One was the nasty -AUNT trap, with HAUNT, TAUNT, GAUNT, VAUNT and JAUNT, another the -AINT variant (PAINT, TAINT, SAINT, FAINT). An ING ending was also possible; AGING, AXING, APING and ACING all made my list.
I definitely wanted I and G in there to cover that, plus a T for the AUNT/AINT words. S was a common extra, so I played GAITS and got lucky – it cut my 30-strong pool of words to a single choice, SAUNA. That didn’t seem likely at first, given that all it did was turn the A green and the S yellow, but once I began looking it was clear that it was the only word that fit. I played it next for a trouble-free 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 #1283, Monday 23 December: SAUNA
- Wordle #1282, Sunday 22 December: BRAWN
- Wordle #1281, Saturday 21 December: BLADE
- Wordle #1280, Friday 20 December: FLASH
- Wordle #1279, Thursday 19 December: STRAY
- Wordle #1278, Wednesday 18 December: HEFTY
- Wordle #1277, Tuesday 17 December: SCOWL
- Wordle #1276, Monday 16 December: BOAST
- Wordle #1275, Sunday 15 December: FUNKY
- Wordle #1274, Saturday 14 December: DROOL
- 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
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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