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 #1304) – 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 #1304) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is C.
C is a very common starting letter in Wordle – in fact, it’s the second most common of all, behind only S.
Wordle hints (game #1304) – 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 #1304) – clue #4 – ending letter
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today’s Wordle is K.
K is much more common at the end of a Wordle answer than at the start, and in fact ranks ninth overall in this regard.
Wordle hints (game #1304) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1304.
- Today’s Wordle answer is a loosely worn garment.
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 #1304)
- NYT average score: 3.4
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: PLACE (2 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: CLUED (18)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1304) is… CLOAK.
Okay, that’s it. I have reached rock bottom with my Wordle performances so far in 2025 and I WILL improve from here, even if I need to spend five hours every day working through every possible combination of letters from guess two onwards (I won’t really do this).
Yes, I scored a four, and that’s not terrible, but a) the average today is 3.4, so ultra-low and b) I made a terrible mistake that potentially cost me a three (and definitely made me look very stupid).
In my defence, it’s very cold here in the UK right now, and I think my brain has frozen a little.
Anyway: CLOAK. An answer that many people are finding rather easy, probably thanks to CRANE and SLATE, the two best Wordle start words of them all, leaving only 16 answers. Well, that and the fact that the first four letters are very common, but then that’s also why those start words performed well.
My start word was almost as successful, with CLUED giving me the CL opening and cutting the possibles list to a mere 18. I should really have got home in two more guesses from here. My second attempt was fine – definitely not perfect, but MINKS was rated at 88 out of 99 for skill, and should have left two at worst. Unfortunately it was very unlucky – 8 out of 99 – and left three. These were CLOCK, CLOAK and CLACK, and given that CLOCK has been a past Wordle answer (I checked), I should have played one of the other two. At worst I’d score a four, and I might score a three.
Instead, for some strange reason that I can’t fathom, I played CLANK, despite knowing that it couldn’t be the answer because the N was already ruled out. I have no idea why I did this.
On the plus side it did guarantee me a four by leaving CLOAK as the only possible solution, but this was a long way from my finest hour and I will be prepared to receive your justified criticism tomorrow. Or don’t do that and just send me a funny animal GIF instead, if you’re feeling kind.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1303)
In a different time zone where it’s still Sunday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1303, 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 T.
T is one of the most common starting letters in the game, beginning 149 of Wordle’s 2,309 answers. That gives it a ranking of fourth in the alphabet, behind only S, C and B.
- 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 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.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here’s an extra one for game #1303.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is an entire quantity.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1303)
- NYT average score: 3.7
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: TASER (13 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: AIDER (274)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1303) was… TOTAL.
Repeated letters generally make Wordles harder, but there are always exceptions and TOTAL appears to be one of them. According to WordleBot it currently has an average score of 3.7, which is below the overall average of 3.9 and lower than each of the previous four words: DRAFT, WAFER, CRAWL and DINGY.
It’s not like T is even that likely to be repeated. Okay, so it’s fifth in this regard behind E, O, L and A, but given that only 61 out of the original 2,309 solutions contain more than one T, it’s not exactly something to play for.
Why so low then? Well, all four letters are very common individually, and many are also common in their specific positions here. T is the fourth most likely to start a word, O the second most likely to come second, T the fourth in the middle, L the fifth at the end. This will have given many players greens rather than yellows, and helped them to narrow down the options more quickly.
Or rather, that will be the case for some. My game, on the other hand, was a yellow-fest until the third guess, when I solved it. But then again, I don’t use one of the best Wordle start words, instead going with a random choice each day. And yesterday, that choice was AIDER, which only contained one of those four letters, an A in the ‘wrong’ place.
That left me with 274 possible answers, and while my second guess SLANT was a good one – 98 out of 99 for skill, said the ‘bot – it only gave me yellows and left nine words. Another four was on the cards.
Fortunately, the ideal narrowing-down word ended up being the answer. I played TOTAL in order to try to place the T, and with the knowledge that it would definitely rule in/out all of the six words I’d come up with: TALLY, TUBAL, FATAL, MALTY and LATCH, plus TOTAL itself. As it happened, I’d missed three – WALTZ, TALKY and OCTAL – and might have ended up with a 50/50 and an eventual five. But that didn’t happen. Instead, TOTAL proved to be the solution and I scored a lucky three.
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 #1303, Sunday 12 January: TOTAL
- Wordle #1302, Saturday 11 January: DINGY
- Wordle #1301, Friday 10 January: CRAWL
- Wordle #1300, Thursday 9 January: WAFER
- Wordle #1299, Wednesday 8 January: DRAFT
- Wordle #1298, Tuesday 7 January: ATLAS
- Wordle #1297, Monday 6 January: SPRIG
- Wordle #1296, Sunday 5 January: CYBER
- Wordle #1295, Saturday 4 January: RELAX
- Wordle #1294, Friday 3 January: CHEAP
- Wordle #1293, Thursday 2 January: CHOSE
- Wordle #1292, Wednesday 1 January: NERVE
- Wordle #1291, Tuesday 31 December: LEMUR
- Wordle #1290, Monday 30 December: STARE
- Wordle #1289, Sunday 29 December: MAMBO
- Wordle #1288, Saturday 28 December: DECRY
- Wordle #1287, Friday 27 December: GRAIN
- Wordle #1286, Thursday 26 December: AFFIX
- Wordle #1285, Wednesday 25 December: SHARE
- Wordle #1284, Tuesday 24 December: EAGLE
- 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
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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