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 #1142) – 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 #1142) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is L.
L is a surprisingly uncommon starting letter in Wordle. Despite being the sixth most common letter overall, it’s only ranked 12th at the beginning of a word.
Wordle hints (game #1142) – 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 #1142) – 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 #1142) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1142.
- Today’s Wordle answer is a relative position.
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 #1142)
- NYT average score: 4.5
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 5
- Best start word performance*: LEAST (25 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: EMBED (207)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1142) is… LOWER.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the Wordle board, along comes an ER answer to make life much more complicated… LOWER has an average score of 4.5 at the time of writing, making it the toughest since another ER word, REFER, a couple of weeks ago. It doesn’t have the double-repeated letter of that word, but it does have an uncommon W in the middle.
More importantly, it’s a word with many other similar answers that differ only by a letter: ROWER, POWER, COWER, MOWER, LOVER, LOSER and LONER. And with two letters changed, you could also have dozens more, far too many to list here.
LOVER, in particular, tripped up a lot of people; according to WordleBot, more people guessed it than the actual answer on the second go, while on the third attempt 10% of Wordlers played it and on the fourth that increased to 11%.
It’s not a word where the most popular start words helped much: the best of WordleBot’s top 20 was LEAST, which left 25, but the likes of CRANE (191), SLATE (98) and STARE (185) were more representative. My word, EMBED, was in a similar range, leaving 207, but I did at least have a green E. That immediately raised the specter of it being an ER word, so I guessed STAIR next in order to see if the R turned green at the end. It did, and that cut my options list to 31 – so I still had some work to do.
That work consisted of narrowing down which letters would go in positions #1 and #3; I was already fairly sure the letter in #2 would be an O. My list contained about two-dozen options, but there were patterns in terms of those missing consonants: C (COVER, COWER), L (LOVER, LOWER), W (POWER, ROWER) and N (OWNER, LONER).
There were others too, of course, and I nearly played FLOWN or PYLON to cover off some of those possibles, such as POKER and FOYER. But in the end I went with CLOWN – and got very lucky. The L, O and W all turned yellow, which meant I now had only one choice left: LOWER. I played that next for my 4/6, and beat WordleBot (5/6) too, to make it a very good day.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1141)
In a different time zone where it’s still Saturday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1141, 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 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 #1141.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is a musical series.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1141)
- NYT average score: 3.2 (revised)
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 2
- Best start word performance*: PLACE, SLICE (1 remaining answer)
- My start word performance: BROWN (853)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1141) was… SCALE.
There will be LOTS of low scores today, because SCALE is among the easiest Wordles in recent weeks. WordleBot says it currently has an average of 3.4 – meaning that only ENACT and PROUD have been lower going all the way back to late April [note – it was revised to 3.2 by the end of the day]. Even I scored a 3/6 today, which given my recent form is quite the achievement. Although that success was tempered slightly by the fact that the ‘bot got a two. Bah!
As to why it’s so easy, well anyone who’s familiar with my analysis of every Wordle answer – or indeed knows anything about letters – will know that all five are very common. What’s more, S is by far the most common starting letter, A the most common middle letter, and E the most common at the end. It really was all set up for a simple solve.
I achieved my three despite my random opening word, BROWN, giving me zero letters and leaving 800-plus possible answers. Contrast that to CRANE (6), SLATE (3) and STARE (14) and you can see that I was at a disadvantage right away. But the fact that I still got home in two more guesses shows how easy it was.
I followed up with an obvious second guess, SLATE, and that left me with only two choices: SCALE or SHALE. I went with the more obvious of the two words, and was rewarded with my first below-par score since SUPER nearly a week ago. It just shows that playing safely can sometimes be the best approach; maybe I’ve been overthinking things lately?
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 #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
- Wordle #1095, Tuesday 18 June: COVER
- Wordle #1094, Monday 17 June: PRIOR
- Wordle #1093, Sunday 16 June: GRIND
- Wordle #1092, Saturday 15 June: PROUD
- Wordle #1091, Friday 14 June: VAULT
- Wordle #1090, Thursday 13 June: ANGST
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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