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 #1278) – clue #1 – Vowels
How many vowels does today’s Wordle have?
• Wordle today has a vowel in one place*.
* 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 #1278) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is H.
H is not a particularly common starting letter in Wordle: only 69 games begin with it, and it ranks in 15th place.
Wordle hints (game #1278) – 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 #1278) – clue #4 – ending letter
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today’s Wordle is Y.
Y is the second most common ending letter in the game, behind only E. In total, 364 Wordle answers end with a Y.
Wordle hints (game #1278) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1278.
- Today’s Wordle answer is big and heavy.
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 #1278)
- NYT average score: 4.0
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 4
- Best start word performance*: PLATE (11 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: ARMOR (683)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1278) is… HEFTY.
Here’s another decidedly average Wordle: average score of 4.0, bang in the middle of the range; averagely common letters in three positions, no major complications but also not remarkably easy as some are. I scored a four, WordleBot scored a four, you probably scored a four too.
Actually, you may not have done if you started with SLATE today, because that word left only 13 answers (PLATE was better still, at 11). But many of the popular choices were above 100, while CRANE was at a daunting 273.
That alone probably explains why the score is not lower, because the days on which the really popular start words underperform tend to be ones in which there are fewer low scores (obviously). And the reason for that underperformance will be the presence of H (ranked 14th overall), F (19th) and Y (12th) among the letters.
Still, there are not too many similarly spelled words here, which in turn will have tipped the balance back towards easier. LEFTY is the only one I can think of that differs by one letter, although if you change two then there are a few more options, including the likes of PETTY and JETTY.
My route to the answer didn’t take in those words, instead landing on THEFT via my poorly performing opener ARMOR (683 remaining) and my far more successful STILE (24). But if was THEFT that did the hard work, cutting my options to a pair: HEFTY and FETCH. And here I had a slice of luck – I completely, inexplicably, missed the latter of those two, so played HEFTY thinking it was the only possible solution. It was only when I consulted WordleBot later that I realized my mistake, by which time it was irrelevant.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1277)
In a different time zone where it’s still Tuesday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1277, too.
- Wordle yesterday had a vowel in one place.
* 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 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 #1277.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is an expression of displeasure.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1277)
- NYT average score: 4.0
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: SLICE (6 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: HOIST (38)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1277) was… SCOWL.
I don’t know if it’s possible for a dog to SCOWL, but I think mine might do it whenever he’s made to wait for his dinner. He definitely grumbles, letting out this sort of ‘Humph!’ sounds as he lies not-so-patiently in the corner. Does he SCOWL, though? The definition concerns a furrowing of the brow, and he does have very expressive eyebrows, so I think maybe it does count. In fact I’m sure it does. My dog is a scowler.
Anyway, my dog didn’t solve today’s Wordle, but I did, in four moves. That, coincidentally, is exactly the average score for the game, which rather surprised me; I suspected it would be lower than that, on account of containing four very common letters.
Then again, it also contains a W – which, as my analysis of every Wordle answer shows, is the sixth least common letter in the game. Maybe that was the factor that made this harder than yesterday’s BOAST (see below), or maybe it was that lots of people played SCOLD instead.
I was among those unfortunate souls, but it wasn’t on a 50/50 at least. My opening HOIST had performed rather well, leaving me 38 answers, and my follow-up PRONE had reduced that to five.
These were SCOLD, SCOWL, SMOCK, SMOKY and SCOFF, all easy to find given that S is only every followed at the start of a word by one of nine consonants: T, H, W, P, L, K, M, N and C. Four of these were ruled out by my third guess, so it wasn’t too tricky to work through the possibilities for SWO–, SMO–, SCO– and so on.
The good news for me was that playing either SCOLD or SCOWL would guarantee me the answer in four at worst, whereas playing SCOFF might leave a 50/50 and playing SMOKY or SMOCK might leave a three-way choice. I went with the more common D in SCOLD over the W in SCOWL, not knowing that the former had been a past Wordle answer (in February 2023, game #592), and had to settle for a four after all.
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 #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
- Wordle #1233, Sunday 3 November: BLAZE
- Wordle #1232, Saturday 2 November: SNOOP
- Wordle #1231, Friday 1 November: SIXTH
- Wordle #1230, Thursday 31 October: WEIRD
- Wordle #1229, Wednesday 30 October: EASEL
- Wordle #1228, Tuesday 29 October: TUNIC
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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