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 #1338) – 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 #1338) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is 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.
Wordle hints (game #1338) – 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 #1338) – 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 #1338) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1338.
- Today’s Wordle answer is smooth and sophisticated.
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 #1338)
- NYT average score: 4.3
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- My start word performance: WHOLE (225 remaining answers)
- WordleBot’s start word performance: CRANE (49)
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1338) is… SUAVE.
What a difficult few days this has been in Wordle. You’d have to go all the way back to January 2024 for the last time we had four consecutive games with an average score of 4.3 or above, although that quartet of EMBER, LEGGY, EXPEL and BULKY was arguably slightly tougher than RUMBA, DITTY, CROOK and today’s SUAVE.
SUAVE is on the slightly easier end of that tricky scale, with an average of 4.3, helped no doubt by the fact that it begins with the most common starting letter, features the most common middle letter in the center, and finishes with the most common ending letter.
The fact that it still seems to be causing so many problems is most likely due to the fact that among all of those S-A-E words, SUAVE is arguably the least common and features the least likely other two letters.
S-A-E is actually the most likely combination for those positions, with 23 of Wordle’s 2,309 original solutions having that format. We’ve already had 19 of them: SHAKE, SCARE, SHAME, SPADE, STALE, SLATE, STAGE, SPACE, SNARE, SNAKE, STATE, SHADE, SHAVE, SHAPE, SCALE, SKATE, STAKE, SHARE and STARE. So, theoretically, there are now only three more to come.
Look at that list and you’ll see a lot of common consonants filling in the gaps: Ts and Ls and Ds and Rs and Cs and Ns and Ps. The less common likes of K, H and G have generally been paired with another common one. And almost all are pretty common words, too.
SUAVE, in contrast, puts a U where you wouldn’t really expect it and adds in a V. Plus, it’s not a familiar word in the way that SPACE or STALE or STARE is. Obviously I know what it means, and I’m sure I’ve used it plenty of times, even if I can be almost certain nobody has ever used it about me. But it’s not SCARE common.
Using a list of past Wordle answers will undoubtedly have helped today, but looking at other people’s guesses, I suspect that many players didn’t do that – because there were lots of used-up solutions being played thoughout.
I didn’t consult a list myself, but escaped with a four thanks to a smart third guess. Things had not started too positively, though, with WHOLE leaving 225 possible answers. TRAIN discovered the middle A, but still left 15 words.
What I needed, then, was the perfect narrowing-down word. I got it in the shape of SPUDS – which is great, because I absolutely love potatoes in all of their forms. SPUDS was not guaranteed to find me the answer, because it might have left a 50/50 between PEACE or AGAPE, another between AMAZE and AGAVE, and a third between CEASE and ABASE – all of which were on my shortlist. But it would guarantee the answer if it were any others, such as SPACE, USAGE, EVADE, ADAGE, QUAKE or SCAPE.
WordleBot agreed that it was the best choice, and it was also lucky. Rather than leaving me one of those 50/50s it gave me the green S and yellow U that left SUAVE as the only answer. I’ll take that.
How did you do today? Send me an email or let me know in the comments.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1337)
In a different time zone where it’s still Saturday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1337, 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 C.
C is a very common starting letter in Wordle – in fact, it’s the second most common of all, behind only S.
- 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 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.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here’s an extra one for game #1337.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is a dishonest person.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1337)
- NYT average score: 4.5
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- My start word performance: SALON (45 remaining answers)
- WordleBot’s start word performance: CRANE (13)
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1337) was… CROOK.
It’s only a few days since I wrote an entire article about how the OO format is my least favorite in the whole of Wordle, but here I am making a mockery of my own words by scoring a three on that very same type of game.
What’s more, others are clearly struggling again; it has an average score of 4.5, which is only a tiny bit lower than Friday’s DITTY (which has now been revised up to 4.6). Given that GOODY (4.8) was on Monday and we’ve also had the 4.2-rated RUMBA, it really has been a tough week.
How did I manage it? Well, as always luck played a part. My opening word, SALON, was a pretty good one today, giving me a green O and leaving only 45 words. WordleBot’s CRANE was better still, though, reducing the pool to 13.
An O in position #4 now rings double-O alarm bells in my head, so I played for it right away by including an O in the middle of my second guess. I also did a little pre-planning on what letters might follow that pattern – with K (BROOK and CROOK) eventually gaining my vote. The R made sense, based both on that pattern and also the likes of DROOP, GROOM, PROOF and TROOP. But more so, it also featured in lots of non-OO words that could still have been the answer, for instance HONOR, MOTOR, HUMOR, RUMOR, PRIOR and ROBOT.
In the end I settled on BROCK, a word which I had never heard of before but which Wordle surprisingly accepted. It was not a hit with WordleBot – which awarded me only 64 for skill – but it was lucky. Very lucky.
Real word or not, BROCK confirmed the middle O, the R and the K and gave me a yellow C too. I couldn’t have asked for more, and it left me with only one possible solution, CROOK. So, for once, I got the better of the OO format. Here’s betting things will be back to normal next time, though.
Wordle answers: The past 50
I’ve been playing Wordle every day for more than three 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 #1337, Saturday 15 February: CROOK
- Wordle #1336, Friday 14 February: DITTY
- Wordle #1335, Thursday 13 February: RUMBA
- Wordle #1334, Wednesday 12 February: RAPID
- Wordle #1333, Tuesday 11 February: SCORE
- Wordle #1332, Monday 10 February: GOODY
- Wordle #1331, Sunday 9 February: BONUS
- Wordle #1330, Saturday 8 February: STEEP
- Wordle #1329, Friday 7 February: SWATH
- Wordle #1328, Thursday 6 February: PUPIL
- Wordle #1327, Wednesday 5 February: PEDAL
- Wordle #1326, Tuesday 4 February: TOOTH
- Wordle #1325, Monday 3 February: REVUE
- Wordle #1324, Sunday 2 February: CHORE
- Wordle #1323, Saturday 1 February: RIVET
- Wordle #1322, Friday 31 January: TOAST
- Wordle #1321, Thursday 30 January: FALSE
- Wordle #1320, Wednesday 29 January: UDDER
- Wordle #1319, Tuesday 28 January: FEVER
- Wordle #1318, Monday 27 January: SHUNT
- Wordle #1317, Sunday 26 January: SUNNY
- Wordle #1316, Saturday 25 January: CRISP
- Wordle #1315, Friday 24 January: CREPE
- Wordle #1314, Thursday 23 January: UPPER
- Wordle #1313, Wedneday 22 January: REACH
- Wordle #1312, Tuesday 21 January: ICING
- Wordle #1311, Monday 20 January: SQUID
- Wordle #1310, Sunday 19 January: ROWER
- Wordle #1309, Saturday 18 January: SILLY
- Wordle #1308, Friday 17 January: PROSE
- Wordle #1307, Thursday 16 January: FLINT
- Wordle #1306, Wednesday 15 January: KNACK
- Wordle #1305, Tuesday 14 January: FANCY
- Wordle #1304, Monday 13 January: CLOAK
- 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
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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