A new NYT Wordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing ‘today’s game’ while others are playing ‘yesterday’s’. If you’re looking for Friday’s puzzle instead then click here.
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 #1491) – 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 #1491) – 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 #1491) – 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 #1491) – clue #4 – ending letter
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today’s Wordle is D.
D is a fairly common letter to end a Wordle answer: it’s the eighth most likely to be in that position in a solution.
Wordle hints (game #1491) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1491.
- Today’s Wordle answer is a weapon.
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 #1491)
- NYT average score: 3.6
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 4
- My skill score: 94
- My luck score: 64
- My start word performance: CRANE (107 remaining answers)
- WordleBot’s start word performance: SLATE (71)
- Tomorrow’s start word: CRANE
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1491) is… SWORD.
Well, this is all a little freaky. For yesterday’s game, WordleBot awarded me a skill score of 94, a luck score of 64 and reported that my opening guess (CRANE) had left 107 possible solutions. Today… was exactly the same. That may well point the way to some underlying facet of the universe – a universal Wordle constant or something. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence.
Either way, one thing that it definitely is, is further proof that a good start word makes all the difference. No, this is not a surprise. But it doesn’t hurt to prove it now and then. And so, after five fours and then a five while using random openers, I’ve now scored two successive threes when beginning with CRANE.
What’s more, today I beat the ‘Bot – who is, admittedly, using SLATE now, so it’s not a direct comparison. But then again it did have only 71 options left to play with following its first word, so it had an advantage over me all the same.
SWORD is not a difficult Wordle. It has an average score of 3.6 and the only minor complicating factor is the SW pairing at the start.
Even then, it is only a slightly less common combination than the most likely options. S can precede 16 different letters at the beginning of a Wordle, and though ST, SH and SP stand out above the rest, SW is one of a middling group with SC, SL and SA.
Others are far less common – for instance there are only two SY words, of which SYRUP, game #671, is the only one to have appeared so far.
|
1st 2 letters |
Frequency |
|---|---|
|
ST |
65 |
|
SH |
52 |
|
SP |
45 |
|
SC |
29 |
|
SL |
27 |
|
SA |
23 |
|
SW |
23 |
|
SN |
18 |
|
SM |
15 |
|
SE |
14 |
|
SO |
14 |
|
SI |
13 |
|
SU |
13 |
|
SK |
9 |
|
SQ |
3 |
|
SY |
2 |
SWORD is the twelfth such SW word so far, with SWIRL (game #72), SWILL (#245), SWEET (#262), SWEAT (#611), SWEEP (#634), SWINE (#706), SWISH (#1069), SWUNG (#1088), SWOON (#1122), SWELL (#1239) and SWATH (#1329) being the others. We’re only just over halfway through the list, so expect plenty more in the remaining 900 or so games.
I said above that my stats for today were remarkably similar to those for yesterday’s – but then again, I did play the exact same first two words, following CRANE with TOURS.
Yesterday, it gave me green O and S. Today, it was green R, but yellow O and S. This time, I had two words left, rather than one – SWORD and SPORK. I wasn’t sure that SPORK would be an actual answer (although I very much hope that it is), so went with SWORD and scored my three.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1490)
In a different time zone where it’s still Friday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1490, 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 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.
- 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 S.
S is really not a common ending letter at all – mainly because Wordle generally doesn’t allow plurals. It’s the 15th most likely letter to appear at the end of an answer.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here’s an extra one for game #1490.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is a nocturnal primate.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1490)
- NYT average score: 4.1
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- My skill score: 94
- My luck score: 64
- My start word performance: CRANE (107 remaining answers)
- WordleBot’s start word performance: SLATE (6)
- Tomorrow’s start word: CRANE
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1490) was… LORIS.
The LORIS is a beautiful creature, what with its massive eyes staring out from an oh-so-cute face. But did you know that some species of LORIS – of which there are 11 in total – can be venomous? No, me neither. But apparently (and I can scarcely believe this) some can produce a venomous toxin in their armpit. What’s more, they coat their young with this venom, so they can leave them alone in the trees at night while they go off looking for food.
None of that is remotely relevant to this Wordle, but I thought it was interesting enough to share. It’s also not like I have a lot else to say, because starting with CRANE made my game a lot easier, just as I predicted it would.
Not that it was particularly successful as a start word, leaving 107 possibles, but by ruling out four common letters, and giving me a yellow R, it worked a lot harder than most of my random openers.
I followed up with TOURS solely because I wanted to use up another four common letters. I wouldn’t usually play an S at the end – because they rarely go there – but it was the best solution I could find to including the letters I wanted to use.
And as it happened, it was incredibly lucky – because the S turned green, as did the O.
This now left only one answer, which admittedly took me an absolute age to find. But eventually I did spot LORIS lurking among all of the random gibberish words I’d formed on my notepad, and played it for a welcome three.
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 #1490, Friday 18 July: LORIS
- Wordle #1489, Thursday 17 July: MODAL
- Wordle #1488, Wednesday 16 July: NERVY
- Wordle #1487, Tuesday 15 July: FOIST
- Wordle #1486, Monday 14 July: UNDID
- Wordle #1485, Sunday 13 July: GNOME
- Wordle #1484, Saturday 12 July: EXILE
- Wordle #1483, Friday 11 July: BRAND
- Wordle #1482, Thursday 10 July: JUMPY
- Wordle #1481, Wednesday 9 July: NOVEL
- Wordle #1480, Tuesday 8 July: DREAD
- Wordle #1479, Monday 7 July: STILT
- Wordle #1478, Sunday 6 July: ATRIA
- Wordle #1477, Saturday 5 July: BALER
- Wordle #1476, Friday 4 July: CURVE
- Wordle #1475, Thursday 3 July: POPPY
- Wordle #1474, Wednesday 2 July: INCUR
- Wordle #1473, Tuesday 1 July: MOLDY
- Wordle #1472, Monday 30 June: BLINK
- Wordle #1471, Sunday 29 June: WITTY
- Wordle #1470, Saturday 28 June: STUMP
- Wordle #1469, Friday 27 June: PLAIN
- Wordle #1468, Thursday 26 June: OFFER
- Wordle #1467, Wednesday 25 June: COMFY
- Wordle #1466, Tuesday 24 June: ELITE
- Wordle #1465, Monday 23 June: ODDLY
- Wordle #1464, Sunday 22 June: THRUM
- Wordle #1463, Saturday 21 June: GLADE
- Wordle #1462, Friday 20 June: TAUPE
- Wordle #1461, Thursday 19 June: CURIO
- Wordle #1460, Wednesday 18 June: MUNCH
- Wordle #1459, Tuesday 17 June: PRANK
- Wordle #1458, Monday 16 June: PETTY
- Wordle #1457, Sunday 15 June: QUAIL
- Wordle #1456, Saturday 14 June: GHOST
- Wordle #1455, Friday 13 June: BILGE
- Wordle #1454, Thursday 12 June: VIXEN
- Wordle #1453, Wednesday 11 June: PLAID
- Wordle #1452, Tuesday 10 June: TAFFY
- Wordle #1451, Monday 9 June: BOARD
- Wordle #1450, Sunday 8 June: LEASE
- Wordle #1449, Saturday 7 June: REUSE
- Wordle #1448, Friday 6 June: EDIFY
- Wordle #1447, Thursday 5 June: DATUM
- Wordle #1446, Wednesday 4 June: CEASE
- Wordle #1445, Tuesday 3 June: ADMIN
- Wordle #1444, Monday 2 June: PREEN
- Wordle #1443, Sunday 1 June: ROUGH
- Wordle #1442, Saturday 31 May: HABIT
- Wordle #1441, Friday 30 May: IDIOM
- Wordle #1440, Thursday 29 May: QUASH
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 in 2022 and is still going strong in 2025.
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’ Games 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.
12. The NYT has added in some of its own words, that weren’t in that list of 2,309 solutions. More will undoubtedly come over the next few years.
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