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.
Marc is TechRadar’s Global Editor in Chief and has been obsessed with Wordle for more than two years. He's authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom's Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in Wordle in every position. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
Wordle hints (game #1256) - 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 #1256) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is W.
W is a fairly average letter when it comes to starting an answer. There are 82 solutions that begin with a W, with means that it ranks 13th – so right in the middle of the alphabet.
Wordle hints (game #1256) - 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 #1256) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is H.
H is a regular visitor to the final spot in a Wordle word. It occurs 137 times at the end of a Wordle answer, making it the sixth most common letter there.
Wordle hints (game #1256) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1256.
- Today's Wordle answer (supposedly) has supernatural powers.
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 #1256)
- NYT average score: 4.5
- My score: 5
- WordleBot's score: 4
- Best start word performance*: TRICE (4 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: DEFER (852)
* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words
Today's Wordle answer (game #1256) is… WITCH.
There are theoretically six words that have the ITCH format, making it one of the worst formats of all for the too-many-answers thing.
Do you go for PITCH or DITCH or HITCH or WITCH, the slightly less obvious AITCH or possibly the B-word that is a valid option albeit one that I doubt will ever be a Wordle solution? Well, if you checked a past Wordle answers list or have a good memory, you'd know that HITCH has been a solution already – game #1065 in May this year. Surprisingly, though, that's the only one of the six to appear so far. Well, until today.
I didn't remember it, which ultimately led to me scoring a 5/6 rather than the 4/6 I could have got. And that was the difference between a good result and a bad one, because WITCH currently has an average of 4.5, according to WordleBot, placing it among the hardest answers this month.
I had a nightmare game all round, really. I began with DEFER, which gave me zero yellow or green letters and which left 852 possible answers. I then followed up with SLANT, which the 'bot said was "terrific" but which was unlucky and left 38.
I probably should have spotted the possible TCH ending pattern and played for it at this stage, but instead went with TOPIC and discovered it next; it had left me three answers, HITCH, WITCH and ITCHY. I didn't even consider the last of those three and forgot that the first had been an answer before, so played HITCH and had to wait until the fifth guess to uncover WITCH. Frustrating.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1255)
In a different time zone where it's still Monday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1255, 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 B.
B is a very, very common starting letter in Wordle. In fact, it's the third most common overall, behind only S and 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 N.
N is a pretty common ending letter in Wordle: it's the seventh most likely in that position and features in 130 solutions.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1255.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is a color.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1255)
- NYT average score: 4.2
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 3
- Best start word performance*: CRANE (6 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: ROGER (88)
* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1255) was… BROWN.
Sometimes your luck just isn't in. I didn't really do anything wrong yesterday beyond get lumbered with an unfortunate start word and then guess incorrectly on a 50/50. However, I had to settle for a frustrating 4/6; that's now my 18th out of the 25 Wordles we've had in November, joining three fives and four threes. I haven't checked yet, but I suspect this may be my worst month ever, in terms of my average score.
Then again, I won't have been the only one to score a four or lower – far from it. BROWN has an average of 4.2, making it one of the harder games we've seen in the past two weeks, and for one obvious reason. Or rather, five obvious reasons: FROWN, DROWN, CROWN, GROWN and BROWN itself. Yes, this is a too-many-answers Wordle.
How well you did will probably have depended a lot on luck – including whether you had a good start word today – and also on your memory, because FROWN was the answer not long ago (game #1,224) and CROWN in August (1,165). If you remembered those – or checked a past Wordle answers list such as the one I maintain – you'll have had a real advantage.
I didn't check that list, but I did recall that CROWN and FROWN had appeared before. And with GROWN ruled out by my opening guess, ROGER (which left 88 options), I ended up with a 50/50 between DROWN and BROWN. They were equally likely to be the answer, so I picked at random and got it wrong. Just my luck right now.
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 #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
- Wordle #1227, Monday 28 October: BAWDY
- Wordle #1226, Sunday 27 October: SANDY
- Wordle #1225, Saturday 26 October: WREAK
- Wordle #1224, Friday 25 October: FROWN
- Wordle #1223, Thursday 24 October: BOSSY
- Wordle #1222, Wednesday 23 October: GOOFY
- Wordle #1221, Tuesday 22 October: SHOUT
- Wordle #1220, Monday 21 October: SPOON
- Wordle #1219, Sunday 20 October: DICEY
- Wordle #1218, Saturday 19 October: FIBER
- Wordle #1217, Friday 18 October: STINT
- Wordle #1216, Thursday 17 October: HALVE
- Wordle #1215, Wednesday 16 October: GRANT
- Wordle #1214, Tuesday 15 October: CORER
- Wordle #1213, Monday 14 October: GAMUT
- Wordle #1212, Sunday 13 October: PRONE
- Wordle #1211, Saturday 12 October: STAIN
- Wordle #1210, Friday 11 October: GUSTY
- Wordle #1209, Thursday 10 October: CARVE
- Wordle #1208, Wednesday 9 October: MOMMY
- Wordle #1207, Tuesday 8 October: JOINT
- Wordle #1206, Monday 7 October: FLOUR
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.
