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.
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 and a guide to the best Wordle start words. He's also played every Wordle ever and only lost once and yes, he takes it all too seriously.
Wordle hints (game #1297) - 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 #1297) - 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 #1297) - 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 #1297) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is G.
G is not a common letter to end a Wordle answer – in fact only 41 of Wordle's 2,309 games finish with one.
Wordle hints (game #1297) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1297.
- Today's Wordle answer is a small piece of vegetation.
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 #1297)
- NYT average score: 3.7
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 4
- Best start word performance*: PARSE (5 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: PUFFY (191)
* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words
Today's Wordle answer (game #1297) is… SPRIG.
It's taken until the sixth day of the new year for me to score a 3/6 at Wordle, but I finally got there today with SPRIG. And I beat WordleBot into the bargain, which is always a bonus.
To that I owe my second word, which did all of the hard work in cutting my options down from the 191 left by my opening PUFFY to only a single solution. There was luck involved in that – WordleBot said my expected solutions after that second guess were 6.6, so to jump straight to the answer was fortunate. But I also think I was owed a little luck after a pretty poor time of it lately with my start words.
SPRIG is not a particularly difficult word – its average currently sits at 3.7, so nearly a full guess below that for yesterday's CYBER (4.6). Three of the letters are very common, while P and G are best described as middling. But as my analysis of every Wordle answer shows, the SP combination at the start is a very likely one: equal third behind ST and SH, and level with CR. There are 45 words that begin SP among the 2,309 original answers, so when PUFFY gave me a yellow P, I immediately began thinking of SP words to play next.
The one I went for was SPARE, and when that R turned yellow, SPRIG was the only answer left. I played that next for my much-needed three.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1296)
In a different time zone where it's still Sunday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1296, 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 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 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 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.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1296.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer relates to computers.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1296)
- NYT average score: 4.6 (revised)
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- Best start word performance*: CRATE (11 remaining answers)
- My start word performance: SLEET (295)
* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1296) was… CYBER.
I write regularly about how difficult ER words are, but sometimes numbers can really help illustrate a point. So noodle on this one: ER words are on average nearly half a guess tougher than other answers.
That might not sound like a lot, but it Wordle terms it's huge, pushing the average from just below four (meaning most people probably scored either threes or fours) to nearly 4.4 (meaning most will have got fours or fives).
They've been absolutely brutal lately, too. In the past six months we've had a run of 11 ER solutions which collectively average 4.6, starting with LOWER (game #1142 in early August, average score 4.5) and taking in the likes of RIDER (#1198, 4.6), CORER (#1214, 5.7), FIBER (#1218, 5.0) and BOXER (#1273, 5.3)
CYBER, today's answer, currently stands at 4.5, and I wouldn't be surprised if it goes higher [note – it did, to 4.6], as it is an objectively difficult one on account of that misplaced Y. Most ER words go consonant-vowel-consonant-E-R, with the commonality of the consonants generally determining the difficulty of the solve. For instance, BOXER, with its X, is a lot harder than a word like LOSER.
Today's consonants, C and B, are both fairly common – although B less so when it's not at the start of a word – but Y is not a regular visitor to that second slot. As my analysis of every Wordle answer shows, it occurs only 22 times there in total, compared to 364 games in which it appears at the end of an answer, which is one of the biggest swings in the entire game.
You'll have needed either a good strategy or a lucky first guess today. Fortunately, a couple of the best Wordle starting words really helped out, with CRANE leaving only 12 and CRATE 11. Starting with an ER word such as TASER won't necessarily have worked, though, because that still left 105 answers; there are simply so many ER words to chose from.
I got a little lucky with my randomly chosen opener, SLEET, although it didn't feel it at the time. SLEET contains two Es, obviously, and double letters aren't usually welcome guests in start words. But it did mean I could rule out all -E-ER words later on. With a green E in place, I knew an ER word was likely, so played the R at the end of NADIR to hunt for it and guessed right. Unfortunately, it was an unlucky guess otherwise, failing to uncover any other letters and leaving me with 30 options.
My third guess was the total opposite, though. I played PORCH in order to include as many common consonants as I could and when the C turned yellow without the O it ruled out COVER and COWER. Meanwhile, the confirmation that there was no second R in the middle did for CORER and CURER (although I knew the first of those had been a past Wordle answer anyway).
Remarkably, this left only one answer, CYBER, so I played that next for a welcome 4/6.
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 #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
- Wordle #1286, Thursday 26 December: AFFIX
- Wordle #1285, Wednesday 25 December: SHARE
- Wordle #1284, Tuesday 24 December: EAGLE
- Wordle #1283, Monday 23 December: SAUNA
- Wordle #1282, Sunday 22 December: BRAWN
- Wordle #1281, Saturday 21 December: BLADE
- Wordle #1280, Friday 20 December: FLASH
- Wordle #1279, Thursday 19 December: STRAY
- Wordle #1278, Wednesday 18 December: HEFTY
- 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
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.
