Wordle Guide: How to Play, Hints, Answers & History

You’ve probably seen those green, yellow, and gray squares on your social feed, and what started as a private puzzle between two people has turned into a global daily ritual. This guide will walk you through everything about Wordle: how to play, proven strategies, the story behind it, and how to get the most out of every puzzle.

Creator: Josh Wardle ·
Acquired by: The New York Times, January 2022 ·
Daily puzzle length: 5 letters ·
Maximum guesses: 6 ·
Platform: Web browser (NYT Games)

Six facts about Wordle, from its creator to the exact number of guesses you get:

What is Wordle?

How does Wordle work?

• Wordle is a daily online word puzzle in which players have six attempts to guess a single hidden five-letter English word (Word.tips – word game helper).
• After each guess, letters are color-coded: green if the letter is in the correct position, yellow if the letter is in the word but in a different position, and gray if the letter is not in the word at all (Word.tips – word game helper).
• If a player does not guess the correct word in six tries, the answer is automatically revealed after the final guess (Word.tips – word game helper).

What makes Wordle different from other word games?

• Wordle was originally created by Welsh-born software engineer Josh Wardle as a game for him and his partner to play together, and he later released it publicly (Gates Notes – Bill Gates’ blog).
• The New York Times acquired Wordle in January 2022 for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, moving it to its own site and adding leaderboard and stats (TechRadar – technology news outlet).
• The interface provides an optional Hard Mode that requires players to reuse any revealed green or yellow letters in subsequent guesses, but standard mode does not force you to reuse them (TechRadar – technology news outlet).

How to get a Wordle hint?

What are good starting words for Wordle?

• Common Wordle strategy advice is to choose an opening word containing several of the most frequent English letters such as E, A, R, O, T, I, N, and S to maximize information from the first guess (Word.tips – word game helper).
• A data-analytics study by Science Foundation Ireland suggested that the one-word starting seed “tales” achieves successful solutions in over 95% of games, with an average of 3.66 guesses when played optimally (Science Foundation Ireland – research agency).
• The same Science Foundation Ireland analysis found that using the two opening words “cones” followed by “trial” produced successful solutions for just over 96% of target words, with an average of 3.68 guesses (Science Foundation Ireland – research agency).
• New York Times contributors and puzzle experts such as David Kwong recommend starting with words like STARE or SIREN that pack in common consonants and vowels, then following with another word that covers many remaining letters like DOING or LUCKY (BuzzFeedVideo (David Kwong) – video segment).

How does Wordle Bot provide hints?

• Wordle Bot is an analysis tool by the New York Times that provides a skill rating and alternative solutions after you complete the daily puzzle. It gives a breakdown of your guesses and recommends stronger starting words (Android Police – tech & gaming site).
• Some hint and answer sites claim that statistically strong opening words for Wordle include CANOE, ROATE, and CRANE based on analyses of letter frequencies and feedback from tools such as NYT WordleBot and Startle (WordFinder by YourDictionary – word game helper). Because the NYT does not officially endorse these, treat them as community suggestions.

Are there third-party hint tools?

• Commercial helper tools such as Wordle answer finders advise beginning with words that contain three different vowels and two common consonants to reduce the solution space as quickly as possible (Word.tips – word game helper).
• Many Wordle tutorials emphasize tracking eliminated letters and not reusing gray letters in later guesses to avoid wasting information (Word.tips – word game helper).

What is today’s Wordle answer?

Where can I find today’s Wordle answer?

• The answer is revealed on the official NYT Wordle page after you complete the puzzle. Many websites, including Tom’s Guide – tech advice site and TechRadar – technology news outlet, post the answer daily along with hints.
• You can play Wordle in a browser on both desktop and mobile devices without downloading an app (Tom’s Guide – tech advice site).

Is it considered cheating to look up answers?

Most players treat Wordle as a personal challenge. Looking up the answer defeats the puzzle’s purpose, but there’s no rule against it. The NYT does not enforce penalties — the experience is entirely self-regulated.

How to avoid spoilers?

• Some strategy articles explicitly recommend staying offline or muting social media before playing each day’s puzzle to avoid spoilers and to maintain focus (Android Police – tech & gaming site).
• The NYT’s official Wordle page does not show the answer until you finish, so playing there first is the safest way.

What is Wordle Bot?

How does Wordle Bot analyze my game?

• Wordle Bot is an analysis tool by the New York Times. It provides a skill rating, compares your guesses to optimal play, and suggests alternative solutions (Android Police – tech & gaming site).
• Accessible after completing the daily puzzle, it breaks down each guess with a percentage score and shows the probability that your starting word was optimal.

Is Wordle Bot free?

Yes, Wordle Bot is free to use for NYT Games subscribers as part of the package. Non-subscribers can still access some analysis features via the NYT Wordle page.

What insights does Wordle Bot provide?

• The bot evaluates your starting word against the current answer bank and rates your guess efficiency.
• It offers alternative paths: “If you had started with CRANE instead, your average skill rating would be X%.”

How to access Wordle archive?

Is there an official Wordle archive?

The New York Times does not officially provide an archive of past puzzles. Once a day’s puzzle ends, it cannot be replayed on the official site.

Are there third-party archives?

• Third-party sites like “Wordle Archive” offer playable past puzzles. These are not endorsed by NYT and may contain different word lists (Android Police – tech & gaming site).
• Wordle Unlimited is a popular variant that lets you play as many puzzles as you want, using a different word list.

Can I play past puzzles?

Yes, through third-party archives. However, the experience differs: word lists may not match the current NYT selection, and some include offensive words that NYT removed. Proceed with caution.

The daily Wordle habit shows no sign of fading. For the casual player, the game offers a brief mental reset. For the strategist, it’s an endlessly optimizable puzzle. Either way, the squares keep appearing — and that shared experience is what keeps the phenomenon alive. For players in the US and beyond, the choice is clear: solve for yourself, or join the conversation after the reveal.