Guide

How to Play Wordle

Wordle is a daily five-letter word game. You get six guesses. After each try, green, yellow, and gray tiles tell you what to keep, move, or drop — until you lock the wordle of the day or run out of attempts.

What you are trying to do

Guess the secret five-letter word in six valid English guesses. The official NYT Wordle puzzle is the same for players on a given local calendar day. This site is an independent helper — not the game itself — and we never invent today's answer.

If you already know the rules and just want a nudge, go straight to today's Wordle hint page. Spoiler-safe clues sit behind reveals so you can stop before the solution.

How a turn works

Type a real five-letter word the game accepts, then submit. Every letter tile flips to one of three colors:

Those three colors are the entire language of the puzzle. Everything else — openers, probes, endgame shortlists — is just reading them carefully.

Guessing rules that trip beginners

Every guess must be a valid word in the game's dictionary. That includes some plurals and past-tense forms you might not expect as answers. Invalid strings simply will not submit.

You always have six tries total. There is no timer inside a single puzzle, but a new official puzzle unlocks at midnight in your local timezone on the NYT Wordle site. Our homepage uses a configured publishing timezone so “today” stays consistent for readers — details on methodology.

Repeated letters

Answers can include a double letter (think patterns like a repeated consonant). Color feedback tracks how many copies remain. A gray tile for a letter you already saw as green or yellow often means “no more copies,” not “this letter never appears.” Misreading that is one of the fastest ways to lose a streak.

Hard mode in one sentence

Hard mode forces every later guess to reuse all revealed greens and yellows. It removes free “probe” words. Full walkthrough: Wordle hard mode.

A simple first-session plan

  1. Start with a balanced opener that mixes common vowels and consonants — see best Wordle starting words.
  2. On guess two, chase new high-value letters if the board is cold, or lock in what greens and yellows already told you.
  3. By guess four, stop fishing for random letters. Build candidate words that fit every tile.
  4. If you stall, use progressive clues on Wordle Hints Today, or narrow options with the Wordle solver and word finder.

Where to go next

Learn the formal checklist on Wordle rules, build habits with Wordle strategy, or skim quick tips and tricks. For prior solutions, use past Wordle answers.

Frequently asked questions

How many guesses do you get in Wordle?

Six. Each must be a valid five-letter word. After six misses, the official game reveals the answer and the day is over.

What do green, yellow, and gray tiles mean?

Green means correct letter and position. Yellow means the letter is in the word but in the wrong spot. Gray means that letter is not available (or no remaining copies of it).

Is Wordle the same on the NYT app and website?

Yes. The New York Times Games app and the browser version share the same daily puzzle. Searches like “nyt wordle today” and “wordle new york times today” point to that same game.

Can I get a hint without seeing today's answer?

Yes. Our homepage is built for progressive, spoiler-safe clues. Reveal only what you need, then stop.