Most people find uncovering today's Wordle answer to be a little tricky. According to the New York Times' WordleBot, the average player completes Wordle #1,618 in 4.4 moves in both easy and hard modes.
Each day, we will update this article with Wordle hints and tips to help you find today's answer. And if the hints aren't enough, we'll even give you the answer, in case you're really stuck or just haven't had time to complete today's puzzle. Plus, we are also including an analysis of yesterday's puzzle, #1,617, in case you're reading this in a different time zone.
So be warned: spoilers lie ahead for game #1,618, Only read on if you want to know today's Wordle answer!
Today's Wordle answer — hints to help you solve it
Our first tip is that you should use one of the best Wordle start words for every game you play. But if you want some more specific clues to today's Wordle answer, then here you go:
- It contains one of the five vowels.*
- There is one repeated character.
- It doesn't feature any of the five most common Wordle letters.
* By vowel, we mean A, E, I, O, U. There are other letters that are sometimes considered to be vowels, depending on how they are used.
Those hints should get you at least some of the way towards finding today's Wordle answer. If not, then you can read on for bigger clues; or, if you just want to know the answer, then skip down further for that.
Alright then, here's a larger hint: Today's Wordle answer is a mammal.
What does today's Wordle start with?
The answer to Wordle #1,618 starts with B, so combined with the hints above you should now have all the clues you need to get the answer and not break a Wordle streak.
OK, it's now time to scroll down for the answer…
Today's Wordle answer
So, what is today's Wordle answer for game #1,618?
Drumroll, please — it's BUNNY.
Hello Wordlers. A fiddly one today. It's not that BUNNY is an especially obscure word, but with a repeated 'N' and it featuring none of the five most common Wordle letters, it was always going to be a little tricky to hunt down.
I began with ORATE, which completely struck out. No letters were confirmed at all, leaving a massive 253 possible answers, according to WordleBot.
Naturally, the Bot's best Wordle start words were far more effective. LANCE leaves 45 answers, while BLAND lowers that to 12. If you changed just one letter to 'O' with BLOND, you'd be down to eight.
I usually aim to play a mix of 'L', 'I', 'S', 'N', and 'C' on my second turn, but with no vowels I wanted to find room for both 'I' and 'U'.
I did that with MUSIC, which was modestly effective, turning 'U' green and leaving 30 possible answers, according to WordleBot*.
I tried BULKY next and things finally began to take shape. Both 'B' and 'Y' went green, leaving just four options.
I'm delighted to say I picked the right one, typing in BUNNY to complete the puzzle in four moves. The three other options all contained double letters too (BUDDY, BUGGY and BUZZY), but 'N' was on my hit list of letters to target, so was always going to be my preferred choice.
Hopefully you did well today, Wordlers. See you tomorrow.
* These were: FUNNY, FUZZY, PUFFY, PUPPY, PUDGY, PUNNY, FUDGY, HUFFY, GUPPY, HUGGY, JUDGY, FUNKY, HUNKY, PUNKY, JUNKY, GUNKY, BUDDY, BUGGY, BUNNY, BUZZY, FULLY, PULPY, GULLY, DULLY, BULLY, BULGY, BULKY, KUDZU, HUBBY and HULKY.
Guess the Number
Try our new game, Guess the Number. If Wordle teases your brain, this one tests it.
Yesterday's Wordle answer
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are clues and the solution to the previous puzzle.
- It contains one of the five vowels.*
- There are no repeated characters.
- It features just one of the five most common Wordle letters.
The answer to Wordle #1,617 starts with T, so combined with the hints above you should now have all the clues you need to get the answer and not break a Wordle streak.
OK, it's now time to scroll down for the answer…
The Wordle answer for game #1,617 was... THICK.
Hello Wordlers. Today's answer was quite a bit easier than yesterday's, despite containing just one of the five most common Wordle letters.
That letter was 'T', which turned yellow with my usual opener of ORATE. It didn't help too much, leaving 77 possible answers, according to WordleBot.
The Bot's best Wordle start words fared better. CLEAT leaves 24 answers, while TRAIL lowers that to 19. If you opened with LATCH, only the right answer would be left over.
I try to combine a mix of 'L', 'I', 'S', 'N', and 'C' on my second turn, but without a single vowel in place, I thought I'd add 'U' to the list, too.
I played UNLIT, which ruled out 'T' in a second spot while turning 'I' yellow. I was down to just 15 possible answers, according to WordleBot*.
Even though I knew it wasn't possible (plurals never are) I played TICKS next, as it moved my two confirmed yellows around, while testing the final two letters from my hitlist: 'S' and 'C'.
'T' turned green, while 'I', 'C' and 'K' were all yellow, leaving only one possible answer.
Given 'I' seemed certain to sit in third position, I figured it had to be T?ICK. From there, it didn't take me long to figure out it had to be THICK, and I completed the puzzle in four turns.
Hopefully you managed it faster, Wordlers. See you tomorrow.
* These were: DITCH, HITCH, PITCH, WITCH, PITHY, DITZY, DITSY, BITSY, TIPSY, STICK, THICK, ITCHY, THIGH, STIFF and TIZZY.
Previous Wordle answers
If you're looking for a list of older Wordle answers, we can also help. Here's a list going back 20 games.
- Wordle #1,617: THICK
- Wordle #1,616: VOWEL
- Wordle #1,615: GRAVE
- Wordle #1,614: MAKER
- Wordle #1,613: OPINE
- Wordle #1,612: CLAMP
- Wordle #1,611: WIELD
- Wordle #1,610: CLUNG
- Wordle #1,609: LURID
- Wordle #1,608: TINGE
- Wordle #1,607: DEUCE
- Wordle #1,606: GIZMO
- Wordle #1,605: TABBY
- Wordle #1,604: FUGUE
- Wordle #1,603: ARISE
- Wordle #1,602: PERIL
- Wordle #1,601: GUISE
- Wordle #1,600: SHORT
- Wordle #1,599: VENUE
- Wordle #1,598: AWOKE
- Wordle #1,597: RABID
Wordle tips — how to win at Wordle
The best tip I can give is to use one of the best Wordle start words. I can't stress this enough — it makes a massive difference.
Without one, you'll be scrabbling around in the dark trying (and possibly failing) to find the right five letters (or possibly fewer) out of the 26 possibles. But clever people (not me) have done the math and identified the best start words based on both frequency in English and frequency among Wordle answers. So use them!
Secondly, think about combinations, especially at the start and end. Some options are far more common than others — for instance, SH, ST, CR and CH all feature frequently.
Vowels obviously need consideration too: not all Wordle answers will contain more than one, but plenty do, and some even have three. A good Wordle start word should have used a couple, but if they don't feature you might well want to try another one or two on your next go. Plus, remember the Y — this sometimes acts as a surrogate vowel, and is easy to forget. It also appears at the end of plenty of words.
Finally, try out possibilities. So long as you don't press 'Enter' you can try possible answers to see how they look on screen. Put in likely letters plus any you know are definitely in the word, then mentally change one to the other available options. This technique has worked for me multiple times, and it's particularly helpful when the word in question is not an obvious one (like FJORD or ISLET).
But if you're still struggling with Wordle, check out how Tom's Guide's Wordle experts have honed their strategy after playing every Wordle so far and losing only once.
We also have plenty of Wordle tips and tricks to share, like how we've analyzed every Wordle answer to look for patterns and have some further advice for you there. And if you're new to the game you should also take a look at our What is Wordle? guide.
What else should I know about Wordle?
Wordle officially launched in October 2021, but actually started in June of that year and celebrated its first birthday on June 19, 2022. (You can read my thoughts on the 5 things Wordle needs to improve if it's to keep us playing for its third year.)
However, it only grew in popularity towards the end of the year, then went viral in January as the world woke up to its charms. In fact, it proved so successful that The New York Times bought Wordle for a seven-figure sum in early February and the game is now part of NYT Games.
It's played via the NYT Games website here, and is entirely free. Both the NYT and the game's creator, Josh Wardle, have stated that it will remain free. Some people think that Wordle has got harder since the NYT takeover, but it really hasn't.
Wordle is a simple game in which your challenge is to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. Each time you guess, you're told which of your chosen letters are in the target word, and whether they are in the right place.
If a letter is in the correct place, it turns green. If it's in the word but in the wrong place, it turns yellow. And if it's not in the word at all, it turns gray.
There's just one puzzle a day, and everyone completes the same one. It resets at midnight each day. You'll find more information about the game in our What is Wordle? article.
NYT Strands answer
If you've solved Wordle and need help with other games from the New York Times, we suggest you check out our guide on today's NYT Strands answer, which will give you an overview of how the game works and how to solve the puzzle.
Wordle Alternatives
If you're eager for another game to pass the time while you wait, we've put together a list of the best Wordle alternatives. We also have a page on today's Quordle answers, because it's our favorite.
Other Wordle alternatives to try are the ultra-stressful (but very good) Squabble and the soccer-themed, Who Are Ya?. We also like the geography-based Wordle clone Worldle, the Star Wars-themed SWordle and the math-based Mathler.
There are certainly plenty of options once you've finished Wordle for the day!
Meanwhile, if you need help with other games from the New York Times, we also have a guide on how to play NYT Connections, if you're interested in giving that one a try.
