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 #1,585 in 3.9 moves in both easy and hard modes.
Each day, we will update this article with a Wordle hint 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, #1,584, in case you're reading this in a different time zone.
So be warned: spoilers lie ahead for game #1,585, Only read on if you want to know today's Wordle answer!
2. Start letter
Today's Wordle answer — our hint 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 two of the five vowels.*
- There are no repeated characters.
- It contains just one 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 abstaining from unhealthy things.
What does today's Wordle start with?
The answer to Wordle #1,585 starts with D, 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 #1,585?
Drumroll, please — it's DETOX.
Hello Wordlers. I wasn't expecting to play an 'X' on my third turn, but I couldn't see anywhere else to turn at the time. Let's find out if there was another route I could have taken.
I began, as usual, with ORATE, which contains all five of the most common Wordle letters. Today, it struck gold, turning 'O', 'T' and 'E' yellow, leaving just 24 possible solutions, according to WordleBot*.
The Bot's best Wordle start words struggled to beat that, though a few were better. CATER, for example, leaves 15 answers, while TRIED lowers that to 11. If you opened with DEALT, only four options would be left in play.
I try to play as many of 'L', 'I', 'S', 'N', and 'C' as possible on my second turn, but I only had two slots so opted for TONES.
Neither of my new letters were confirmed correct, and none of my yellow characters flipped green. But I was still down to four options, according to WordleBot.
I struggled to think of anything, so when I came up with DETOX, I just went for it. At the very least, I figured, I would surely flip one or two of my yellow letters?
But to my delight, all five characters went green for a three-turn win. That was lucky, as it could just as easily have been DEPOT, EXTOL or BEGOT.
Hopefully you did well today, Wordlers. See you tomorrow.
* These were: COMET, COVET, HOTEL, MOTEL, DOTED, VOTED, DEPOT, EXTOL, DETOX, BEGOT, TOTEM, TOWEL, TOTED, TOWED, TOYED, TOKEN, TEMPO, ETHOS, STENO, TELOS, BESOT and NOTED.
Yesterday's Wordle answer
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are clues and the solution to the previous puzzle.
- It contains two of the five vowels.*
- There are no repeated characters.
- It contains just one of the five most common Wordle letters.
The answer to Wordle #1,584 starts with L, 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 #1,584 was... LIMBO.
Hello Wordlers. This is one of those puzzles where you quickly run out of possibilities, but it still takes a while due to the oddness of the answer.
I began, as usual, with ORATE, which contains all five of the most common Wordle letters. That only resulted in a yellow 'O' today, leaving a massive 193 possible answers, according to WordleBot.
The Bot's best Wordle start words were far more effective. LANCE and TABLE leave 22 answers apiece, while BLAST lowers that to ten. If you opened with MODEL, only five options would be left over.
I like to try as many of 'L', 'I', 'S', 'N', and 'C' as I can going into my second turn, and that was easy to do today with SONIC.
It not only ruled 'O' out in a second spot, but turned 'I' yellow too, leaving just eight options, according to WordleBot*.
I actually used a word not in the list, however: PILOW. This was a bit silly, given it's an obsolete form of PILLOW, but I was a bit desperate and just wanted to move my letters around while testing 'L', the final letter from my hitlist.
As unlikely an answer as it was, it was still extremely useful. It turned 'I' green, ruled out 'O' in a third spot and gave me a yellow 'L' to play with.
Only one option was left, but it still took me a while to get. Eventually I had my eureka moment: it was, of course, LIMBO.
Hopefully you got through today's puzzle with your streak unscathed. See you tomorrow, Wordlers.
* These were: GIZMO, KIDDO, LIMBO, HIPPO, IDIOM, WIDOW, IGLOO and BIPED.
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 #1,584: LIMBO
- Wordle #1,583: IDEAL
- Wordle #1,582: HAVEN
- Wordle #1,581: GROSS
- Wordle #1,580: CATTY
- Wordle #1,579: SPOOF
- Wordle #1,578: FORUM
- Wordle #1,577: BEARD
- Wordle #1,576: WOUND
- Wordle #1,575: STACK
- Wordle #1,574: LEVER
- Wordle #1,573: HARDY
- Wordle #1,572: ANNOY
- Wordle #1,571: NYLON
- Wordle #1,570: AMUSE
- Wordle #1,569: PLANE
- Wordle #1,568: RELAY
- Wordle #1,567: SPASM
- Wordle #1,566: WIDTH
- Wordle #1,565: SPOIL
- Wordle #1,564: GEESE
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.
