A new NYT Wordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here.
Skip the hints and jump straight to today's column.
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? You can also take a look at our NYT Strands today and NYT Connections today pages for our hints and 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.
Wordle hints (game #1720) - clue #1 - Vowels
How many vowels does today's Wordle have?
• Wordle today has vowels in two places*.
* 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 #1720) - 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 #1720) - clue #3 - repeated letters
Does today's Wordle have any repeated letters?
• There are 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 #1720) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is P.
P is a middling end letter in Wordle. It features in 56 answers, which places it 12th in the alphabet. Don't expect it to happen that often compared to the likes of E, Y and T.
Wordle hints (game #1720) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1720.
- Today's Wordle answer is an animal.
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 #1720)
- NYT average score: 3.9
- My score: 5
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 95
- My luck score: 36
- My start word performance: CARET (179 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (38)
- Tomorrow's start word: PARSE
Today's Wordle answer (game #1720) is… SHEEP.
Wordle famously doesn't allow plurals except when it does (for instance GEESE, game #1564 and FUNGI, game #439) — but SHEEP is one of those curious words that is both plural and singular. These are known as invariant nouns and are mostly applied to animals — BISON (which has not yet been a Wordle answer but might well be in the future) and MOOSE (which has — game #620) are other 5-letter examples.
As a word, I like it, not least because I like SHEEP, possibly because I grew up in the countryside and would wake to the sound of them in the field behind my house. But I did not enjoy solving today's game, not one bit.
I scored a five, my first for just over a week but my third overall in the past two weeks, which is a terrible effort from me. And it's not like the average score is high either — it currently sits at 3.9.
It's not like I played terribly, either; WordleBot awarded me 95 for skill. But I got unlucky with my start word, CARET, and though my follow-up SOUND then cut that to five I made a classic error that prevented me scoring a four.
That error was overconfidence. I found all five words — SHEEP, SWEEP, SLEEK, SLEEP and SPIEL. And I also knew that it was possible for me to play a narrowing-down word. WHELK and WHELP, for instance, would have done the job. But instead, I decided to go for the answer.
The carrot dangled before me was that if I played SPIEL, I might score a three, and it also might well guarantee me a four if the answer was SLEEK or SLEEP. There was a chance I'd still face a 50/50 between SHEEP and SWEEP — but that was nothing to worry about, right?
Wrong. Inevitably, I was left with that 50/50 and inevitably I picked the wrong one. Typical.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1719)
In a different time zone where it's still Wednesday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1719, 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 T.
T is one of the most common starting letters in the game, beginning 149 of Wordle's 2,309 answers. That gives it a ranking of fourth in the alphabet, behind only S, C and B.
- There were 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 T.
T is a very common letter to end a Wordle answer – in fact only E and Y are more likely in that position.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here's an extra one for game #1719.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is stealing.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1719)
- NYT average score: 4.0
- My score: 3
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 95
- My luck score: 72
- My start word performance: SLANT (65 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: SLATE (119)
- Tomorrow's start word: CARET
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1719) was… THEFT.
I'm pretty pleased with my result here. THEFT is another reasonably difficult Wordle, with its average of 4.0 slightly above the overall norm for the game and with yet another repeated letter to contend with. That's the third in the past six days, sixth in the past 12 days, 10th in the past 18 days and 13th in the past 25 days — so we're consistently running at one every two days right now.
A one-in-two chance of a repeat may not sound that big of a deal, but it's out of keeping for Wordle as a whole; the average frequency for repeats across the original 2,309 games is only one every three, so we're definitely bucking the trend.
The fact that I scored a three is therefore to be celebrated (by me at least; I don't expect anyone else to care), as is the fact that I beat the 'Bot. However, a lot of it was due to pure luck.
My start word was SLANT, which is the second most highly ranked start word that hasn't yet appeared (behind CARTE). I don't generally like starting with only one vowel, particularly when it means leaving out E, but on the other hand E is so common that you can almost assume it will be in there without needing to play it.
SLANT gave me the T at the end of the word, and left 65 options. But importantly, it also ruled out three letters that regularly go in front of a T: S, L and N. What else goes with a T? Well, R might be one (as in EXERT, OVERT) or F (DRIFT, THEFT). Or it could be a GHT ending as in FIGHT / MIGHT / WIGHT and so on.
With all that in mind, I played GRIEF — and got very lucky; WordleBot said afterwards that it should have left 2.9 options (let's call it three), but in reality it left only the one. That was THEFT, and after a short hunt around the board I spotted that it fit and played it for my three.
Wordle answers: The past 50
I've been playing Wordle every day for more than three 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 #1719, Wednesday 4 March: THEFT
- Wordle #1718, Tuesday 3 March: LINEN
- Wordle #1717, Monday 2 March: SLIME
- Wordle #1716, Sunday 1 March: FLUKE
- Wordle #1715, Saturday 28 February: HYDRA
- Wordle #1714, Friday 27 February: DIZZY
- Wordle #1713, Thursday 26 February: LANCE
- Wordle #1712, Wednesday 25 February: SHRED
- Wordle #1711, Tuesday 24 February: BUYER
- Wordle #1710, Monday 23 February: ATTIC
- Wordle #1709, Sunday 22 February: GUAVA
- Wordle #1708, Saturday 21 February: AWAKE
- Wordle #1707, Friday 20 February: STANK
- Wordle #1706, Thursday 19 February: HOIST
- Wordle #1705, Wednesday 18 February: MOGUL
- Wordle #1704, Tuesday 17 February: SQUAD
- Wordle #1703, Monday 16 February: ROOST
- Wordle #1702, Sunday 15 February: SKULL
- Wordle #1701, Saturday 14 February: BLOOM
- Wordle #1700, Friday 13 February: MOOCH
- Wordle #1699, Thursday 12 February: SURGE
- Wordle #1698, Wednesday 11 February: VEGAN
- Wordle #1697, Tuesday 10 February: SCENE
- Wordle #1696, Monday 9 February: CELLO
- Wordle #1695, Sunday 8 February: EMBED
- Wordle #1694, Saturday 7 February: BLEAT
- Wordle #1693, Friday 6 February: GAVEL
- Wordle #1692, Thursday 5 February: SWOOP
- Wordle #1691, Wednesday 4 February: CHIDE
- Wordle #1690, Tuesday 3 February: WEIGH
- Wordle #1689, Monday 2 February: CIGAR
- Wordle #1688, Sunday 1 February: SPINY
- Wordle #1687, Saturday 31 January: ALLOT
- Wordle #1686, Friday 30 January: JUMBO
- Wordle #1685, Thursday 29 January: FLAKY
- Wordle #1684, Wednesday 28 January: CRUEL
- Wordle #1683, Tuesday 27 January: DUSKY
- Wordle #1682, Monday 26 January: FREAK
- Wordle #1681, Sunday 25 January: STRUT
- Wordle #1680, Saturday 24 January: CLIFF
- Wordle #1679, Friday 23 January: BARON
- Wordle #1678, Thursday 22 January: CLINK
- Wordle #1677, Wednesday 21 January: CUBIC
- Wordle #1676, Tuesday 20 January: SULLY
- Wordle #1675, Monday 19 January: WAXEN
- Wordle #1674, Sunday 18 January: SUMAC
- Wordle #1673, Saturday 17 January: FIERY
- Wordle #1672, Friday 16 January: RACER
- Wordle #1671, Thursday 15 January: CHASM
- Wordle #1670, Wednesday 14 January: AVOID
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 in 2022 and is still going strong in 2026.
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' Games 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.
4a. Answers are never plural.
4b. …unless they are. There have been a couple of plural words that don't end in an S or ES, including FUNGI (game #439), ATRIA (#1478) and TEETH (#1551). But S and ES plurals are definitely outlawed.
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.
10a. All answers are drawn from Wordle's list of 2,309 solutions…
10b. …unless they are not. That's because the NYT has added in some of its own words which weren't in that list of 2,309 solutions. More will undoubtedly come over the next few years.
10c. Plus, the NYT has now started repeating answers that have already appeared in Wordle. We have no idea how often it will do this, so you'll need to be on your guard.
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 4a above), but Wordle will accept it as a guess.
