How to Play Wordle
Wordle is the New York Times’ daily five-letter guessing game. You get six tries to find the hidden word, using green, yellow, and grey tiles as feedback after every guess.
How to play, step by step
- Enter a valid five-letter word. Any dictionary word
works as a first guess. Hit Enter to submit.
Example: type CRANE as your opener. Outlined tiles mean the guess is entered but not scored yet. - Read the tile colours. Each letter turns green, yellow,
or grey to tell you how close you are.
Scored CRANE against the hidden answer PLANT: A and N are in the word (yellow) but not in those spots; C, R, and E are out (grey). - Refine with a smarter second guess. Keep yellow letters,
drop greys, and test new consonants and vowels in new positions.
Using the yellow A and N, PLANT places every letter correctly — five greens and the puzzle is solved. - Finish within six guesses. You win when a row turns all
green. If you miss all six, the game reveals the answer.
A finished board in two: mixed colours on row one, then an all-green PLANT on row two.
Wordle colour rules
- Green — the letter is in the answer and in the correct position.
- Yellow — the letter is in the answer, but somewhere else.
- Grey — the letter is not in the answer (you can skip it on later guesses).
- You get six guesses per day, and a new word appears every midnight.
- Answers can reuse letters. If you guess two of the same letter and only one belongs, only one tile will turn yellow or green.
Beginner strategy that actually helps
- Open with balanced coverage. First guesses rich in common vowels and consonants (A, E, R, S, T, L, N) reveal more of the alphabet early.
- Don’t waste a guess recycling greys. Once a letter is grey, leave it out unless you are testing a known double-letter pattern.
- Lock greens and rearrange yellows. Treat green tiles as fixed scaffolding, then move yellow letters into the empty slots.
- Watch for doubles. Words like LLAMA-style patterns (or any repeated letter) trip people who assume every letter appears once.
- Use a probe guess when stuck. If several lookalikes remain, spend one turn to knock out remaining consonants instead of gambling on a 50/50.
Common questions
What do green, yellow, and grey mean?
Green is right letter, right place. Yellow is right letter, wrong place. Grey means that letter is absent from the answer.
How many guesses do I get?
Six. Solve before the board fills up to keep your streak; miss all six and the answer is revealed.
Can the answer have repeated letters?
Yes. Wordle allows doubles. Pay attention when only one copy of a letter lights up even though you typed it twice.
Play or get help
Play the daily puzzle on The New York Times. If you want a nudge without a full spoiler dump, use today’s spoiler-controlled Wordle hints. Browse past puzzles, or try Strands, Connections, and Spelling Bee.