One hidden five-letter word, six attempts, and after every guess each letter is coloured to tell you how close you were.
Publisher
The New York Times
Cost
Free, with a New York Times account
How often
One puzzle a day, the same word for everyone
Time
3–6 minutes
The rules
Guess any valid five-letter word to start.
Green means the letter is correct and in the right position.
Yellow means the letter is in the word but somewhere else.
Grey means the letter is not in the word at all.
You have six guesses. Everyone gets the same word each day.
What works
The rules take ten seconds to explain and never need explaining again
One puzzle a day means it cannot become a time sink
The shareable grid spoils nothing, which is why it spread
Enormous player base — everyone you know has an opinion on today's
What doesn’t
Six minutes a day is the whole game; there is nothing else to do
Requires an NYT account now, which it did not at launch
Difficulty swings hard on days with repeated letters or rare consonants
After a few hundred plays the openings become routine
Skip Wordle if: Anyone who wants more than one puzzle, or who finds a single daily attempt frustrating rather than exciting
Questions about Wordle
Is Wordle still free?
Yes, though it now sits behind a free New York Times account. There is no charge to play the daily puzzle.
How many guesses do you get in Wordle?
Six. Each guess must be a valid five-letter word, and the colour feedback after each one narrows the possibilities.
Does everyone get the same Wordle?
Yes — one word per day, shared globally, which is what makes the score-sharing meaningful.
What is the best Wordle starting word?
Anything with common vowels and consonants works well; words like SLATE, CRANE and ADIEU are popular because they test five frequent letters at once. No single word is provably optimal for every answer set.
Meldle is a different daily puzzle — four words sharing one missing pair of letters. Try today’s → It’s free, needs no account, and here is what it does badly.
