Beginner’s Guide

How to Play Wordle

The rules, what the tile colors mean, how many guesses you get, and everything else a first-time player needs.

What Is Wordle?

Wordle is a free daily word game from The New York Times. Each day there is one hidden five-letter word, and your job is to figure it out in six guesses or fewer. Everyone in the world gets the same word on the same day, which is why your friends’ score grids look comparable to yours. There’s exactly one puzzle per day — part of the appeal is that you can’t binge it.

Each guess must be a real five-letter word. After you submit it, the tiles change color to tell you how close you are, and you use that feedback to make a smarter next guess.

What the Tile Colors Mean

After every guess, each of the five tiles turns green, yellow, or gray:

W
Green — the letter is in the word and in the correct position. Lock it in.
O
Yellow — the letter is in the word, but it’s in the wrong position. Try it somewhere else.
R
Gray — the letter is not in the word at all. Don’t use it again.

That’s the entire feedback system. Read the colors carefully and most puzzles solve themselves within three or four guesses.

A Step-by-Step Example

Suppose the hidden word is CRANE and your first guess is SLATE:

S
L
A
T
E

S, L and T are gray — not in the word. A is yellow — it’s in CRANE, just not in position 3. E is green — correct, in position 5.

Your next guess should drop S, L and T, keep E locked in position 5, and place A somewhere new. A guess like BRACE or GRACE would test fresh letters while respecting what you already know — and from there CRANE is within reach.

The Rules of Wordle

  • You get six guesses to find one five-letter word.
  • Every guess must be a valid five-letter English word.
  • You can reuse letters from previous guesses on later guesses.
  • The answer can contain repeated letters (like ABBEY, KNOLL or LLAMA).
  • The answer is never a proper noun — no names, places, or brands.
  • There is one new puzzle per day, the same for every player worldwide.

How Many Guesses & When Does It Reset?

You have six guesses per puzzle. A brand-new Wordle unlocks at midnight in your own local time zone, so the puzzle rolls over at different moments around the world. If you and a friend in another country see different puzzle numbers, that’s why — you can read more about this on our home page, where we date each hint by US Eastern Time.

Wordle is free to play on the official New York Times website and the NYT Games app. You don’t need a subscription to play the daily puzzle, and your streak is saved in your browser or NYT account.

Tips for Your First Games

  • Open with a word rich in common letters — vowels plus R, S, T, N. Good first guesses include SLATE, CRANE and TRACE.
  • Use your second guess to test five new letters rather than confirming what you already know.
  • Move yellow letters to a different position; never re-place a letter where it already came back yellow or gray.
  • Say the partial word out loud — your ear often finds the answer faster than your eyes.

Want to go deeper on openers and end-game tactics? Read our Wordle Strategy Guide. And if today’s puzzle has you stuck, our spoiler-free hints nudge you toward the answer one step at a time.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many guesses do you get in Wordle?

Six. If you don’t find the word by your sixth guess, the game ends and reveals the answer.

What time does the new Wordle come out?

At midnight in your local time zone. The puzzle is the same word for everyone, but it unlocks at your own midnight.

Can a Wordle answer have the same letter twice?

Yes. Words like ABBEY, KNOLL and LLAMA all repeat a letter, which is one of the most common ways players get tripped up.

Is Wordle free?

Yes. The daily Wordle is free on the NYT website and Games app, with no subscription required.

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