Most people find uncovering today's Wordle answer to be rather tough. According to the New York Times' WordleBot, the average player completes Wordle #1,838 in 4.1 moves in easy mode or 4.0 if playing by hard rules.
Each day, we will update this article with Wordle hints 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, #1,837, in case you're reading this in a different time zone.
So be warned: spoilers lie ahead for game #1,838, Only read on if you want to know today's Wordle answer!
2. Start letter
Today's Wordle answer — hints 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.*
- It doesn't include any repeated characters.
- It features just two of the ten 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 raising some doubts.
What does today's Wordle start with?
The answer to Wordle #1,838 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 #1,838?
Drumroll, please — it's DEMUR.
Hello Wordlers. Another tricky one today, with DEMUR containing just two of the ten most common Wordle letters.
They're both in the top five, however, which meant my usual starter of ORATE got me two yellow characters. Even with 'R' and 'E' confirmed, however, I still had 144 possible answers to choose from, according to WordleBot.
The Bot's best Wordle start words were generally even worse, with genuinely good options in short supply. TAMPS leaves 36 answers, while DRATS lowers that to 14. After much scrolling, the best WordleBot answer I could see was MODEL, which leaves just five options.
I like to play a mix of 'L', 'I', 'S', 'N' and 'C' on my second turn, and today I could play three of them while moving my two yellow letters along with RESIN.
It was a strong move, turning 'E' green while ruling out 'R' in a second slot. Just 21 options remained, according to WordleBot*.
I opted for LEVER next. On the surface, this didn't seem to do too much, only turning 'R' green. But behind the scenes, I was down to just two options.
Sadly, I picked the wrong one, typing in FEMUR. But as that turned every letter green except for 'F', it didn't take a genius to sub in 'D' to spell DEMUR and take the five-turn win.
Hopefully you did well today, Wordlers. See you tomorrow.
* These were: BERRY, DECRY, DERBY, FERRY, JERKY, MERCY, MERRY, PERCH, PERKY, MERCH, GERMY, DEFER, FEWER, FEMUR, DEMUR, LEERY, LEVER, FEVER, LEPER, LEMUR and BERYL.
Yesterday's Wordle answer
Reading this in a later time zone? Here are clues and the solution to the previous puzzle.
- It contains one of the five vowels.*
- One character is repeated three times.
- It doesn't contain any of the ten most common Wordle letters.
The answer to Wordle #1,837 starts with P, 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 #1,837 was... PUPPY.
Hello Wordlers. A really tough one today. Not only does 'P' appears three times (the second time we've had a triple-letter round in the space of a few days after EMCEE on Sunday), but PUPPY doesn't contain any of the ten most common Wordle letters.
That meant it was slim pickings for my first three goes, where I try and play as many of the most popular characters as I can. My usual opener of ORATE struck out completely, leaving a massive 253 possible answers, according to WordleBot.
The Bot's best Wordle start words were better, but not as effective as on most days. CLIPS leaves 34 answers, while TARPS lowers that to 28. After much scrolling, the best I could see were LAPSE and TAPED which both leave 15 options.
I usually aim to play as many of 'L', 'I', 'S', 'N' and 'C' as possible on my second turn, but when I strike out completely, I like to include both remaining vowels.
That makes MUSIC my go-to in such situations, and today it turned 'U' green to leave 30 options, according to WordleBot*.
I opted for BULLY next, which flipped 'Y' green, reducing my options to 16.
PUNKY was my next guess, which turned 'P' green, leaving just three possibilities.
Maybe it's because I was already minded to play repeated letters after BULLY, but I opted for PUPPY, which was the correct answer. Lucky, as it could have been PUDGY or PUFFY.
Hopefully today's puzzle didn't trip you up, Wordlers. See you tomorrow.
* These were: FUNKY, FUZZY, FUNNY, HUNKY, PUDGY, PUFFY, PUPPY, PUNKY, JUNKY, PUNNY, FUDGY, HUFFY, GUPPY, HUGGY, GUNKY, JUDGY, BUDDY, BUGGY, BUNNY, BUZZY, FULLY, GULLY, DULLY, BULKY, BULGY, PULPY, HULKY, BULLY, KUDZU and HUBBY.
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 #1,837: PUPPY
- Wordle #1,836: CRUDE
- Wordle #1,835: EMCEE
- Wordle #1,834: SCOOP
- Wordle #1,833: ACUTE
- Wordle #1,832: UNITY
- Wordle #1,831: QUEER
- Wordle #1,830: CURRY
- Wordle #1,829: OVATE
- Wordle #1,828: ALIBI
- Wordle #1,827: DRAKE
- Wordle #1,826: EMOJI
- Wordle #1,825: ENTRY
- Wordle #1,824: TOKEN
- Wordle #1,823: AMAZE
- Wordle #1,822: BROIL
- Wordle #1,821: SEPIA
- Wordle #1,820: QUELL
- Wordle #1,819: BREAK
- Wordle #1,818: TESTY
Check out our hints for other New York Times Games
NYT Connections hints and answer
We also have a daily guide to today's NYT Connections hints and answer, so head on over there if you're having trouble.
NYT Pips hints and answers
Pips is the Times' newest game, which involves arranging dominoes in a particular order. Here's today's Pips hints and answers if you need help completing the puzzles.
NYT Strands hints and 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!
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.
