Wordle Hint Today: Clues & Answer for October 21, 2026 (#1950)
Seven spoiler-free hints for today's Wordle, from gentle to strong. Open one, try a guess, and open the next only if you need it.
Today's Wordle hints (#1950)
Tap a card to open it. Hints 1–3 give no letters away. Hints 4–7 get closer to the answer.
Today's answer is a noun.
It has 1 vowel, plus a Y.
Yes – one letter appears more than once.
It starts with the letter P.
It ends with the letter Y.
Definition: “A coin worth one cent in the US, or one hundredth of a pound in the UK.”
The pattern is P _ N _ Y and N repeats.
What is today's Wordle answer?
Want to keep some challenge? Reveal one letter at a time. The full answer for Wordle #1950 only shows if you ask for it.
Word of the day: meaning & stats
Facts about today's answer, worked out from our archive of 1,950 past Wordle answers. Hidden until you reveal the answer.
Letter by letter
What does PENNY mean?
- A coin worth one cent in the US, or one hundredth of a pound in the UK.
- In the United Kingdom and Ireland and many other countries, a unit of currency worth ⁄240 of a pound sterling or Irish pound before decimalisation, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: d.
- In the United Kingdom, a unit of currency worth ⁄100 of a pound sterling, or a copper coin worth this amount. Abbreviation: p.
Word type: noun.
Example: “to turn an honest penny”
Has PENNY been a Wordle answer before?
No. PENNY has not been a Wordle answer before #1950, according to our full archive.
21 earlier answers also started with P and ended with Y; the most recent was on Aug 8, 2026.
Why it can be tricky
- It has a repeated letter (N). Many players don't guess a double letter until late.
- It has only 1 vowel and uses Y like a vowel, so vowel-heavy openers give less help.
Today's answer is a verb.
It has 1 vowel.
No – all five letters are different.
It starts with the letter W.
It ends with the letter T.
Definition: “To pull or twist something away from someone by force.”
The pattern is W _ E _ T.
What is today's Wordle answer?
Want to keep some challenge? Reveal one letter at a time. The full answer for Wordle #1949 only shows if you ask for it.
Word of the day: meaning & stats
Facts about today's answer, worked out from our archive of 1,949 past Wordle answers. Hidden until you reveal the answer.
Letter by letter
What does WREST mean?
- To pull or twist something away from someone by force.
- To pull or twist violently.
- To obtain by pulling or violent force.
Word type: verb.
Example: “He wrested the remote control from my grasp and changed the channel.”
Has WREST been a Wordle answer before?
No. WREST has not been a Wordle answer before #1949, according to our full archive.
4 earlier answers also started with W and ended with T; the most recent was on Dec 6, 2025.
Why it can be tricky
- It has only 1 vowel, so vowel-heavy openers give less help.
- Uncommon letter for Wordle: W (in under 15% of answers).
Today's answer is a verb.
It has 2 vowels.
Yes – one letter appears more than once.
It starts with the letter R.
It ends with the letter T.
Definition: “To set back to the initial state.”
The pattern is R _ S _ T and E repeats.
What is today's Wordle answer?
Want to keep some challenge? Reveal one letter at a time. The full answer for Wordle #1951 only shows if you ask for it.
Word of the day: meaning & stats
Facts about today's answer, worked out from our archive of 1,951 past Wordle answers. Hidden until you reveal the answer.
Letter by letter
What does RESET mean?
- To set back to the initial state.
- To set to zero.
- To adjust; to set or position differently.
Word type: verb.
Has RESET been a Wordle answer before?
No. RESET has not been a Wordle answer before #1951, according to our full archive.
7 earlier answers also started with R and ended with T; the most recent was on Feb 16, 2026.
Why it can be tricky
- It has a repeated letter (E). Many players don't guess a double letter until late.
Wordle tips for today's puzzle
Start strong
Open with a word that has five different common letters. In our test against every past puzzle, RAISE was the best everyday opener, leaving 51.6 possible answers on average.
Find the vowels
Past answers have 1.79 vowels on average. If your first word finds only one, try a second word with the other vowels before you guess the answer.
Think about doubles
31% of answers repeat a letter. If you're stuck with three or four greens, try the letters you already found again.
Use the hints in order
Each hint gives a bit more. Try a guess after each one, so you solve most of it yourself and keep your streak.
How our 7 Wordle hints work
Most hint pages give away too much too soon. Ours are set up like a ladder, so you only take as much help as you need. Every card stays closed until you tap it, and the bar at the top shows how many you have opened.
Hints 1–3: no letters
Word type tells you if the answer is a noun, verb or adjective. Vowels tells you how many of A, E, I, O and U it has. Repeated letters tells you if any letter shows up twice. You can use all three and still solve the puzzle mostly on your own.
Hints 4–5: one letter each
First letter and last letter each give you one real letter. Paired with a good second guess, they're usually enough to see the word.
Hint 6: the meaning
A short dictionary definition, with the answer itself blanked out. It works best when you have letters but can't think of the word.
Hint 7 and the answer
Near-spoiler shows the letter pattern with two gaps. If you still need it, One letter turns over one tile at a time, and Show answer flips all five.
Wordle help: what to do when you're stuck
You have no green letters after two guesses
This happens more than people think. Use your third guess on new letters: avoid every grey letter and pick letters you haven't tested. Then open hint 2 (vowels) and hint 4 (first letter). Knowing the first letter alone often cuts the options from hundreds to a few dozen.
You have four greens but too many options
This is the classic Wordle trap. With a pattern like _OUND or _IGHT, many words fit, and guessing them one by one can cost your streak. Instead, play a word that tests several of the possible first letters at once, even if it can't be the answer. In hard mode you can't do this, so open hint 4 here instead.
You have yellows that won't settle
Write the yellow letters down and list the spots each one can still go. A yellow letter can't be in the spot where it turned yellow, and it can't be in any spot that is already green. Usually only one or two spots are left for each letter.
You think the word has a double letter
If you have run out of new letters to try, the answer may repeat one you already found. Hint 3 tells you straight away whether it does.
Wordle help by guess number
- Guesses 1–2: find letters. Don't try to win yet.
- Guess 3: make your first real try at the answer, using every green and yellow.
- Guess 4: if more than three words still fit, use a guess that splits them apart.
- Guesses 5–6: the safe zone is gone. Open the hints on this page before you guess.
Wordle traps: patterns with many answers
Some endings have been used again and again. These groups come from our archive of past answers. If your guesses land on one of these patterns, test several first letters at once instead of guessing one word at a time.
| Pattern | Past answers | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| _OUND | 7 | POUND, ROUND, FOUND, SOUND, HOUND, WOUND |
| _ATCH | 7 | HATCH, WATCH, CATCH, MATCH, PATCH, BATCH |
| _OWER | 6 | SOWER, POWER, COWER, LOWER, ROWER, TOWER |
| _IGHT | 6 | LIGHT, NIGHT, RIGHT, SIGHT, MIGHT, EIGHT |
| _USTY | 5 | LUSTY, RUSTY, MUSTY, GUSTY, DUSTY |
| _AUNT | 5 | JAUNT, TAUNT, GAUNT, HAUNT, DAUNT |
How hard is today's Wordle?
We rate #1950 Medium (3/5). The score comes from three things we can measure: how often each letter shows up in past answers, how many vowels the word has, and whether a letter repeats. Rare letters, few vowels and double letters make a word harder to solve in a few guesses. This is our own estimate, not the NYT WordleBot score.
Difficulty over the last 14 days
1 = easy, 5 = very hard. The highlighted bar is today. The numbers under the bars are the day of the month.
What was yesterday's Wordle answer?
Yesterday's puzzle was Wordle #1949 on October 20, 2026. It was rated easy (2/5). It started with W and had 1 vowel.
Answer (tap to show):
See all of yesterday's hints →Last 7 days of Wordle answers & hints
Each day comes with a quick hint, and the answer is blurred until you tap it. The full list is on the past Wordle answers page.
Starts with W, ends with T · 1 vowel · verb
Starts with S, ends with K · 1 vowel · verb
Starts with A, ends with N · 2 vowels · verb
Starts with G, ends with E · 2 vowels · has a double letter · noun
Starts with S, ends with Y · 1 vowel · adjective
Starts with D, ends with E · 2 vowels · noun
Starts with P, ends with H · 0 vowels · verb
Wordle answer stats: most common letters
We counted every Wordle answer from #0 to #1949 (1,950 puzzles). These numbers show which letters the game likes to use.
Letters found in the most answers
Most common first letters
Most common last letters
Most common letters in each spot
| Spot | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter 1 | S 15% | C 9% | B 8% |
| Letter 2 | O 13% | A 12% | R 12% |
| Letter 3 | A 14% | O 11% | I 11% |
| Letter 4 | E 13% | N 8% | I 7% |
| Letter 5 | E 20% | Y 14% | T 11% |
What this means for you: a first guess with E, A, R, O, T tests the letters that show up most often. Answers start with S more often than any other letter, and end with E most often.
Best Wordle starting words (tested on every answer)
We played every valid starting word against all 1,950 past answers. "Answers left" is how many possible answers still fit, on average, after that first guess. Lower is better. The best everyday opener is RAISE.
| Word | Answers left | Letters found | Greens | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISE | 51.6 | 1.76 | 0.55 | #6 |
| IRATE | 51.8 | 1.80 | 0.53 | #7 |
| ARISE | 53.7 | 1.76 | 0.56 | #8 |
| SNARE | 57.5 | 1.73 | 0.60 | #18 |
| SLATE | 58.9 | 1.70 | 0.64 | #31 |
| CRANE | 62.5 | 1.66 | 0.62 | #70 |
| TRACE | 58.3 | 1.72 | 0.59 | #22 |
| ADIEU | 101.6 | 1.50 | 0.31 | #401 |
The first four are the top common words in our test. SLATE, CRANE, TRACE and ADIEU are popular picks, shown for comparison. Rank is out of the top 403 words we scored.
Best two-word openers
If you like a fixed pair of words, these second words (no letters shared with RAISE) left the fewest answers after both guesses:
- RAISE + CLOTH: 4.6 answers left on average
- RAISE + COUNT: 4.8 answers left on average
- RAISE + MOULT: 5.1 answers left on average
Full study: best Wordle starting words tested on every answer. Vowel-heavy words like ADIEU are popular, but in our test they leave more answers than words with common consonants such as R, S, T and N.
How to play Wordle
Wordle gives you six tries to guess a hidden five-letter word. Type any real five-letter word and press Enter. Each tile then changes colour to show how close you are:
The basic rules
- There is one puzzle a day, and everyone gets the same word.
- Each guess must be a real word from the game's list. Random letters don't count.
- A letter can appear more than once, and the colours show each copy on its own.
- The game is free to play in a web browser and in the NYT Games app.
- Your streak counts how many days in a row you have solved the puzzle.
Hard mode
In hard mode, any letter you have found must be used again: green letters stay in the same spot and yellow letters must be in your next guess. It stops "burner" guesses, but it can trap you on words like _IGHT, where many letters fit one slot.
A simple 4-step plan
- Guess 1: a strong starting word from the table above.
- Guess 2: a word with five new letters, so you test the vowels you haven't tried.
- Guess 3: keep the greens where they are and move the yellows to new spots.
- Guesses 4–6: if you are stuck, open the hints on this page in order before you risk your streak.
Read the full Wordle strategy guide → · Stuck with a few letters? Try our Wordle solver.
A short history of Wordle
Software engineer Josh Wardle made Wordle as a word game for his partner. He released it to the public in October 2021. The shareable grid of coloured squares spread fast on social media, and in January 2022 The New York Times bought the game. Today it is part of NYT Games, and an editor picks the daily answers. The NYT data we use lists Tracy Bennett as the editor for recent puzzles.
The official answer list starts with puzzle #0, CIGAR, dated June 19, 2021, which is why today's puzzle number is 1950. For years no answer was used twice. Then, on February 2, 2026, CIGAR came back, and other older answers have returned since.
Wordle FAQ
What is today's Wordle answer?
Today's Wordle answer (#1950, October 21, 2026) is in the reveal box above. It is hidden on purpose: try the 7 hints first, use the "One letter" button if you want a small push, and tap "Show answer" only when you need it.
What is today's Wordle hint?
Our first hint for today tells you the word type, the second gives the number of vowels, and the third says if a letter repeats. Hints 4 and 5 give the first and last letter, hint 6 gives the meaning and hint 7 shows the pattern. Open them in order to get as little or as much help as you want.
What number is today's Wordle?
Today's Wordle is puzzle #1950. The number goes up by one each day. The first Wordle in the official list, #0 (CIGAR), was dated June 19, 2021.
What time does Wordle reset?
A new Wordle comes out at midnight in your own local time zone. Players in Asia and Australia get the new word several hours before players in the US. This page switches to the new puzzle at your local midnight; the countdown at the top shows the time left.
Is Wordle the same word for everyone?
Yes. Everyone gets the same answer on the same calendar date. Only the time it starts changes, because it follows your local midnight.
What was yesterday's Wordle answer?
Yesterday's Wordle (#1949, October 20, 2026) is in the "Yesterday" section on this page, and on our yesterday page with all of its hints.
Can a Wordle answer repeat?
Yes. Our archive shows the first repeat on February 2, 2026, when CIGAR came back as an answer. Since then, more older answers have returned, so you can't rule out a word just because it was used before.
How do I get help with Wordle without the full answer?
Open one hint at a time. Hints 1 to 3 (word type, vowels, repeated letters) give help without telling you any letters. If you are still stuck, use the "One letter" button. It turns over one tile at a time, so you can still solve the rest yourself.
What is the best Wordle starting word?
We tested every valid guess against all 1,950 past answers. The best common word was RAISE, which leaves 51.6 possible answers on average after one guess. Full results are in our best Wordle starting words study.
How many guesses do you get in Wordle?
You get six guesses. Each guess has to be a real five-letter word from the game's word list.
What do the colours in Wordle mean?
Green means the letter is in the word and in the right spot. Yellow means the letter is in the word but in a different spot. Grey means the letter is not in the word at all.
What is Wordle hard mode?
In hard mode, every letter you have found must be used in your next guesses: green letters stay in the same spot and yellow letters must be included. You can turn it on in the game settings before you start a puzzle.
Can a Wordle answer have double letters?
Yes. 31% of past answers (604 of 1,950) have at least one repeated letter, like today's hint 3 may tell you.
Who makes Wordle?
Wordle was made by software engineer Josh Wardle and released to the public in October 2021. The New York Times bought it in January 2022. NYT Games now publishes it, and an editor picks each day's answer.
Are these hints official?
No. Wordle Hint Today is an independent fan site. We write our own hints and we are not linked to The New York Times.
Updated · Our hints are written and checked every day · How we make hints