NYT Wordle today — answer and hints for game #1,035, Friday, April 19
It’s time for your guide to today’s Wordle answer, featuring my commentary on the latest puzzle, plus a selection of hints designed to help you keep your streak going.
Don’t think you need any clues for Wordle today? No problem, just skip to my daily column. But remember: failure in this game is only ever six guesses away.
Want more word-based fun? My Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, and you can also take a look at my new NYT Strands today page for my verdict on the New York Times’ latest brainteaser.
SPOILER WARNING: Today’s Wordle answer and hints are below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to see them.
Wordle hints (game #1,035) – clue #1 – Vowels
How many vowels does today’s Wordle have?
• Wordle today has vowels in three places*.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
Wordle hints (game #1,035) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is R.
R is a surprisingly uncommon starting letter. Despite ranking third overall in Wordle, it’s merely the 11th most likely to begin an answer.
Wordle hints (game #1,035) – clue #3 – repeated letters
Does today’s Wordle have any repeated letters?
• There are no repeated letters in today’s Wordle.
Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it’s still more likely that a Wordle doesn’t have one.
Wordle hints (game #1,035) – clue #4 – ending letter
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today’s Wordle is E.
E is the most common letter to end a Wordle answer by far. That’s one of the reasons why many of the best start words, including SLATE, CRANE, CRATE and STARE, all end with one.
Wordle hints (game #1,035) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1,035.
- Today’s Wordle answer is to lift higher.
If you just want to know today’s Wordle answer now, simply scroll down – but I’d always recommend trying to solve it on your own first. We’ve got lots of Wordle tips and tricks to help you, including a guide to the best Wordle start words.
If you don’t want to know today’s answer then DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER BECAUSE IT IS PRINTED BELOW. So don’t say you weren’t warned!
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1,035)
- NYT average score: 3.0
- My score: 3
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: PARSE (1 remaining answer)
- My start word performance: OWNER (189)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1,035) is… RAISE.
I’ve been keeping track of the average score for each Wordle game since WordleBot launched in 2022 and now have the details for 747 answers. And by that measure, RAISE is the equal third easiest ever.
WordleBot says its current average is 3.0, which puts it behind only SLATE (game #548, average 1.5) and PLATE (#670, 2.9), and on a par with TRAIN (#319) and STALE (#505). It really is very, very easy.
The reasons for that are many. Letter-wise, we’re firmly in ultra-common territory. As my analysis of every Wordle answer shows, all five are in the top 10 overall, while E, A and R form the top three. It’s a common word, too – certainly compared to the likes of FACET, TITHE, SHANK or BLIMP. But the biggest factor behind the low score is simple: lots of people start with it.
RAISE is usually the fifth most commonly played starting word, behind only ADIEU, AUDIO, STARE and SLATE, and ahead of the likes of CRANE, TRAIN and its close cousin ARISE. Most days, around 3% of all Wordlers start with it – although today, rather suspiciously, that figure rose to 4%. Given that every one of those lucky people will have scored a fabled 1/6 today, that’s going to bring down the overall average.
Consider also that several other popular start words cut down the options considerably too. ARISE, itself played by 2% of Wordlers, left just a single option. The same was true of ROAST and PARSE. STARE left four, as did ADIEU. So very many people will have scored a 1/6, and more still will have finished with a 2/6 or possibly a 3/6.
Frankly, I’d be surprised if anyone scored lower than a 4/6. I started today with OWNER, a fairly average opener which left 189 options, a long way from the bounty offered by those words above. Not thinking too hard about it, I followed up with STARE – which cut those options to three. These were RAISE, ARISE and PARSE, and I was also going to play the first of those, if only because I know that it’s such a popular start word. No, that had no bearing on its chance of being the answer, but I decided there was safety in numbers. If the score was going to be low, then I wanted in on the action!
That instinct led me to my 3/6, which I’d normally be very happy with but that was only a par score today, given how easy others found it.
How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1,034)
In a different time zone where it’s still Thursday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1,034, too.
- Wordle yesterday had vowels in two places.
* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).
- The first letter in yesterday’s Wordle answer was F.
F is a very common starting letter in Wordle. It ranks seventh behind only S, C, B, T, P and A and overall there are 135 solutions that begin with this letter.
- There were no repeated letters in yesterday’s Wordle.
Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it’s still more likely that a Wordle doesn’t have one.
- The last letter in yesterday’s Wordle was T.
T is a very common letter to end a Wordle answer – in fact only E and Y are more likely in that position.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here’s an extra one for game #1,034.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is a part of something.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1,034)
- NYT average score: 3.9
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- Best start word performance*: CARTE (1 remaining answer)
- My start word performance: SWARM (367)
* From WordleBot’s Top 20 start words
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1,034) was… FACET.
I spent the first part of yesterday’s column talking about how yesterday’s average would probably go up later in the day. Well, just to prove how little I know about anything, it actually went down – from 4.0 to 3.9. Typical.
Today’s game currently sits at 3.9 itself, but I won’t make any predictions about what might happen from here, because clearly that’s a fool’s errand. What I will say is that I found FACET to be quite tricky, and I wouldn’t be surprised if others do too.
On the face of it (pun intended), FACET doesn’t have any major complications. All five letters are common to some extent: A, C, E and T are all in the top 10 overall, and though F is only really a regular visitor to the first position in an answer, that’s exactly where it is here. There are no repeated letters to worry about, either.
In fact, I can’t put my finger on why I found it difficult, beyond that it wasn’t a word I thought of until it was the only option left to me. Looking at WordleBot’s analysis, others may have had the same problem, with CADET, CHEAT and VALET all played in reasonably large numbers on guesses two, three and four.
The best start words were often helpful today, with CRANE leaving 13 answers, TRACE leaving six, CRATE leaving three and CARTE just the one. The most popular options were generally a little below that, for instance SLATE left 43 and STARE 33.
Oh how I would have rejoiced if my random opener had cut things down to that level! Unfortunately, SWARM left 367 options, so my chance of a 3/6 was pretty much trashed at that point. I went with PAINT next, because I wanted to put the yellow A in position #2, where it appears most often if it’s not in the middle. The other letters were all fairly obvious choices, although there were better words I could have played, such as INTEL (which would have left four answers) and INLET (which would have left two). PAINT, on the other hand, still left six – not bad, but too many for a good chance of a solve on the next round.
Admittedly, I’d have had a better chance if I’d identified all of those six words, but I only came up with three: FAULT, VAULT and VALET. The ones I missed were FACET (obviously) plus CADET and YACHT.
I knew that playing FAULT would guarantee a 4/6 if I’d found all of the words. As it happens, I could have faced a 50/50 with YACHT and CADET. I didn’t know that at the time, but when the F, A and T all turned green it ruled out those words anyway. It also ruled out VAULT and VALET, of course, so I had another look at the board and realized the answer had to be FACET.
Wordle answers: The past 50
I’ve been playing Wordle every day for more than two years now and have tracked all of the previous answers so I can help you improve your game. Here are the last 50 solutions starting with yesterday’s answer, or check out my past Wordle answers page for the full list.
- Wordle #1034, Thursday 18 April: FACET
- Wordle #1033, Wednesday 17 April: TITHE
- Wordle #1032, Tuesday 16 April: SHANK
- Wordle #1031, Monday 15 April: EQUIP
- Wordle #1030, Sunday 14 April: BLIMP
- Wordle #1029, Saturday 13 April: STEEL
- Wordle #1028, Friday 12 April: WHINY
- Wordle #1027, Thursday 11 April: LOUSE
- Wordle #1026, Wednesday 10 April: BROTH
- Wordle #1025, Tuesday 9 April: MERGE
- Wordle #1024, Monday 8 April: BREED
- Wordle #1023, Sunday 7 April: VOILA
- Wordle #1022, Saturday 6 April: FINCH
- Wordle #1021, Friday 5 April: WRIST
- Wordle #1020, Thursday 4 April: CLIMB
- Wordle #1019, Wednesday 3 April: PLAIT
- Wordle #1018, Tuesday 2 April: SERUM
- Wordle #1017, Monday 1 April: FROND
- Wordle #1016, Sunday 31 March: TABOO
- Wordle #1015, Saturday 30 March: FORCE
- Wordle #1014, Friday 29 March: REALM
- Wordle #1013, Thursday 28 March: SPEAK
- Wordle #1012, Wednesday 27 March: STUNG
- Wordle #1011, Tuesday 26 March: MAYOR
- Wordle #1010, Monday 25 March: SALLY
- Wordle #1009, Sunday 24 March: TOWEL
- Wordle #1008, Saturday 23 March: RISEN
- Wordle #1007, Friday 22 March: DECAY
- Wordle #1006, Thursday 21 March: SHADE
- Wordle #1005, Wednesday 20 March: LINGO
- Wordle #1004, Tuesday 19 March: ABIDE
- Wordle #1003, Monday 18 March: SPELT
- Wordle #1002, Sunday 17 March: SNORT
- Wordle #1001, Saturday 16 March: TOXIN
- Wordle #1000, Friday 15 March: ERUPT
- Wordle #999, Thursday 14 March: SINCE
- Wordle #998, Wednesday 13 March: LOCAL
- Wordle #997, Tuesday 12 March: HEAVE
- Wordle #996, Monday 11 March: PESKY
- Wordle #995, Sunday 10 March: GRASP
- Wordle #994, Saturday 9 March: CHEER
- Wordle #993, Friday 8 March: EARLY
- Wordle #992, Thursday 7 March: CLONE
- Wordle #991, Wednesday 6 March: TEARY
- Wordle #990, Tuesday 5 March: HUNCH
- Wordle #989, Monday 4 March: FLAME
- Wordle #988, Sunday 3 March: STATE
- Wordle #987, Saturday 2 March: URBAN
- Wordle #986, Friday 1 March: FORTY
- Wordle #985, Thursday 29 February: IMAGE
What is Wordle?
If you’re on this page then you almost certainly know what Wordle is already, and indeed have probably been playing it for a while. And even if you’ve not been playing it, you must surely have heard of it by now, because it’s the viral word game phenomenon that took the world by storm last year and is still going strong in 2024.
We’ve got a full guide to the game in our What is Wordle page, but if you just want a refresher then here are the basics.
What is Wordle?
Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day. You get six guesses, with each one revealing a little more information. If one of the letters in your guess is in the answer and in the right place, it turns green. If it’s in the answer but in the wrong place, it turns yellow. And if it’s not in the answer at all it turns gray. Simple, eh?
It’s played online via the Wordle website or the New York Times’ Crossword app (iOS / Android), and is entirely free.
Crucially, the answer is the same for everyone each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world, rather than just against yourself or the game. The puzzle then resets each day at midnight in your local time, giving you a new challenge, and the chance to extend your streak.
What are the Wordle rules?
The rules of Wordle are pretty straightforward, but with a couple of curveballs thrown in for good measure.
1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.
2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow.
3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray.
4. Answers are never plural.
5. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.
6. Each guess must be a valid word in Wordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.
7. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses unless you play on Hard mode.
8. You have six guesses to solve the Wordle.
9. You must complete the daily Wordle before midnight in your timezone.
10. All answers are drawn from Wordle’s list of 2,309 solutions. However…
11. Wordle will accept a wider pool of words as guesses – some 10,000 of them. For instance, you can guess a plural such as WORDS. It definitely won’t be right (see point 4 above), but Wordle will accept it as a guess.
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