Hey, there! Perhaps you’re still feeling full after your festive dinner, in which case it’s time to take things easy today. So why not curl up under a blanket and enjoy the latest round of Wordle? For those who’d like some help, here’s our daily Wordle guide with some hints and the answer for Thursday’s puzzle (#1,286).
It may be that you’re a Wordle newcomer and you’re not completely sure how to play the game. We’re here to help with that too.
What is Wordle?
Wordle is a deceptively simple daily word game that first emerged in 2021. The gist is that there is one five-letter word to deduce every day by process of elimination. The daily word is the same for everyone.
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Wordle blew up in popularity in late 2021 after creator Josh Wardle made it easy for players to share an emoji-based grid with their friends and followers that detailed how they fared each day. The game’s success spurred dozens of clones across a swathe of categories and formats.
The New York Times purchased Wordle in early 2022 for an undisclosed sum. The publication said that players collectively played Wordle 4.8 billion times in 2023. So, it’s little surprise that Wordle is one of the best online games and puzzles you can play daily.
How to play Wordle
To start playing Wordle, you simply need to enter one five-letter word. The game will tell you how close you are to that day’s secret word by highlighting letters that are in the correct position in green. Letters that appear in the word but aren’t in the right spot will be highlighted in yellow. If you guess any letters that are not in the secret word, the game will gray those out on the virtual keyboard.
You’ll only have six guesses to find each day’s word, though you still can use grayed-out letters to help narrow things down. It’s also worth remembering that letters can appear in the secret word more than once.
Wordle is free to play on the NYT’s website and apps, as well as on Meta Quest headsets. The game refreshes at midnight local time. If you log into a New York Times account, you can track your stats, including the all-important win streak.
How to play Wordle more than once a day
If you have a NYT subscription that includes full access to the publication’s games, you don’t have to stop after a single round of Wordle. You’ll have access to an archive of more than 1,200 previous Wordle games. So if you’re a relative newcomer, you’ll be able to go back and catch up on previous editions.
In addition, paid NYT Games members have access to a tool called the Wordlebot. This can tell you how well you performed at each day’s game.
Previous Wordle answers
Before today’s Wordle hints, here are the answers to recent puzzles that you may have missed:
Wednesday, December 25 — SHARE
Tuesday, December 24 — EAGLE
Monday, December 23 — SAUNA
Sunday, December 22 — BRAWN
Saturday, December 21 — BLADE
Today’s Wordle hints explained
Every day, we’ll try to make Wordle a little easier for you. First, we’ll offer a hint that describes the meaning of the word or how it might be used in a phrase or sentence. We’ll also tell you if there are any double (or even triple) letters in the word.
In case you still haven’t quite figured it out by that point, we’ll then provide the first letter of the word. Those who are still stumped after that can continue on to find out the answer for today’s Wordle.
This should go without saying, but make sure to scroll slowly. Spoilers are ahead.
Today’s Wordle clue
Here’s a hint for today’s Wordle answer:
Attach one thing to something else.
Are there any double letters in today’s Wordle?
There is a pair of repeated letters in today’s Wordle answer.
What’s the first letter of today’s Wordle?
The first letter of today’s Wordle answer is A.
Today’s Wordle answer
This is your final warning before we reveal today’s Wordle answer. No take-backs.
Don’t blame us if you happen to scroll too far and accidentally spoil the game for yourself.
Today’s Wordle answer is…
AFFIX
Not to worry if you didn’t figure out today’s Wordle word. If you made it this far down the page, hopefully you at least kept your streak going. And, hey: there’s always another game tomorrow.
