NYT Wordle today — answer and my hints for game #1439, Wednesday, May 28
Looking for Wordle hints? I can help. Plus get the answers to Wordle today and yesterday.
A new NYT Wordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Tuesday's puzzle instead then click here.
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? TechRadar's Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, and you can also take a look at our NYT Strands today and NYT Connections today pages for our verdict on two of the New York Times' other brainteasers.
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 #1439) - clue #1 - Vowels
How many vowels does today's Wordle have?
• Wordle today has 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).
Wordle hints (game #1439) - clue #2 - first letter
What letter does today's Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today's Wordle answer is P.
P is a very common first letter among Wordle answers. It's the fifth most common in the alphabet and begins 141 solutions in total.
Wordle hints (game #1439) - 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 #1439) - clue #4 - ending letter
What letter does today's Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today's Wordle is R.
R is a very common letter to end a Wordle answer – it's actually the 4th most common there, behind E, Y and T.
Wordle hints (game #1439) - clue #5 - last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1439.
- Today's Wordle answer pertains to the ends of the Earth.
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 #1439)
- NYT average score: 3.6
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 4
- My skill score: 94
- My luck score: 52
- My start word performance: LANCE (94 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: CRANE (80)
- Tomorrow's start word: RIGID
Today's Wordle answer (game #1439) is… POLAR.
MOLAR, SOLAR, MORAL, CORAL, ROYAL… there were several red herring words that might have jumped into your brain today, but that was about the only complication to this otherwise-straightforward puzzle.
Yes, for the third day in a row this was an easy Wordle. It has an average of 3.6, following 3.5 for SPORT and 3.4 for DRONE, and as with those two words it consists of four very common letters and a more middling one, namely P. That said, P is the fifth likeliest letter to begin a Wordle, after S, C, B and T, so it's not middling in that regard.
I had to settle for a four once again, but there was never any peril involved. My opening LANCE (hi Lance!) left 94 options, but I eliminated 90 of them by playing TRAIL next.
That left me a quartet of MOLAR, POLAR, SOLAR and FLORA, and all four were easy to find. Unfortunately, guessing any of them might have left a 50/50 and the chance of a five, so there was nothing for it but to play a narrowing-down word instead and guarantee that four.
POSER did the job neatly, pointing the way to POLAR as the answer. Hopefully we'll have a more difficult word tomorrow, because this is all a little dull.
How did you do today? Send me an email or let me know in the comments.
Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1438)
In a different time zone where it's still Tuesday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1438, too.
- Wordle yesterday had a vowel in one place.
* 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 S.
S is the most common starting letter in the game, featuring in 365 of Wordle's 2,309 answers. In fact, it's almost twice as likely to begin an answer as the next most common starting letter, C.
- 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 #1438.
- Yesterday's Wordle answer is type of recreational activity.
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1438)
- NYT average score: 3.5
- My score: 4
- WordleBot's score: 3
- My skill score: 98
- My luck score: 51
- My start word performance: SWORD (14 remaining answers)
- WordleBot's start word performance: CRANE (106)
- Tomorrow's start word: LANCE
Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1438) was… SPORT.
I love watching SPORT. Soccer, for instance, although I might take a little break after my beloved Coventry City lost in the playoffs this year. Cricket and F1, for sure. A bit of rugby union, golf, or tennis on occasion. I'm not so hot on US sports – but I've enjoyed the odd NBA game.
I used to love playing it, too – when I was young and in good shape. I was never any good at it though. In fact, I was legendarily bad; I once contrived to score a hat-trick of own goals in a soccer game (which, in fairness, we lost 17-0, so it wasn't all my fault).
My performance at Wordle yesterday was not quite as poor as that (is Wordle a SPORT? Probably not), but this was another frustrating game all the same. I feel like I couldn't really have done much more, but had to settle for a below-par score anyway.
As with Monday's DRONE, it has a very low average score; 3.5 at the time of writing. And also as with Monday's game, it features four ultra-common letters and one that's in the middle (P in this case). There were no particular threats here, and plenty of threes available for the taking.
That was beyond me, though – and despite an incredibly lucky start. SWORD, chosen at random, left only 14 options, and with S-OR- already in place I had a clear idea of what I needed to do.
Essentially, that was to find the letters that could go between S and O: P gave me SPORT, SPORE and SPORK, T led to STORK, STORM, STORE and STORY, H was SHORE and SHORT, C served up SCORE and SCORN, and N provided SNORE and SNORT.
That have me 13 of the 14 possibles, with the only one I missed being SHORN. A decent effort, for once.
I worked out that I should play TENCH next, because it contained the T, N, C and H that might go between the S and O, plus the E that ended several of them. This was exactly what WordleBot said it would have done too, but it was unlucky and still left four words.
These were STORM, STORK, STORY and SPORT, and unfortunately I needed another narrowing down word to chose between them. This time I went with EMPTY, and it pointed the way to SPORT for a four.
It wasn't my best result ever, but it was certainly better than any of my soccer performances 35 years ago.
Wordle answers: The past 50
I've been playing Wordle every day for more than three 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 #1438, Tuesday 27 May: SPORT
- Wordle #1437, Monday 26 May: DRONE
- Wordle #1436, Sunday 25 May: GRIFT
- Wordle #1435, Saturday 24 May: SUEDE
- Wordle #1434, Friday 23 May: SHUCK
- Wordle #1433, Thursday 22 May: FOLIO
- Wordle #1432, Wednesday 21 May: ALARM
- Wordle #1431, Tuesday 20 May: BORNE
- Wordle #1430, Monday 19 May: PITCH
- Wordle #1429, Sunday 18 May: LIVID
- Wordle #1428, Saturday 17 May: GROWN
- Wordle #1427, Friday 16 May: FIFTH
- Wordle #1426, Thursday 15 May: EAGER
- Wordle #1425, Wednesday 14 May: BONGO
- Wordle #1424, Tuesday 13 May: AWARE
- Wordle #1423, Monday 12 May: BICEP
- Wordle #1422, Sunday 11 May: DOWEL
- Wordle #1421, Saturday 10 May: YEAST
- Wordle #1420, Friday 9 May: TRIPE
- Wordle #1419, Thursday 8 May: BALMY
- Wordle #1418, Wednesday 7 May: MACHO
- Wordle #1417, Tuesday 6 May: SUITE
- Wordle #1416, Monday 5 May: SHUSH
- Wordle #1415, Sunday 4 May: TROUT
- Wordle #1414, Saturday 3 May: PATSY
- Wordle #1413, Friday 2 May: WHOSE
- Wordle #1412, Thursday 1 May: ADEPT
- Wordle #1411, Wednesday 30 April: IDLER
- Wordle #1410, Tuesday 29 April: BLISS
- Wordle #1409, Monday 28 April: DUMMY
- Wordle #1408, Sunday 27 April: WEEDY
- Wordle #1407, Saturday 26 April: CLASH
- Wordle #1406, Friday 25 April: KNOWN
- Wordle #1405, Thursday 24 April: GENIE
- Wordle #1404, Wednesday 23 April: OZONE
- Wordle #1403, Tuesday 22 April: ARTSY
- Wordle #1402, Monday 21 April: SPATE
- Wordle #1401, Sunday 20 April: PATCH
- Wordle #1400, Saturday 19 April: INBOX
- Wordle #1399, Friday 18 April: DIRGE
- Wordle #1398, Thursday 17 April: STOOD
- Wordle #1397, Wednesday 16 April: MORAL
- Wordle #1396, Tuesday 15 April: ASHEN
- Wordle #1395, Monday 14 April: CREST
- Wordle #1394, Sunday 13 April: LAUGH
- Wordle #1393, Saturday 12 April: NURSE
- Wordle #1392, Friday 11 April: ARROW
- Wordle #1391, Thursday 10 April: TURBO
- Wordle #1390, Wednesday 9 April: WHEAT
- Wordle #1389, Tuesday 8 April: SPARE
- Wordle #1388, Monday 7 April: HAZEL
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 2025.
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. 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' Games 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. 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. 12. The NYT has added in some of its own words, that weren't in that list of 2,309 solutions. More will undoubtedly come over the next few years.What is Wordle?
What are the Wordle rules?
