NYT Wordle today — answer and my hints for game #1489, Thursday, July 17
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 Wednesday’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 #1489) – 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 #1489) – clue #2 – first letter
What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?
• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is M.
M is a middling letter when it comes to starting a word. It sits 10th in the rankings, with 107 occurrences in the 2,309 answers.
Wordle hints (game #1489) – 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 #1489) – clue #4 – ending letter
What letter does today’s Wordle end with?
• The last letter in today’s Wordle is L.
L is a really common letter to find at the end of a Wordle. There are 155 games that finish with an L, and it ranks as the fifth most likely letter there.
Wordle hints (game #1489) – clue #5 – last chance
Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #1489.
- Today’s Wordle answer is of or relating to manner or form.
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 #1489)
- NYT average score: 3.8
- My score: 5
- WordleBot’s score: 3
- My skill score: 98
- My luck score: 28
- My start word performance: GUAVA (549 remaining answers)
- WordleBot’s start word performance: SLATE (75)
- Tomorrow’s start word: CRANE
Today’s Wordle answer (game #1489) is… MODAL.
First off, a confession: I don’t really know what MODAL means and even after reading a few definitions I’m still not entirely sure. I do know that it’s a word, and I was able to play it in order to score a five today, though. Plus, I don’t think knowing what it means would have made any difference to my score.
Secondly, WordleBot appears to have a new start word, or rather an old one: SLATE seems to be back in favor at the top, with CRANE relegated to second.
Thirdly, this is a really, really annoying turn of affairs. You see I’ve become so frustrated with my recent scores that I decided yesterday that I would try an experiment – namely, I would begin with CRANE for the next three games, so I can compare myself directly to the ‘Bot. See how the other half lives, so to speak.
You might well be thinking ‘Okay, that’s fine, just use SLATE as your start word instead.’ And that would be fine were it not for the fact that I am technically on vacation right now, so I played a week’s worth of Wordles before I left, so as to reduce the time I’m sat at my computer when I could be swimming in the Aegean Sea or eating ice cream.
All of which means that from tomorrow, I’ll be starting with CRANE for the next three days – when WordleBot is back to starting with SLATE. What a mess.
None of which impacts today’s Wordle, beyond the fact that it did represent the last straw for me when it came to start words. I was given GUAVA, which is a stupid Wordle word but a lovely fruit (in drink form, at least; I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten one). That left me with 549 possible solutions and a challenge on my hands to get home in four, let alone three.
It was a challenge I failed, but others don’t seem to be finding it so hard, given that it has an average of 3.8. I guess all of those common letters – A, O and L in particular – will have helped.
With only a yellow A to work with, I moved that character to the second slot, where it is most common, and added T, S, E and R to make TASER. Sound thinking – but lacking in luck, and all I succeeded in doing was moving the yellow A.
With 38 options still in play, I needed some inspiration and got it in the form of FINAL. This used up most of the remaining common letters – I, N and L – and finally gave the board some structure, with the last two characters turning green for —AL.
WordleBot told me later that I now had three options: LOCAL, LOYAL and MODAL. I found all three myself, too, but was certain that LOYAL had been a past Wordle answer, so immediately ruled it out and decided to go for LOCAL.
I was right about LOYAL, but not about LOCAL, which has also appeared before, in March last year. That completely messed up my fourth guess, which was essentially a waste.
Eventually, I was left to play MODAL – and to endure another poor result. Let’s see if CRANE brings me better luck as a start word tomorrow…
Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #1488)
In a different time zone where it’s still Wednesday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1488, 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 N.
N is a surprisingly uncommon starting letter. Only 37 games begin with it and it ranks just 18th in this regard.
- 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 Y.
Y is the second most common ending letter in the game, behind only E. In total, 364 Wordle answers end with a Y.
Still looking for more Wordle hints? Here’s an extra one for game #1488.
- Yesterday’s Wordle answer is either bold or easily scared.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1488)
- NYT average score: 4.5
- My score: 4
- WordleBot’s score: 4
- My skill score: 93
- My luck score: 61
- My start word performance: HUSKY (272 remaining answers)
- WordleBot’s start word performance: CRANE (33)
- Tomorrow’s start word: GUAVA
Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #1488) was… NERVY.
NERVY is an interesting word, in that it can mean two things that are direct opposites: either brash, bold and impudent, or nervous, anxious and apprehensive.
There’s a slight difference here between British and American English; in both countries the word can mean both things, but the more negative connotation is more common in the UK, while the strong, positive one is prevalent in the US. Read into that what you will!
It’s also a difficult word to solve in Wordle, judging by its average score of 4.5, though I’m not entirely sure why it’s as high as that. There are not really any of the obvious complications we’ve seen in lots of other games recently, beyond that V is a relatively uncommon letter, and to an extent that people may have played NERDY or NEVER before they went for the real solution.
I scored yet another four – my fifth in succession, boringly enough. My first guess, HUSKY, gave me the green Y at the end, but nothing more. I then followed up with CLONE, seeking to do little more than play common letters, and uncovered both an N and an E.
I now had eight words to choose from, WordleBot told me later, but only found six: BENDY, ENEMY, NEEDY, NERDY, ENTRY and NERVY. The other two, apparently, were PINEY and WINEY.
Based on the words I had found, NERDY was a great choice, in that it would guarantee me no worse than a four even if it was itself wrong. That logic was slightly flawed in reality, given that I’d missed a couple of options, but as it happened it didn’t matter – it left NERVY as the only possible solution, so I score my four anyway.
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 #1488, Wednesday 16 July: NERVY
- Wordle #1487, Tuesday 15 July: FOIST
- Wordle #1486, Monday 14 July: UNDID
- Wordle #1485, Sunday 13 July: GNOME
- Wordle #1484, Saturday 12 July: EXILE
- Wordle #1483, Friday 11 July: BRAND
- Wordle #1482, Thursday 10 July: JUMPY
- Wordle #1481, Wednesday 9 July: NOVEL
- Wordle #1480, Tuesday 8 July: DREAD
- Wordle #1479, Monday 7 July: STILT
- Wordle #1478, Sunday 6 July: ATRIA
- Wordle #1477, Saturday 5 July: BALER
- Wordle #1476, Friday 4 July: CURVE
- Wordle #1475, Thursday 3 July: POPPY
- Wordle #1474, Wednesday 2 July: INCUR
- Wordle #1473, Tuesday 1 July: MOLDY
- Wordle #1472, Monday 30 June: BLINK
- Wordle #1471, Sunday 29 June: WITTY
- Wordle #1470, Saturday 28 June: STUMP
- Wordle #1469, Friday 27 June: PLAIN
- Wordle #1468, Thursday 26 June: OFFER
- Wordle #1467, Wednesday 25 June: COMFY
- Wordle #1466, Tuesday 24 June: ELITE
- Wordle #1465, Monday 23 June: ODDLY
- Wordle #1464, Sunday 22 June: THRUM
- Wordle #1463, Saturday 21 June: GLADE
- Wordle #1462, Friday 20 June: TAUPE
- Wordle #1461, Thursday 19 June: CURIO
- Wordle #1460, Wednesday 18 June: MUNCH
- Wordle #1459, Tuesday 17 June: PRANK
- Wordle #1458, Monday 16 June: PETTY
- Wordle #1457, Sunday 15 June: QUAIL
- Wordle #1456, Saturday 14 June: GHOST
- Wordle #1455, Friday 13 June: BILGE
- Wordle #1454, Thursday 12 June: VIXEN
- Wordle #1453, Wednesday 11 June: PLAID
- Wordle #1452, Tuesday 10 June: TAFFY
- Wordle #1451, Monday 9 June: BOARD
- Wordle #1450, Sunday 8 June: LEASE
- Wordle #1449, Saturday 7 June: REUSE
- Wordle #1448, Friday 6 June: EDIFY
- Wordle #1447, Thursday 5 June: DATUM
- Wordle #1446, Wednesday 4 June: CEASE
- Wordle #1445, Tuesday 3 June: ADMIN
- Wordle #1444, Monday 2 June: PREEN
- Wordle #1443, Sunday 1 June: ROUGH
- Wordle #1442, Saturday 31 May: HABIT
- Wordle #1441, Friday 30 May: IDIOM
- Wordle #1440, Thursday 29 May: QUASH
- Wordle #1439, Wednesday 28 May: POLAR
- Wordle #1438, Tuesday 27 May: SPORT
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 in 2022 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.
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’ 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.
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.
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.
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