Today’s Wordle hints – answer, clues and tips for game #706, Friday, May 26

It’s time for your daily round of Wordle hints, expertly crafted to help you keep your streak going even on the toughest of days. 

You might think that you don’t need any clues for Wordle today, but remember: failure in this game is only ever six guesses away.   

Below, you’ll find a selection of Wordle hints to guide you in the right direction. You don’t have to use them all, but there are five in total should you need them, covering vowels, starting letter, ending letter and more. And if you don’t have time to play at all, you can see the answer, too. 

Want more word-based fun? My Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, which remains the best of all the main Wordle alternatives.

SPOILER WARNING: Wordle hints and today’s answer are below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to see them.

Wordle hints (game #705) – clue #1 – Vowels

How many vowels does today’s Wordle have?

• Wordle today has two vowels*.

* 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 #705) – clue #2 – first letter

What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?

• The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is 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.

Wordle hints (game #705) – 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 #705) – 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 #705) – clue #5 – last chance

Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #705.

• Today’s Wordle answer is a contemptible person.

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!

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Today’s Wordle answer (game #706)

Today’s Wordle answer (game #706) is… SWINE.

We’re settling into a difficulty groove again with Wordle; after a long spell of around 3.7, 3.8, we’re now sticking around the 4.2 mark. But whereas yesterday’s puzzle was harder than some because very few start words were much help at all, today’s suffers from that old familiar problem: too many answers.

Part of the issue is that it starts with the most common starting letter, S, and ends with the most common ending letter, E. Logically, that would mean there would be lots of words that have the format S—E. What’s more, most have the same letters in-between: consonant, vowel, consonant, with the vowels being mainly I and O, and the consonants being L, N, D, P, C and a couple of others.

WordleBot told me after the game that I had 32 possible solutions left after my opening STARE, which is high considering that I already had two green letters. Others among the best Wordle starting words were better still: CRANE left 13 and SLANT 16. 

I immediately drew up a list of possibles, but I didn’t come close to finding 32, because I neglected to include the options that had a vowel second letter; this was a silly mistake that could have come back to haunt me (but didn’t). That said, there are fewer of these words (SIEVE, SIEGE, SINCE, SENSE etc) than the words that have the second vowel in the middle.

On my list, instead, were words such as SMOKE, SNIPE, SWIPE, SCOPE, SHONE, SHINE, SMILE, SCENE and SLOPE. My objective for the second guess was therefore to narrow down those consonants. 

For that, I decided PINCH was a good option, although WordleBot pointed out afterwards that PLINK would have been a better choice. Maybe so, but both would have left two answers, so I think it’s being a little harsh there.

With a yellow I and N, I could see what those two answers were: SNIDE and SWINE, both of which had been on my initial list. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong one, playing SNIDE and having to settle for a 4/6.  

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

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Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #705)

In a different time zone where it’s still Thursday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #705, too.

• Wordle yesterday had two vowels.

• The first letter in yesterday’s Wordle answer was B.

• There were no repeated letters in yesterday’s Wordle.

• The last letter in yesterday’s Wordle was L.

• Yesterday’s Wordle answer has a hole in it.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #705)

Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #705) was… BAGEL.

Have we finally turned a corner and entered a more difficult phase of Wordle? Maybe. WordleBot says people are solving this one in an average of 4.2 guesses, following 4.1 yesterday and on Monday. 

While BAGEL is a little more difficult than some, it shouldn’t be a streak-killing Wordle. It doesn’t have the too-many-answers problem that so many of the really difficult ones have (e.g. JOKER or HOUND) and it doesn’t have repeated letters, uncommon letters, or unusual formats (e.g. COCOA, GUPPY or PLAZA). And it’s definitely not an obscure/annoying word as BORAX was; everyone knows what a BAGEL is, right?

The fact that it has a relatively high average score is probably related to the fact that none of the best Wordle starting words were very helpful in narrowing the options down. All five of WordleBot’s favorites left more than 40 (SLATE was the best, at 42), while my choice (STARE) left 110 and the most popular option (ADIEU) left 73. Many players will therefore have needed a second guess to get it down to a dozen or so possible answers, a third to narrow it down to a couple and a fourth to solve it.

That’s what happened with me at least. After STARE I played LADE, a word that added three very common consonants into the mix and positioned my yellow A and E in their next most common positions. This worked really well: the A and E were duly confirmed in place, and an L was also uncovered.

I had a quick play around with the letters to see if -ALE- was an option and quickly decided it wasn’t. All of my focus instead went on A-EL, where I came up with four possibilities – the same as those found by WordleBot. These were HAZEL, BAGEL, GAVEL and CAMEL, but unfortunately it would take me two more guesses to work out which one was the answer.

What I needed was a word that would include three of the seven extra consonants that were spread across those possible answers: H, Z, B, G, V, C and M. If I couldn’t find one, I might still be staring at a 5/6 by the end of the game.

Fortunately, I found one: BEGUM was accepted by Wordle, and it did the trick brilliantly. With the B and G turning green, I now had my answer: BAGEL. But I had to work for it. 

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Wordle answers: The past 50

I’ve been playing Wordle every day for more than a year 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 #705, Thursday 25 May: BAGEL
• Wordle #704, Wednesday 24 May: UTTER
• Wordle #703, Tuesday 23 May: CLERK
• Wordle #702, Monday 22 May: IGLOO
• Wordle #701, Sunday 21 May: BRASH
• Wordle #700, Saturday 20 May: FLASK
• Wordle #699, Friday 19 May: GRIEF
• Wordle #698, Thursday 18 May: SHORN
• Wordle #697, Wednesday 17 May: PLANK
• Wordle #696, Tuesday 16 May: LATTE
• Wordle #695, Monday 15 May: CANOE
• Wordle #694, Sunday 14 May: SCARF
• Wordle #693, Saturday 13 May: ACRID
• Wordle #692, Friday 12 May: SNACK
• Wordle #691, Thursday 11 May: BROOM
• Wordle #690, Wednesday 10 May: ETHIC
• Wordle #689, Tuesday 9 May: COCOA
• Wordle #688, Monday 8 May: AGLOW
• Wordle #687, Sunday 7 May: GHOUL
• Wordle #686, Saturday 6 May: ANGER
• Wordle #685, Friday 5 May: BELOW
• Wordle #684, Thursday 4 May: GUPPY
• Wordle #683, Wednesday 3 May: HORDE
• Wordle #682, Tuesday 2 May: SULKY
• Wordle #681, Monday 1 May: RANGE
• Wordle #680, Sunday 30 April: PLAZA
• Wordle #679, Saturday 29 April: CEDAR
• Wordle #678, Friday 28 April: CIRCA
• Wordle #677, Thursday 27 April: LOGIC
• Wordle #676, Wednesday 26 April: METRO
• Wordle #675, Tuesday 25 April: JOKER
• Wordle #674, Monday 24 April: DITTO
• Wordle #673, Sunday 23 April: UNZIP
• Wordle #672, Saturday 22 April: BROKE
• Wordle #671, Friday 21 April: KAYAK
• Wordle #670, Thursday 20 April: PLATE
• Wordle #669, Wednesday 19 April: THUMP
• Wordle #668, Tuesday 18 April: HOUND
• Wordle #667, Monday 17 April: WHIFF
• Wordle #666, Sunday 16 April: DWELT
• Wordle #665, Saturday 15 April: AGONY
• Wordle #664, Friday 14 April: THIEF
• Wordle #663, Thursday 13 April: CARAT
• Wordle #662, Wednesday 12 April: BORAX
• Wordle #661, Tuesday 11 April: QUALM
• Wordle #660, Monday 10 April: UNDER
• Wordle #659, Sunday 9 April: SNAFU
• Wordle #658, Saturday 8 April: LEDGE
• Wordle #657, Friday 7 April: LOCUS

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 2023.

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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