Wordle was invented by engineer Josh Wardle as a game to play with his partner, a lover of word puzzles. He decided to release it publicly in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it quickly went viral.
He ended up selling the game to the New York Times months later for an undisclosed seven-figure sum and it remains a global hit to this day. In 2023 alone, Wordle was played 4.8 billion times.
We spoke to one linguistics expert about the best strategies for ensuring an ongoing win streak.
“Be strategic with your second guess. As hard as it might seem—especially if you have a few correct letters in your first word—using a completely separate set of letters, where possible, will help eliminate more possibilities in fewer guesses,” said Noël Wolf.
“For example, If your first Wordle guess is ‘crane’ and you discover that C and R are correct, instead of guessing a word like ‘cross,’ try a different word like ‘plumb.’ This will use new letters and explore different vowel placements, increasing your chances of narrowing down the possibilities.”
How to Play ‘Wordle’
Players are tasked with guessing a mystery five-letter word—and have to do so in six attempts or less. They begin by putting in a word to The New York Times app or games website and then, using a process of elimination, must work out what the word is.
They are helped along with a color-coded tile system: green meaning they’ve got the letter correct, while yellow shows the letter appears in the word but is in the wrong spot. Finally, a gray tile indicates that the letter does not appear in the word at all.
Below are some hints to help you solve Wednesday’s puzzle, but scroll with caution because the answer appears further down.
Wordle #1,250, Hints for Wednesday, November 20 Game
Hint #1: It can be noun or a verb.
Hint #2: The answer has no repeated letters.
Hint #3: It contains two vowels.
Hint #4: The word can mean a recess in a wall or a specialization among other definitions, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Hint #5: The word begins with the letter “N.”
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Wordle #1,250, Answer for Wednesday, November 20 Game
Tuesday’s Wordle answer is “Niche.”
If you didn’t guess it right, then you can try again when Wordle resets at midnight in your time zone. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.
While you wait, why not give these other popular online word puzzle games a go?
Newsweek also provides daily clues for the Wordle stablemate Connections.
