Today’s Wordle Hint — October 16, 2026
One clue at a time. Stop when you have enough.
Hints for today’s puzzle
From a gentle nudge to a stronger clue.
1Word shapeStart with a gentle clue about the word.Reveal
2Repeated lettersFind out whether a letter appears more than once.Reveal
3First letterGet the beginning of the word.Reveal
Need a more specific hint?Use your known letters to narrow the possibilities.
Enter clues to find matching words.
Matches come from a 12,653-word English dictionary, not the official answer list. A match may happen to be today’s answer, but this tool never checks the daily solution.
4Last letterBuild a frame for the missing letters.Reveal
5Second letterA stronger clue when you need it.Reveal
6MeaningA definition to put the letters in context.Reveal
Definition: dictionary source · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via FreeDictionaryAPI.com. Clue wording may be shortened or redact the headword.
Today’s Wordle Answer
Reveal one letter at a time, or check the full solution when you’re ready.
The answer stays hidden until you choose to reveal it.
Wordle #1945: SHADY
adjective. Abounding in shades.
Definition: dictionary source · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via FreeDictionaryAPI.com. Clue wording may be shortened or redact the headword.
What makes this word interesting
SHADY has 5 different letters and 1 standard vowels. No letter repeats, so each of the five positions uses a different letter.
Its structure is CCVCC, counting A, E, I, O and U as vowels. In our 12,653-word dictionary, 102 other words share its first and last letters, including SADLY, SAGGY, SALLY, SALTY. Those words are examples of matching structure, not verified game answers.
Use Today’s Wordle Hint Without Spoiling the Puzzle
Today’s Wordle is more satisfying when you still get to make the final connection yourself. That is why the Wordle hint today page starts with small pieces of information rather than putting the answer at the top. Open one clue, return to your board, and see whether the new information is enough. If it is, stop there. If it is not, come back for the next clue.
The Wordle hints for today move from broad structure toward stronger letter information. An early clue may tell you how many standard vowels appear in the answer or whether a letter repeats. Later hints can reveal the first letter, last letter, a partial pattern, or a meaning clue. The full Wordle answer remains separate so that checking one hint does not spoil the puzzle by accident.
This approach is useful whether you are stuck after two guesses or staring at the final row. A Wordle hint is most valuable when it changes what you try next. The current puzzle is at the top, so you can open a clue right away and return to your board whenever you are ready. The explanation below is there when you want more context.
How to Read the Wordle Hints for Today
Start with the weakest clue that could realistically help. If you already know the first letter, there is no reason to reveal it again. Instead, use a clue that answers a question your board has not settled. Maybe you need to know whether the solution contains a repeated letter. Maybe several words fit the same green pattern and a meaning clue would separate them. Good Wordle hints for today should remove uncertainty without solving the entire board for you.
When a clue tells you that the answer has two standard vowels, remember that the count refers to A, E, I, O and U. A repeated vowel occupies two positions and therefore counts twice in the visible structure. Y is not treated as a standard vowel in the structural tools on this site. Keeping that definition consistent makes the daily Wordle hint easier to compare with the word list and difficulty pages.
Repeated letters deserve extra attention. A gray tile does not always mean that the letter is completely absent. If you guessed the same letter twice and the answer contains only one copy, one tile can be colored while the other is gray. The repeated-letter hint is therefore intentionally separate from the other Wordle hint today clues. It can prevent you from discarding a correct letter too early.
The first-letter and last-letter hints are stronger because they fix the outside of the word. Once both are known, you can think in terms of a frame such as S _ _ _ E. That frame may still have many possible five-letter words, so do not assume the first familiar option is the answer. Use the feedback already on your board, not just the new hint, to eliminate candidates.
Turn a Wordle Hint Into a Better Next Guess
A hint only helps if the next guess uses it well. Before entering another word, combine three kinds of information: letters that are fixed in place, letters that must appear somewhere else, and letters that have been ruled out. Then ask what your next guess is supposed to accomplish.
Early in the puzzle, a guess can be useful because it tests several unresolved letters at once. Later, the goal changes. If you have four green letters and three possible endings, testing an unrelated word may be useful in normal mode but impossible in Hard Mode. If you are on the sixth row, an information-only guess is no longer an option; the word must be a possible solution.
This is where the five-letter word list can help. Use the filters to organize the clues you already earned. Enter fixed letters in their positions, add letters that must be present, and exclude letters that are no longer possible. The result is a dictionary-based set of matching words based on your clues, not a lookup of today’s Wordle answer.
When One Hint Is Enough
A common mistake when using a hint page is to keep revealing clues simply because they are available. Try the opposite. After every Wordle hint, leave the page and look at your board again. Reorder the yellow letters mentally. Check whether a double letter now makes sense. Say the visible pattern aloud. Often the clue works only after you combine it with information you already had.
For example, imagine that your board shows _ A _ E _ and you already know that R must appear somewhere other than the first position. If a Wordle hint tells you there is no repeated letter, that may be enough to remove several tempting candidates. You do not necessarily need the first or last letter. The best Wordle hint is the one that lets you continue solving, not the one that gives away the most.
If nothing clicks, reveal the next clue. The page is intentionally ordered so the hints become more specific. That makes it possible to use Wordle hint today as a ladder rather than a single all-or-nothing answer box.
Wordle Hint Today and the Five-Letter Word List
The daily page and the five-letter word list serve different purposes. Wordle hint today tells you facts about the current verified puzzle. The word list lets you test the facts you already know against a broad English dictionary. It does not secretly compare your filters with today’s solution, and it does not guarantee that every displayed dictionary word is accepted by the official game.
Use the word list when the board has become a pattern problem. If the Wordle hints for today give you an outside frame and your own guesses supply two additional letters, filtering can be faster than trying to remember every possible word. If the filtered list is still large, look for another informative guess rather than assuming the first matching word is correct.
Quick Questions About Today’s Wordle
What is the best Wordle hint for today?
Start with the first unrevealed clue that tells you something your board does not already show. The Wordle hint today ladder begins with broad structure and becomes more specific, so you can stop before seeing more than you need.
Does this page show today’s Wordle answer automatically?
No. Today’s Wordle answer stays hidden until you choose to reveal letters or confirm that you want the full solution. The daily clues can be used without opening the answer.
Are the Wordle hints for today based on the current puzzle?
The current date and puzzle number appear with the daily clues so you can confirm that you are looking at the right puzzle. If the new puzzle has not been verified yet, you should see a checking message instead of an older answer being reused.
Can I use the five-letter word list with my Wordle clues?
Yes. Enter your green letters in their known positions, add yellow letters that must appear elsewhere, and exclude letters that no longer fit. The list narrows dictionary words from the clues you provide.
Is Wordle Hint Today an official New York Times site?
No. Wordle Hint Today is an independent puzzle-help website. Wordle is a trademark of The New York Times Company, and the official game is hosted by The New York Times.