Are past-tense verbs used as Wordle answers?

Simple past-tense verbs ending in '-ED' (such as SAVED or LIKED) are excluded from the main answer list, though they can be entered as valid guesses. Irregular past-tense forms that do not end in '-ED' (such as WROTE, BEGAN, or SPOKE) are valid Wordle answers.

Does Wordle ever repeat past answers?

Under current NYT guidelines, Wordle has never repeated a past answer. Out of the ~2,309 words in the official solution list, each daily puzzle uses a unique word. Once a word appears, it is effectively retired from future daily puzzles.

Who is the current Wordle editor?

Tracy Bennett is the official Wordle Editor at The New York Times. Appointed in late 2022, she manually reviews and curates the daily puzzle order to ensure words are engaging, non-obscure, and culturally appropriate.

What time does Wordle reset every day?

Wordle resets every day at midnight (12:00 AM) in your local time zone. For US players, new solutions go live based on Eastern Time (ET).

How many guesses do I get in Wordle?

You get six guesses to find the five-letter answer. Each guess must be a valid word, and tiles turn green, yellow, or gray to show how close you are.

Is Wordle free to play?

Yes — Wordle is free to play on the official NYT Games website. There is no paywall for the daily Wordle puzzle itself.

Does everyone get the same word?

Yes. Every player worldwide sees the same daily Wordle answer, although it resets at midnight in each local time zone.

Can I play past Wordle puzzles?

Not on the official NYT site once the day resets. Our archive tracks past answers if you want to review previous puzzles or practice.

What happens if I run out of guesses?

If you do not guess the word in six tries, the game ends and the answer is shown. Your streak resets, and a new puzzle becomes available the next day.

What is Wordle Hard Mode?

Hard Mode requires that any revealed green or yellow letters must be reused in your next guess, making the puzzle more disciplined and often more challenging.

Is there an official Wordle app?

No official Wordle app exists. The game is played through a browser on the NYT site, so avoid unofficial copies in app stores.

Josh Wardle created Wordle as a personal project for his partner Palak Shah and released it publicly in October 2021. The New York Times acquired it in early 2022.

What are good beginner tips?

Start with a word that covers common letters, avoid reusing confirmed gray letters, and move yellow letters to a new position rather than immediately dropping them.

Wordle #1881 • Thursday, August 13, 2026

Wordle Hints Today: Puzzle #1881

Need a nudge on today's Wordle? Below are five progressive hints — start with the first and stop as soon as you've got it. If you'd rather just see the word, the full answer and a difficulty breakdown are further down the page.

Wordle Hints Today - August 13, 2026 Puzzle #1881

Last updated: August 13, 2026 at 2:18 PM ET

Today's Wordle Hints

Below are five progressive hints for today’s answer. Start with Hint 1 and stop as soon as you know the word.

Hint 1: Vowel Count & Part of Speech

Hint 1 (Vowel Count & Part of Speech): Analyzing vowel frequency is the single most effective move on guess #1 or #2. Five-letter words typically hold 1 to 4 vowels. • Grammatical Category: NOUN • Total Vowel Count: 1 vowel Strategic Insight: If you haven't identified the main vowels yet, prioritize testing common vowels like E, A, or O in your next attempt.

Hint 2: Opening Letter Reveal

Hint 2 (Opening Letter Reveal): Wordle starting letters are heavily skewed toward high-frequency consonants like S, C, P, B, and T. • First Letter: "C" Strategic Insight: Now that you know the word starts with "C", filter out all candidate words in your head that do not begin with this letter.

Hint 3: Final Letter & Word Framework

Hint 3 (Final Letter & Word Framework): Identifying the trailing letter unveils morphological suffixes (such as -E, -Y, -T, -R, or -D). • Ending Letter: "H" • Word Outline: C _ _ _ H Strategic Insight: You now have the full bookends of the solution (C _ _ _ H). Focus on middle consonants and vowels that bridge these two letters.

Hint 4: Repeated Letters Analysis

Hint 4 (Repeated Letters Analysis): Approximately 15% to 18% of official NYT Wordle answers feature duplicate letters (e.g., KNOCK, SPEED, STIFF). • Duplicate Status: NO — Today's answer has five unique letters with zero duplicates. Strategic Insight: You can safely eliminate guesses with repeated letters from your remaining options.

Hint 5: Second Letter Clue

Hint 5 (Second Letter Clue): The second position is crucial for establishing vowel teams or consonant blends (like TH, CH, CR, ST, SL). • Second Letter: "R" • Expanded Pattern: C R _ _ H Strategic Insight: With three confirmed letter locations (C R _ _ H), only a handful of valid dictionary words remain.

Hint 6: Definition & Etymology Clue

Hint 6 (Definition & Etymology Clue): Below is the verified dictionary definition (Sourced from Oxford Languages & FreeDictionary API): Definition: A sudden, intense, loud sound, as made for example by cymbals.

Visual Hint: A daily-generated clue for Wordle 1881.

Today's Wordle Answer

Easy Difficulty★☆☆☆

Try to solve it yourself first! Reveal only when you're ready.

The official Wordle answer for today is CRASH. Difficulty level: Easy.

How Hard Is Today's Wordle?

We score difficulty using actual letter-frequency data — how often each letter appears in NYT's historical Wordle answer list — rather than a subjective guess.

Today's rating: Easy1 / 4 stars

CRASH uses 4 of its five letters are among the top 10 most common Wordle letters, making it a higher-frequency puzzle answer.

Recent Wordle Answers

Full Archive →

Last 7 Wordle answers with puzzle numbers and difficulty ratings
#	Date	Answer	Difficulty
#1881	Today — Aug 13, 2026	CRASH	Easy
#1880	Aug 12, 2026	WIMPY	Fiendish
#1879	Aug 11, 2026	FENCE	Medium
#1878	Aug 10, 2026	SNIPE	Easy
#1877	Aug 9, 2026	CLUNK	Hard
#1876	Aug 8, 2026	PRIVY	Fiendish
#1875	Aug 7, 2026	FEIGN	Medium

View the full Wordle answer archive →

Best Wordle Starting Words

Your opening guess should test the most statistically common letters in one move. Based on data from MIT research algorithms and the NYT WordleBot, these top five starters are mathematically proven to minimize your average guesses to solve.

SALET

3.421 Avg Guesses (MIT Optimal)

Mathematically proven by researchers at MIT using Exact Dynamic Programming. SALET is the absolute most efficient path to solving Wordle, averaging just 3.421 guesses.

SLATE

99/100 Efficiency (WordleBot #1)

The highest-rated practical starting word by the New York Times WordleBot. SLATE combines the same optimal letters as SALET but uses a much more common English word.

CRANE

Highest Entropy

Popularized by information theory analysis, CRANE eliminates the maximum amount of uncertainty on your first guess, leaving you with a mathematically smaller pool of remaining words.

TRACE

Top Tier NYT Rating

Another WordleBot favorite. TRACE tests three of the most common consonants (T, R, C) alongside the two most common vowels (A, E).

AUDIO

Max Vowels Strategy

The ultimate vowel-heavy strategy. Testing four vowels (A, U, D, I, O) immediately defines the shape of the word for many players, even if it tests fewer common consonants.

Quick Strategy Tips

Treat a confirmed grey letter as locked information — reusing it wastes a full guess.
Move yellow letters to a new column on your next guess rather than dropping them.
Once you’re down to 2-3 candidate words, a sacrifice guess with different letters can split the field faster than guessing blind.
In Hard Mode, every confirmed green/yellow letter must be reused in the next guess, which sharpens precise positioning.

Read the full strategy guide →

Mastering the Second-Guess Strategy

While your first guess tests the most common letters, your second guess determines whether you solve in 3 attempts or risk running into a late-game trap.

The Complementary Opener Pair Strategy

The most effective Wordle players pair two non-overlapping starting words to test 10 completely unique letters across their first two moves. For instance:

SLATE + CRONY: Tests S, L, A, T, E on move 1, followed by C, R, O, N, Y on move 2. Together, these two words test 10 of the top 12 most frequent letters in English.
RAISE + CLOUT: If RAISE yields mostly grey tiles, playing CLOUT immediately tests the remaining major vowels (O, U) and key consonants (C, L, T).

Pro Elimination Tip (The "Sacrifice Guess"): If guess #2 leaves you with a trap ending like _ATCH (MATCH, LATCH, BATCH, CATCH, HATCH), do not guess candidates one by one! Play a word like BLIMPS to test B, L, M, and P simultaneously in a single turn.

How to Play Wordle

New to Wordle? A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight in your local time zone, and every player worldwide gets the same word that day.

Make your first guess. A strong opener tests common vowels and consonants at once.
Read the tile colors. Green means correct letter, correct spot. Yellow means the letter is in the word but in the wrong spot. Grey means the letter is not in the word at all.
Refine each guess. Keep green letters fixed, move yellow letters to new positions, and drop grey letters entirely.
You get six tries. Most experienced players solve in 3-4 guesses by staying systematic rather than guessing randomly.
Share your result. The game generates a spoiler-free colored grid you can post without revealing the actual word.

Wordle Colors Explained

Green Box: The letter is in the word and in the correct spot.

Yellow Box: The letter is in the word but in the wrong spot.

Grey Box: The letter is not in the word in any spot.

Read the full beginner's guide →

Note: If you are playing from the United Kingdom, you can also play the Wordle UK game here.

About Wordle: History, Acquisition & Editor

Wordle was created in October 2021 by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle as a private word game for his partner, Palak Shah, who loved word puzzles. What started as an intimate, ad-free daily ritual quickly transformed into a global phenomenon. In November 2021, the game had just 90 daily players; by January 2022, over 2 million players were solving the puzzle daily.

In February 2022, The New York Times Company acquired Wordle for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum, integrating it into NYT Games alongside the NYT Crossword and Spelling Bee.

Meet the NYT Wordle Editor: Tracy Bennett

In late 2022, NYT appointed Tracy Bennett as official Wordle Editor. Rather than relying purely on an automated list, Tracy manually reviews and orders upcoming daily solutions. Her editorial oversight ensures solutions avoid obscure archaic words, maintain cultural fairness, and occasionally reflect seasonal themes.

Popular Wordle Alternatives & Spin-Offs

Finished today's Wordle and looking for more brain-teasing word puzzles? Try these popular daily alternatives:

Dordle

Solve 2 Wordle grids simultaneously in 7 guesses.

Quordle

Solve 4 Wordle grids simultaneously in 9 guesses.

Octordle

Solve 8 Wordle grids simultaneously in 13 guesses.

NYT Connections

Group 16 words into four secret categories of four.

Wordle FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Generally, no. While four-letter words with an 'S' added to make a basic plural (like CATS or DOGS) are valid guesses, the official NYT Wordle answer list deliberately excludes simple plural forms ending in 'S'. However, words that naturally end in 'S' like GLASS or FOCUS can be valid answers.

Written by

Naveed Ahmed@NaveedAhmedDev

Word Game & Puzzle Writer

Naveed covers daily Wordle hints, answers, and strategy tips for Wordle Hints Today. He tracks NYT puzzle trends and writes data-backed guides to help players improve their solve rate and maintain their winning streak.