NYT Wordle today — answer and hints for game #1056, Friday, May 10

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? My Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, and you can also take a look at my new NYT Strands today page for my verdict on the New York Times' latest brainteaser.

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 #1056) - clue #1 - Vowels

How many vowels does today's Wordle have?

• Wordle today has vowels in three 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 #1056) - 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 #1056) - 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 #1056) - clue #4 - ending letter

What letter does today's Wordle end with?

• The last letter in today's Wordle is A.

A is a relatively common ending letter. It ranks 10th in this regard and today's game is one of 63 in which you'll find an A there.

Wordle hints (game #1056) - clue #5 - last chance

Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here's an extra one for game #1056.

• Today's Wordle answer is various types of mass market communication.

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 #1056)

• NYT average score: 3.8

• My score: 4

• WordleBot's score: 3

• Best start word performance*: LEAST (19 remaining answers)

• My start word performance: TUTOR (777)

* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words

Today's Wordle answer (game #1056) is… MEDIA.

I suspect there will be a big split in the scores here, with lots and lots of lovely 2/6s, and also plenty of 4s. That's because it's a game in which the two most popular start words – ADIEU and AUDIO – both cut down the options considerably, whereas few others had anywhere near the same impact.

ADIEU was played by 7% of Wordlers today, and left only one answer – so that's a guaranteed 2/6 for each and every one of them (unless they really screwed up). AUDIO was played by another 5% and left just three possible answers.

In contrast, none of WordleBot's top 20 got into single figures, and its favorites, CRANE and SLATE, left 107 and 140 respectively.

MEDIA isn't in itself a particularly tough Wordle. Three of the letters (the vowels) are very common, and while M and D rank only 16th and 13th respectively (see my analysis of every Wordle answer for the proof), they're both far more common than the J and K that made yesterday's JERKY such a pain for everyone (see below for my commentary on that puzzle). If the first guess results had been lower all round I'm sure the average would be below 3.5, whereas it's currently nestling at 3.8.

I had to settle for a four, however, which I'm satisfied with given that my opening guess left 777 options. TUTOR, chosen at random, isn't a terrible starter, but the fact that it has two Ts is not particularly helpful. And it was also quite unlucky, given that it included the only two vowels that aren't in MEDIA.

I righted that wrong with my second guess, SCALE, which WordleBot said was a "terrific guess". Unfortunately it was also unlucky, leaving me with 51 answers still. With a 3/6 now firmly out of reach I cut my losses and played ADIEU. I didn't think it would be correct, necessarily, but I've never tried it before in the 1,057 Wordles I've played, so why not?

Why not indeed: ADIEU gave me a couple more yellow letters and cut my options down to only one, so maybe I'll play it more often now! Anyway, the upshot was that I was able to play MEDIA next and score an acceptable 4/6.

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

Yesterday's Wordle hints (game #1055)

In a different time zone where it's still Thursday? Don't worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #1055, 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 J.

J is the least common letter overall in Wordle, but is only the fourth least likely starting letter. That's because it begins 20 out of the 27 answers it appears in (Y, Z and X are all less common starting letters).

• 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 #1055.

• Yesterday's Wordle answer is moving fitfully.

Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1055)

• NYT average score: 5.0

• My score: 4

• WordleBot's score: 5

• Best start word performance*: CARTE (34 remaining answers)

• My start word performance: CHICK (108)

* From WordleBot's Top 20 start words

Yesterday's Wordle answer (game #1055) was… JERKY.

Let's talk about the letter J. If you'd asked me before I started playing Wordle what the least common letters in the game would be, I'd have guessed Q, Z and X… but not necessarily J. But J is in fact incredibly uncommon in both Wordle and the English alphabet in general.

There's no single source for letter frequency in English (that I can find, at least), but several sources suggest that J is the second least common. For instance, when Samuel Morse was inventing Morse code, he apparently counted the letters on sets of printers' type, and determined that Z was at the bottom, with J and X just ahead of it. A 1995 study of the Concise English Dictionary, meanwhile, placed Q at the bottom, with J next.

Whatever the story about English in general, there's no doubting that J is the least common letter in Wordle; I prove as much in my analysis of every Wordle answer. It features in a mere 27 Wordle solutions among the list of 2,309 originally drawn up by creator Josh Wardle, which is two fewer than Q and 10 below X.

As you'd expect, there's a clear correlation between J being in a Wordle answer, and that answer being a difficult one. J has now appeared 12 times in Wordle – MAJOR, FJORD, JAUNT, ENJOY, JOUST, EJECT, NINJA, JUDGE, JAZZY, JOKER, JOLLY and now JERKY – and the average score for those games is a massive 4.87.

That's the context, then, for the fact that JERKY has an average of 5.0, according to WordleBot. But there's more, because this word also contains a K – and K is the seventh least common letter in Wordle. Add the fact that the arguably more obviously PERKY also exists, and you have a recipe for disaster.

Nor is it a game for which the best Wordle start words will have helped much. CRANE, WordleBot's favorite, left 191 options, while its second choice SLATE left 328. None of the 'bot's top 20 dipped below 30.

Neither did my random starter, CHICK, which left 108. But on the plus side, it did include a K, and that was very helpful in working out what to play next.

The thing about K is that it's very common at the end of an answer, but not so likely elsewhere. The next most likely place for it is in position #4, where it's almost always followed by a Y. In fact, K appears 55 times in that fourth spot, and in 31 of those cases it's followed by a Y.

So that gave me some structure for the second guess, which I decided would be LANKY in order to include three other common letters. And I was on the right track: both the K and Y duly turned green. WordleBot said I was unlucky, but I'm not sure I agree. Yes, it still left 11 options, but I now had a good lead on the answer.

I didn't identify all 11 possibles, but came up with DUSKY, MUSKY, SMOKY, MURKY, PESKY, PERKY, JERKY and GEEKY. The three I missed were PORKY, DORKY and KOOKY. Rather than guess outright I now needed a narrowing-down word. PERMS would guarantee a solve in four unless the answer were SMOKY or MUSKY, in which case I might still have a 50/50. WordleBot said it was a "terrific choice" and this time it was lucky too – the E and R turned green, but with the P ruled out it now couldn't be PERKY, and instead had to be the more difficult JERKY.

Wordle answers: The past 50

I've been playing Wordle every day for more than two 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 #1055, Thursday 9 May: JERKY

• Wordle #1054, Wednesday 8 May: PIOUS

• Wordle #1053, Tuesday 7 May: MUSTY

• Wordle #1052, Monday 6 May: SHAVE

• Wordle #1051, Sunday 5 May: DECAL

• Wordle #1050, Saturday 4 May: VALUE

• Wordle #1049, Friday 3 May: EBONY

• Wordle #1048, Thursday 2 May: SLICE

• Wordle #1047, Wednesday 1 May: DIARY

• Wordle #1046, Tuesday 30 April: PROWL

• Wordle #1045, Monday 29 April: CRAFT

• Wordle #1044, Sunday 28 April: PRUNE

• Wordle #1043, Saturday 27 April: GLEAM

• Wordle #1042, Friday 26 April: VAPID

• Wordle #1041, Thursday 25 April: INTRO

• Wordle #1040, Wednesday 24 April: OVERT

• Wordle #1039, Tuesday 23 April: ROVER

• Wordle #1038, Monday 22 April: LASER

• Wordle #1037, Sunday 21 April: JOLLY

• Wordle #1036, Saturday 20 April: LUCID

• Wordle #1035, Friday 19 April: RAISE

• Wordle #1034, Thursday 18 April: FACET

• Wordle #1033, Wednesday 17 April: TITHE

• Wordle #1032, Tuesday 16 April: SHANK

• Wordle #1031, Monday 15 April: EQUIP

• Wordle #1030, Sunday 14 April: BLIMP

• Wordle #1029, Saturday 13 April: STEEL

• Wordle #1028, Friday 12 April: WHINY

• Wordle #1027, Thursday 11 April: LOUSE

• Wordle #1026, Wednesday 10 April: BROTH

• Wordle #1025, Tuesday 9 April: MERGE

• Wordle #1024, Monday 8 April: BREED

• Wordle #1023, Sunday 7 April: VOILA

• Wordle #1022, Saturday 6 April: FINCH

• Wordle #1021, Friday 5 April: WRIST

• Wordle #1020, Thursday 4 April: CLIMB

• Wordle #1019, Wednesday 3 April: PLAIT

• Wordle #1018, Tuesday 2 April: SERUM

• Wordle #1017, Monday 1 April: FROND

• Wordle #1016, Sunday 31 March: TABOO

• Wordle #1015, Saturday 30 March: FORCE

• Wordle #1014, Friday 29 March: REALM

• Wordle #1013, Thursday 28 March: SPEAK

• Wordle #1012, Wednesday 27 March: STUNG

• Wordle #1011, Tuesday 26 March: MAYOR

• Wordle #1010, Monday 25 March: SALLY

• Wordle #1009, Sunday 24 March: TOWEL

• Wordle #1008, Saturday 23 March: RISEN

• Wordle #1007, Friday 22 March: DECAY

• Wordle #1006, Thursday 21 March: SHADE

• Wordle #1005, Wednesday 20 March: LINGO

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 2024.

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.