Years after it was created by New York-based software developer Josh Wardle, Wordle's popularity is still going strong.
In October 2021, Wardle released the word-based puzzle to the general public. It quickly became a global sensation, with some players sharing their answers, along with hints and tips, on social media each day.
Such was the game's popularity that, in January 2022, it was bought by The New York Times for an undisclosed low seven-figure sum, though it remains free for players. Today, Wordle remains the newspaper's most popular word game. What drives its enduring success? Wardle attributes it to the puzzle's format of five-letter words and six guesses.
"There is a reason that every word is five letters long and that you are allowed six attempts to guess it. That might seem arbitrary, but, with the prototype version, I tested different word lengths and experimented with the number of tries that players were allowed," Wardle told Newsweek in January 2022.
"Through that process of refinement, I figured out that five letters and six tries was the ideal sweet spot. It's just limited enough to feel challenging and to make you think, but most of the time, people still manage to solve it. So, you feel a real sense of accomplishment."
In Wordle, players must guess a secret five-letter word within six tries. The game offers color-coded feedback: green tiles indicate the correct letter in the right position; yellow means the letter is in the word but in the wrong place; and gray signals that the letter is not in the word.
Below are some clues to help you solve Wednesday's game, but be warned that the answer appears below at the end of the article, so please scroll with caution.
'Wordle' #1,306, Hints for Wednesday, January 15 Game
Newsweek has put together five clues to help you solve today's Wordle brainteaser.
Hint #1: Today's answer is a noun.
Hint #2: It only has one vowel.
Hint #3: The word starts with "K."
Hint #4: There are repeated letters.
Hint #5: Synonyms include "talent" and "instinct."
'Wordle' #1,306, Answer for Wednesday, January 15 Game
Wednesday's Wordle answer is "Knack."
According to Merriam-Webster, it is defined as "a special ready capacity that is hard to analyze or teach" and "a clever trick or stratagem."
Congratulations if you figured out the answer! But please don't worry if not because Wordle updates every day at midnight in your local time zone, at which point the next puzzle becomes available. Newsweek will be back tomorrow with another round of hints and tips.
In the meantime, you could try your hand at Connections—another popular game fromThe New York Times for which Newsweek also provides daily hints.
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