Daily Puzzle Hint

Puzzle guides

Short, practical guides to the NYT word games. Start with the rules if a game is new to you, then use the strategy guides to shave guesses off your average.

Wordle. 7 min read. Updated October 10, 2026. Best Wordle Starting Words, Tested on Real Answers We scored popular openers like SLATE, CRANE and AUDIO against every recent Wordle answer. Here is what actually works, with the numbers. Wordle. 5 min read. Updated October 10, 2026. How to Play Wordle: Rules, Colours and First Steps New to Wordle? The six-guess rule, what green, yellow and grey mean, and how to use every row without wasting letters. Wordle. 6 min read. Updated October 10, 2026. Wordle Strategy: How to Solve in Three or Four Guesses A practical system for guesses two to six: when to explore, when to commit, and how to escape the dreaded _IGHT trap. Connections. 6 min read. Updated October 10, 2026. How to Play NYT Connections, Plus Tips for the Purple Group How Connections works, what the four colours mean, and the habits that stop you burning mistakes on red herrings. Strands. 5 min read. Updated October 10, 2026. How to Play NYT Strands: Spangrams, Hints and Strategy How Strands works, what makes a spangram, how the hint meter fills, and where to start on a blank board.