Wordle Clues (and Solution) for Mondaythe 12th of May, 2025
Unfiltered Wordle Answer Guide for May 12, 2025
Let's spill the beans on the Wordle answer for today. Here come some tips, tricks, and hints, culminating in the big reveal. Today's puzzle presents a medium level of difficulty; I took four tries to crack it. Warning: spoilers below for May 12, Wordle #1,423! Keep scrolling if you're interested in some hints (and the final answer) for today's Wordle game.
Playing Wordle 101
You can play Wordle right here on The New York Times website. A new puzzle drops daily at midnight, your local time.
Start by guessing a five-letter word. If the letters in your word match the secret word, they'll turn green. If they're in the secret word but not in the right position, they'll turn yellow. If they're not in the secret word at all, they'll turn gray. To learn more about Wordle, check out our guide to playing Wordle and my advanced strategy guide. For even more info, go here[1].
Hints, Hints, Hints!
Let's kick off the hints!
Any unusual letters in today's Wordle?
Let's define "unusual" as letters that don't appear in the old typesetter's phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Try memorizing it! Say it fast: "Edwin Shirdloo," like a name, and imagine him as a friend.)
Today, we have just two common letters from our mnemonic. The other three are somewhat common[2].
Hint for today's Wordle
What rolls around and around?
Does today's Wordle feature any double or repeated letters?
Nope, today there are no repeating letters.
How many vowels are in today's Wordle?
You guessed it – there are two vowels.
What's the starting letter for today's Wordle?
The word begins with "B."
What's the ending letter for today's Wordle?
The word winds up with "P."
Solution for today's Wordle
Curious to know the answer? Here it is: BICEP.
How I solved today's Wordle
I started with RAISE, TOUCH, and BLEND, leaving BICEP as the only option.
Answer for Yesterday's Wordle
Yesterday's puzzle was a medium challenge. The clue was "a DIY craft supply." The answer had four common letters and one uncommon letter.
Answer: DOWEL.
Wordle Fundamentals Recap
The objective of Wordle is to guess the secret word for the day. When you first open the game, you'll see a blank grid of letters. Usher in your first move: enter any five-letter word.
Now, the colors you get will spark your clues: green means you nailed a letter and nailed its position. If you guess "PARTY" and the secret word is "PURSE," the P and R will be green.
- Yellow means the letter you guessed is present in the word, but not in the correct position. For instance, if you guessed "PARTY," but the secret word is "ROAST," the R, A, and T will all be yellow.
- Gray means the letter you guessed is not part of the secret word at all. If you guessed "PARTY" and everything is gray, then "PURSE" or "ROAST" cannot be the solution.
Keep guessing words, aiming to land on the secret word before you run out of attempts. You have six tries, and then it's game over[3].
Top Starters for Wordle
What should you go with for that opening guess? The best choices usually contain common letters, boosting the likelihood of getting yellow or green squares to guide your guessing. (Even a string of grays from common letters is still beneficial information to rule out possibilities.) To learn more about the best starting words and strategies, check out this piece and this one[4].
Victory in Wordle
Want to take your Wordle game to the next level? Check out these Wordle strategy guides to learn more:
- This one[7] covers how to use consonants to your advantage.
- This one[6] focuses on a strategy that utilizes the most common letters.
- This advanced guide[8] lays out a three-pronged approach for fishing for clues while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.
The key to triumphing in Wordle is to employ your guesses to gather information about what letters are in the secret word. If you deduce that the solution must end in -OUND, don't waste time guessing MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND—instead, combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H turns yellow, you know the solution.
Additionally, remember that the original Wordle used a list of approximately 2,300 solution words, but after being purchased by The New York Times, the game got a new editor who hand-picks the daily solutions[5]. Sometimes they are trickier words that wouldn't have been on the original list, and sometimes there's a theme—for instance, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep an eye out for potential themes[9]!
Wordle Alternatives
In case you're all set with Wordle, here are the best alternatives, ranked by difficulty:
- Wheeldle, which lets you play multiple puzzles in a row
- Dordle and Quordle, which challenge you to play two (Dordle) and four (Quordle) puzzles simultaneously with the same guesses. There are also variations like Octordle (eight puzzles) and Sedecordle (16 puzzles)[3][10]
- The grid-based Waffle, where you solve rounds of five-letter words that have been randomly scrambled
- Absurdle, which changes the solution after every guess but must still maintain consistency with its previous feedback. Your goal is to maneuver it into a corner where there's only one possible solution, which you then guess and win
- Squabble, in which you play Wordle against other people and take damage if you spend too much time between guesses
- Antiwordle, where you're tasked with avoiding guessing the solution. You need to reuse any letters you guessed correctly, so the longer it takes you, the better you're doing at the game[10].
References:
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/guides/game/wordle
[2] https://www.etymonline.com/word/bicep
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/12/games/wordle-explainer.html
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/games/wordle-strategy-solution.html
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/arts/wordle-what-is-it-how-to-play-what-does-it-mean.html
[6] https://medium.com/@lmsalvini/a-comprehensive-guide-to-wordle-e21b91e7b22a
[7] https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/26/22944097/how-to-win-at-wordle-tips-strategy-solutions
[8] https://www.theverge.com/22944472/how-to-win-at-wordle-advanced-strategy
[9] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/arts/wordle-what-is-it-how-to-play-what-does-it-mean.html
[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/12/games/wordle-variants.html
- The Wordle game, available on The New York Times website, is not just about words; it can also provide some entertainment related to books and social media, as players share their strategies and solutions online.
- If you're still struggling with Wordle after memorizing the old typesetter's phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU, you might find solace in the realization that books often offer a wealth of knowledge and entertainment.
- After wracking your brain over today's Wordle puzzle and delighting in the success of cracking the code, you could unwind by diving into a good book or engaging in lively discussions about your Wordle strategies on social media.
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