Editorial Policy and Methodology

Effective September 3, 2026

Primary data

Puzzle dates, numbers, answers, and Connections boards come from New York Times puzzle endpoints. Responses must match the expected structure before they can be published.

What is computed

Vowel count and placement, first and last letters, repeated-letter status, display patterns, positional rarity, pattern-family size, and progressive candidate counts are calculated locally. The 0–100 difficulty score is a percentile calibrated across 2,309 possible answers using positional letter rarity, with disclosed adjustments for repetitions and words without standard vowels. It is not an official NYT rating or a prediction of individual solve time.

Use of AI

A generative model may draft introductions and conversational commentary. Its output is schema-validated, while every letter fact and meaning clue is overwritten with deterministic data. Definitions are prepared locally for all 2,309 model answers from WordNet plus reviewed supplements; the WordNet notice is included with the source. A non-AI fallback is published when generation is unavailable.

Original research tables

The starting-word, repeated-letter, trap-family, position-frequency, and monthly archive tables are computed from the disclosed local answer model during the production build. Starting guesses use duplicate-aware feedback partitions and report the evaluated shortlist rather than claiming an exhaustive or guaranteed optimum.

Solver ranking

The solver keeps a 2,309-word possible-answer list separate from a 12,972-word allowed-guess list. It reproduces duplicate-letter feedback, partitions every remaining answer by the feedback each evaluated guess would produce, and reports entropy, expected remaining candidates, and the worst-case bucket. It evaluates the full allowed list at 250 or fewer candidates and an explicitly labeled 400-word shortlist on larger sets to keep browsers responsive. It does not promise a globally optimal multi-turn strategy.

Corrections

If a clue, answer, attribution, or technical behavior appears wrong, please send a correction. Material factual errors are corrected as soon as they are confirmed.

Independence

Wordle Hint Today is independently maintained by Aneeza and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times.