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Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Wednesday, June 26, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 26, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is harder; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 26, Wordle #1,103! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic! The other one is less common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A step in baking bread.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with K. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with D. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is KNEAD.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE, followed by NOTCH and PLUGS to eliminate likely consonants (and the remaining vowels, by extension). Next I tried MIKED based on letters remaining in possible solutions, which left KNEAD as the answer.

Wordle 1,103 5/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨
🟨⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “something you might do with an incredible meal” and the answer contained four common letters and one uncommon letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was SAVOR.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

What's New on Disney+ in July 2024

Disney+ is relatively light on new content in July compared to recent months, though new episodes of Lucasfilm's The Acolyte will continue weekly on Tuesdays (episodes drop at 6 p.m. PT) through July 16.

Also a highlight is Descendants: The Rise of Red (July 12), a fantasy musical and fourth film in The Descendants franchise (the other three of which are arriving on the platform on the same day). Descendants: The Rise of Red features Kylie Cantrall as the daughter of Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts and Malia Baker as the daughter of Cinderella and Prince Charming.

Finally, Disney+ will be live streaming the NFL Flag Football Championship (featuring 15U boys and 18U girls) from 3-5 p.m. PT on July 21.

Here’s everything coming to Disney+ in July 2024, including Bluey Minisodes (July 3), a collection of seven one-to-three minute shorts featuring Bluey and Bingo.

Disney Plus series with new episodes weekly in July 2024

  • The Acolyte—Tuesdays

Movies and complete series/seasons coming to Disney Plus in July 2024

Arriving July 1

  • SHARKFEST

  • Attack of the Red Sea Sharks

  • Baby Sharks in the City

  • Shark Attack 360 (S1, 8 episodes)

  • Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie: Gulf Coast

  • Shark vs. Ross Edgley

  • Sharks Gone Viral

  • Supersized Sharks

Arriving July 3

  • Bluey Minisodes

Arriving July 12

  • Disney Descendants (Sing-Along Version)

  • Disney Descendants 2 (Sing-Along Version)

  • Descendants 3 (Sing-Along Version)

  • Descendants: The Rise of Red

Arriving July 15

  • Angels in the Outfield

Arriving July 17

  • America’s Funniest Home Videos (S27-29, 66 episodes)

  • Pupstruction (S1, 4 episodes)

Arriving July 19

  • EPCOT Becoming: Inside the Transformation

Arriving July 21

  • NFL Flag Football Championship (Live)

Arriving July 24

  • Firebuds (S2, 13 episodes)

Arriving July 31

  • Mickey Mouse Funhouse (S3, 5 episodes)

  • Minnie’s Bow-Toons: Camp Minnie (S1, 6 episodes)

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, June 25, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 25, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 25, Wordle #1,102! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic! The other one is uncommon.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Something you might do with an incredible meal.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with R. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SAVOR.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which gave me four letters. There was only one possible solution with A as the second letter: SAVOR.

Wordle 1,102 3/6

🟨🟩⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was harder. The hint was “this is a piece of equipment you may use when you move” and the answer contained four common letters and one less common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was DOLLY.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Monday, June 24, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 24, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is hardert; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 24, Wordle #1,101! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Four of today's letters are from our mnemonic! The other one is less common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

This is a piece of equipment you may use when you move.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel and one "sometimes" vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with D. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with Y. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is DOLLY.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which yielded only one letter. I tried BLOND to eliminate possible consonants. This left only a handful of possible solutions—I tried MOLDY first, after which DOLLY was the only remaining answer.

Wordle 1,101 5/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨⬛🟨
⬛🟩🟩🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “a common sound at summer camp” and the answer contained three common letters and two fairly common letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was BUGLE.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Sunday, June 23, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 23, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is medium difficult; I got it in five. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 23, Wordle #1,100! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

Three of today's letters are from our mnemonic! The other two are fairly common.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A common sound at summer camp.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with B. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is BUGLE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, followed by GLAND to eliminate likely consonants. This left only two likely solutions: BULGE and BUGLE, and I guessed the former before landing on the latter.

Wordle 1,100 5/6

⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟨🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟨🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “a proclamation” and the answer contained four common letters and one pretty common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was EDICT.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Saturday, June 22, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 22, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in four. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 22, Wordle #1,099! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They are almost all common letters from our mnemonic today! Only one isn't, and it's fairly common too.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A proclamation.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with E. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with T. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is EDICT.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE, which indicated that I probably didn't need to guess any additional vowels. I tried BLUNT to check common consonants, which left only a few possible solutions. EVICT and EDICT seemed most likely—I guessed the former, which left the latter as the answer.

Wordle 1,099 4/6

⬛⬛🟩⬛🟨
⬛⬛⬛⬛🟩
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “this comes in many colors” and the answer contained four common letters and one pretty common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was PAINT.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

This Is the Best Mowing Pattern for a Healthy Lawn

If you mow your lawn regularly, you might be in the habit of going in straight lines up and down, starting and ending at the same spots, all season long, without a second thought. But following the exact same pattern week in and week out may be doing a disservice to your grass.

Grass leans and begins to grow in the direction in which it is cut, meaning it'll grow unevenly rather than upright over time. Mowing in the same pattern over and over can also compact soil and create ruts, none of which is good for the health and longevity of your yard.

The best mowing pattern is one with variety

Your mowing pattern doesn't need to be fancy or perfectly precise, nor do you need to go both horizontally and vertically within a single mowing session. The most important thing is that you change direction each time you mow, so you get variety over the course of the season.

Once you've cut a width or two around the edges of your lawn—including trees, beds, and any tight spots—mow the remainder of your grass in horizontal lines. The next week, angle 45 degrees to cut stripes diagonally. Continue subsequent sessions with vertical lines, then diagonal lines from the opposite corner, then back to horizontal. Even alternating between horizontal and vertical is better than cutting the same path week after week.

If you have a robot mower, you can choose a pattern (depending on the model) that will prompt the machine to vary its direction each time it goes out.

Alternating direction each time "avoids wear patterns, promotes even grass growth, and ensures your lawn remains in optimal condition," according to Scott Porteous, a robotics product manager at Husqvarna.

Finally, keep other basic lawn care in mind in your quest for the healthiest pattern: Don't mow it too often (once a week, maybe twice), and don't cut it too short (less than three inches).

This Chrome Extension Can Get You the Best Deal on Home Furniture

A common practice in the home furnishings market is "white labeling," in which the same item is rebranded and sold under different names by different companies (and at different price points). This means you may be able to find the dining table or bar cabinet you love at a lower cost, but you have to know where to look, and that can take time. Spoken.io can help you find the home furnishings you want at the cheapest price by showing you comparisons across different retailers, including both big box and lesser-known stores.

How to use Spoken to find furniture deals

You can head to Spoken.io simply to browse home items, which you can further sort by price range, design style, item type, and more. You can also navigate to the list of stores that Spoken searches if you found a piece of furniture at a specific retailer and want to see where else that item is sold and for how much. The service pulls from major retailers like Pottery Barn, West Elm, and Target as well as more niche and local stores.

Once you select an item, you'll see a description as well as a list of retailers that stock that item and how much it is listed for, which allows you to select the one with the best deal. You can also create an account and save items to a wishlist.

spoken furniture search
Credit: Emily Long

Spoken also has a Chrome browser extension, which will alert you when there's a better deal on the item you're currently browsing. If Spoken can find the item, the extension logo will pop up in the toolbar with a badge showing how many stores stock it, and you can click through to see the price comparisons. Note that the extension didn't activate for every item we searched, even those that are listed on Spoken's website.

spoken extension
Credit: Emily Long

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Friday, June 21, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 21, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 21, Wordle #1,098! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They are almost all common letters from our mnemonic today! Only one isn't, and it's fairly common too.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

This comes in many colors.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with P. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with T. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is PAINT.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE, which indicated that I probably didn't need to guess any additional vowels. Words like FAINT, FAITH, DAILY, and PAINT seemed like the best solutions, so I guessed PLANT, which left PAINT as the answer.

Wordle 1,098 3/6

⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛
🟩⬛🟨🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “perfume and skunks have this in common” and the answer contained four common letters and one pretty common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was SCENT.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

What's New on Netflix in July 2024

July is a big month for sports with the 2024 Olympics in Paris as well as Netflix sports docs: Simone Biles Rising, which follows the gymnast of the Paris Olympics, and LALIGA: All Access, which goes behind the scenes with the Spanish football league, are set to premiere at some point in the coming weeks. There's also SPRINT (July 7), a series capturing the training of elite sprinters, and Receiver (July 10), which, similar to last year's Quarterback, follows five NFL receivers through their season. Finally, Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa (July 31) follows the first Nepali woman to summit Everest in her 10th and final attempt at the peak.

True crime fans may want to catch The Man with 1000 Kids (July 3), a three-part investigative series about Dutch musician and prolific sperm donor Jonathan Meijer and the unregulated world of fertility clinics, as well as Homicide: Los Angeles (July 16), a docuseries from Law & Order creator Dick Wolf and the next installment of Unsolved Mysteries (July 31).

Netflix's original comedy specials in July include We Ride at Dawn (July 9) from Hannah Berner and Empty Nester (July 16) from Chad Daniels. For Bridgerton fans, there's The Decameron (July 25), an eight-episode dark comedy set during the Black Death in 14th-century Italy described as a "wine-soaked sex romp turned scramble for for survival."

Here’s everything else coming to (and leaving) Netflix in July, including new seasons of reality competition shows Love Is Blind: Brazil (premiering July 10) and Rhythm + Flow France (premiering July 11), both with episodes dropping throughout the month, and part one of season six of The Karate Kid spin-off Cobra Kai (July 18).

What’s coming to Netflix in July 2024

Available soon

Available July 1

  • About Antoine: Season 1

  • Amazing Antoine

  • American Hustle

  • American Psycho

  • Annabelle

  • Back to the Future

  • Back to the Future Part II

  • Back to the Future Part III

  • Big Daddy

  • The Blind Side

  • Call Me by Your Name

  • Captain Phillips

  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

  • Easy A

  • Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Batch 3)

  • The House Bunny

  • Jigsaw

  • The Karate Kid

  • Lost: Seasons 1-6

  • Magic Mike XXL

  • Matilda

  • The Nun

  • Paw Patrol: The Movie

  • Spider-Man

  • Spider-Man 2

  • Spider-Man 3

  • Star Trek: Prodigy: Season 2

  • Suits: Season 9

  • The Sweetest Thing

  • Uncle Buck

  • The Wiz

  • Zombieland

Available July 2

  • SPRINT—Netflix Sports Series

Available July 3

Available July 4

Available July 5

Available July 7

  • Boruto: Naruto the Movie

  • The Last: Naruto the Movie

  • Road To Ninja -Naruto The movie-

Available July 8

  • Bad Boys

  • Bad Boys II

Available July 9

  • The Boyfriend—Netflix Series

  • Hannah Berner: We Ride at Dawn—Netflix Comedy

Available July 10

Available July 11

Available July 12

Available July 14

Available July 15

  • Midnight Sun

  • Trolls Band Together

  • Wonderoos—Netflix Family

Available July 16

  • The Boy Next Door

  • Chad Daniels: Empty Nester—Netflix Comedy

  • Fifty Shades Darker

  • Fifty Shades Freed

  • Homicide: Los Angeles—Netflix Documentary

Available July 17

Available July 18

Available July 19

Available July 23

  • All American: Season 6

Available July 24

  • Dirty Pop: The Boy Band Scam—Netflix Documentary

  • Love of my life—Netflix Series

  • Resurrected Rides—Netflix Series

Available July 25

Available July 26

Available July 27

  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Available July 31

What’s leaving Netflix in July 2024

Leaving July 7

  • War Dogs

Leaving July 14

  • Abducted in Plain Sight

Leaving July 15

  • The Beguiled

Leaving July 23

  • Big Eyes

Leaving July 31

  • American Graffiti

  • Anaconda

  • Enough

  • Fatal Attraction

  • Glass

  • Hulk

  • King Richard

  • Knocked Up

  • Lucy

  • Moneyball

  • Public Enemies

  • Resident Evil

  • Resident Evil: Retribution

  • Role Models

  • Shrek

  • Smokey and the Bandit

  • Smokey and the Bandit II

  • Something's Gotta Give

  • The Great Wall

  • The Matrix

  • The Matrix Reloaded

  • The Matrix Revolutions

  • The Other Boleyn Girl

  • The Theory of Everything

  • Top Gear: Seasons 29-30

  • Traffic

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Thursday, June 20, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 20, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 20, Wordle #1,097! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

They are almost all common letters from our mnemonic today! Only one isn't, and it's pretty common too.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Perfume and skunks have this in common.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with S. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with T. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is SCENT.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which gave me four of five letters but no correct placement. There were a handful of possible solutions, with SCENT being one of the more common words.

Wordle 1,097 3/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨🟨
🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “abrupt” and the answer contained all common letters.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was TERSE.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Wednesday, June 19, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 19, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 19, Wordle #1,096! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are all common letters from our mnemonic today!

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

Abrupt.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There is one repeated letter today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There is one vowel, used twice.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with T. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with E. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is TERSE.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which gave me four of five letters and only one solution: TERSE.

Wordle 1,096 3/6

🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩
🟩⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was easier. The hint was “a noun or a verb, something you can use for protection” and the answer contained three common letters, one fairly common letter, and one uncommon letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was COVER.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

How to Make (and Share) Your Amazon Wishlist Before Prime Day

With Amazon Prime Day on the horizon (the date hasn't been announced, but we know the sale will take place sometime in July), now is a smart time to make an Amazon wishlist to keep track of all the things you plan to buy using your Prime account. You can also share your list with friends or family (hint, hint) in case they need gift ideas in the future. Here’s how to do it.

How to create and add to an Amazon wishlist

To create an Amazon wishlist in your browser, hover over Accounts & Lists in the upper-right corner of the navigation bar and select Create a list from the left column. (You can also access this by clicking Accounts & Lists > Your Lists > Create a List). Enter the name of your list in the pop-up and click Create List.

To create a new list on the Amazon Shopping app, select the profile icon on the bottom navigation bar and click Your Lists. Hit the plus icon next to Your lists and registries, enter the list name, and click Create List.

To add an item to a wishlist, go to the product’s page you’re interested in and look for the Add to List drop-down (simply text on mobile) underneath the Add to Cart/Buy Now box. You can either select an existing list or hit Create a List to make a new wishlist.

How to share an Amazon wishlist

All Amazon wishlists are private by default, but you can share specific lists with friends and family. Open the list you want to send and hit Invite or Send list to others (if using Amazon via browser). In either case, you have the option to allow others to view and edit your wishlist, or view-only, and to copy the link to your list or invite other users via email.

If you decide you want to change your privacy settings, update the name of your list, or enable Alexa to add items to your list, simply hover over the three horizontal “More” dots and select Manage list. You can also toggle on Don’t spoil my surprises if you want others to be able to gift you items from your wishlist without you knowing about it.

Eight Things in Your Home You Should Be Replacing More Often

While keeping many household items—like detergents, cleaners, and cosmetics—past their expiration dates isn't necessarily as risky as eating expired food, it can decrease their effectiveness and potentially cause more problems than they solve. For the sake of your home's cleanliness and safety, here are the products you should inspect and potentially toss.

Laundry detergent and bleach

If you aren't doing multiple loads of laundry per week, you probably don't need to buy detergent in bulk. It doesn't go bad, per se, but it does lose its cleaning power over time. Liquid detergent can sit unopened for up to 18 months at normal temperatures but should be used within six once the seal is broken. Laundry pods should also be used within six months and stored in a dry, airtight container. Powdered detergents are good for a long time unless exposed to moisture, which can result in soap deposits on your clothes.

Bleach also begins to break down after about a year, decreasing its disinfecting and sanitizing power. Look for the production date stamped on the bottle.

Cleaning products

Like detergent, the chemicals in household cleaning products degrade over time, making them less effective at keeping your home clean and sanitized. If you deep clean often and go through products in a year or two, you'll probably get your money's worth. However, if you find bottles tucked away that haven't been touched in recent memory, test them out: anything clumpy, discolored, smelly, or that fails to foam up is probably expired.

Cleaning supplies

Again, cleaning supplies don't come with an expiration date, but you're likely holding onto them way past their suggested use. Your toilet brush should be tossed and replaced every few months—otherwise, bacteria can build up in the bristles and on the handle. Kitchen sponges should be tossed out every few weeks (or swapped for an alternative that can be washed and sanitized, like a dish cloth or a silicone scrubber).

Sunscreen

If there was ever a product you want to be at maximum effectiveness, it's sunscreen. The FDA requires sunscreen manufacturers to make formulas that last for three years, so if you go through bottles quickly, you probably don't need to worry too much about expiration. But it's good practice to check bottles you haven't used in a while—like at the start of the summer—for expiration dates. You should also check the date upon purchase, and if there's no expiration listed, write one on the container.

Cosmetics and medications

Your bathroom cabinet is full of items that expire, like cosmetics, toothpaste, and pharmaceuticals. Keeping these items past their expiration can decrease their effectiveness (like toothpaste, which is good for about two years from the manufacture date) or increase the risk that the product will degrade or be exposed to bacteria and fungi. While cosmetics aren't regulated, most have a recommended shelf life listed on their labels. Mascara in particular should be tossed every few months.

Toothbrushes

Your toothbrush or electric toothbrush head should be replaced about every three months, according to the American Dental Association—more often if you are sick, or for kids who tend to chew on the bristles. An old and degraded toothbrush won't clean as thoroughly, leaving plaque behind and allowing germs to hang out around your teeth.

Filters

There are nearly a dozen appliances in your home—furnace, dryer, HVAC, range hood, etc.—that require filters, all of which need to be replaced on a regular basis to keep everything running at maximum effectiveness (which keeps your indoor air, water, and clothes clean). Depending on the type, you should be replacing filters every one to six months.

Smoke detectors and fire extinguishers

Fire safety isn't a set-and-forget situation. Smoke detectors should be tested every few months and replaced after 10 years from the date of manufacture. Carbon monoxide detectors should be swapped out every five to seven years. Disposable fire extinguishers have a shelf life of 10 to 12 years, while rechargeable extinguishers should be inspected and refilled every six years.

How to Share Your Amazon Prime Membership With Family (Even If You Don't Live Together)

To make the most out of July's upcoming Amazon Prime Day, you need to be an Amazon Prime member. However, a lesser-known Amazon Prime feature is that you can share membership perks with your family and only pay one membership fee. You can add one other adult, up to four teens, and up to four children to your Amazon Household, which allows everyone in the household to access all the standard benefits, from free shipping to streaming.

With an Amazon Household, everyone creates or keeps their own Amazon account but gets shared Prime benefits, even if they don’t actually live together. Here’s how to set it up for your family.

How to share Amazon Prime benefits with your family

To get started, you’ll need an Amazon account and a Prime membership (here’s how to sign up for Amazon Prime if you don’t have it already). After logging in, head over to the Amazon Household page and select Add Adult, Add Teen, and/or Add Child, depending on who you’d like to share your account with.

If you want to add an adult, you’ll be prompted to enter their name and the email associated with their Amazon account. You’ll then have to agree to link your payment wallet and choose which types of content—apps, audiobooks, and/or e-books—you want to share. Amazon does notify you if a Household member moves one of your payment methods to their wallet.

From here, your family member will receive an invitation via email to join your Household. To accept, they’ll click Get Prime Benefits and follow the prompts to agree to wallet sharing and to cancel their own Prime membership if they have one. Invitations are valid for 14 days. If the person you want to invite doesn’t have an Amazon account, they can create one during sign-up.

To add a teen who is 13 to 17 or a child who is 12 or under to your Household, you’ll need to follow the prompts to set up a teen or child profile—for teens, this includes indicating whether and how you want to review and approve orders and selecting a linked payment method. Children can’t shop on Amazon but can access Amazon Kids content and features.

A few limitations:

  • Amazon Households can only contain two adults and up to four teens and four children.

  • Household members must have an address in the same country (but do not have to have the same address).

  • If an adult has left an Amazon Household, neither adult on the account can join a different one for 180 days.

If you need to remove someone from your Household, you can do so via the Manage Your Household page.

You Can Finally Renew Your Passport Online Again

If you've put off renewing your passport because the process is inconvenient, you may be about to catch a break. The U.S. Department of State has reopened a beta release of its online passport renewal system, which will allow a limited number of passport holders to submit renewal applications each day.

Online passport processing was initially announced in late 2021 but was paused in March 2023 for additional development. The standard steps for obtaining a passport include going in person to a passport agency or acceptance facility, though renewals can also be submitted by mail.

According to the State Department, the online renewal platform will open "midday eastern time" for a limited number of applications and will close once that threshold has been reached. There are a number of specific requirements to qualify for online renewals:

  • You are 25 years of age or older.

  • Your passport is or was valid for 10 years and issued between 2009 and 2015.

  • You are not requesting to change your name, gender, date of birth, or place of birth.

  • You are not traveling abroad for at least eight weeks.

  • You live in the United States.

  • You are applying for a standard tourist passport.

  • You have your current/most recent passport in your possession.

How to renew your passport online

Go to the MyTravelGov page to create an account or sign in using your existing login. Then click the Renew Your Passport button to start your application. (You won't be able to begin if the daily limit has already been reached.)

You'll be asked to enter information about your most recent passport, as well as your upcoming travel plans, upload a digital passport photo, and pay the renewal fee using a debit or credit card. You should receive two emails—one confirming your payment is pending and one confirming it has been received.

Make sure you keep your current passport on hand—do not mail it in. You can also sign up for status update emails one week after you apply.

Note that the online application does not speed up processing time, which remains around six to eight weeks at the time of writing. If you need expedited service (or are applying for a special-issue passport such as a diplomatic document), you must use the mail-in option.

The Hidden Cost of Homeownership, State by State

If you own a home or are considering buying, you know that your monthly mortgage payment is only a fraction of what you'll spend each year on homeownership. There are plenty of hidden costs associated with the purchase process as well as ongoing expenses ranging from property taxes to maintenance and repairs, which you don't have to factor in if you rent (as well as utilities and insurance, which you likely do).

But it's hard to conceptualize how much this will actually set you back and easy to be caught off guard if you don't budget for expenses beyond your mortgage.

A new analysis from Bankrate looked at the average annual expenses—on top of a mortgage—that come with owning a single-family home in each state, including property tax, homeowners insurance, utilities (energy, internet, and cable), and home maintenance (calculated at 2% of median sale prices). The report then compared the hidden costs of homeownership in 2024 to those in 2020.

Across the United States, the hidden costs of homeownership and maintenance average $18,118 per year in 2024, an increase of 26% (or $3,689) from 2020. Hawaii has the most expensive homeownership costs averaging $29,015 annually, followed by California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Utah had the biggest percentage increase in hidden homeownership costs from 2020 to 2024 at a whopping 44%.

States with the least expensive homeownership costs include Kentucky ($11.559 per year on average), Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Indiana. Expenses in Alaska and Texas increased the least in the last four years at just 14%.

Here's how your state stacks up.

Hidden costs of homeownership by state

  • Alabama: $12,258

  • Alaska: $18,291

  • Arizona: $16,373

  • Arkansas: $11,692

  • California: $28,790

  • Colorado: $21,038

  • Connecticut: $23,515

  • Delaware: $14,785

  • Florida: $19,182

  • Georgia: $16,035

  • Hawaii: $29,015

  • Idaho: $16,197

  • Illinois: $16,205

  • Indiana: $12,259

  • Iowa: $12,448

  • Kansas: $14,012

  • Kentucky: $11,559

  • Louisiana: $12,593

  • Maine: $17,110

  • Maryland: $19,712

  • Massachusetts: $26,313

  • Michigan: $13,235

  • Minnesota: $16,217

  • Mississippi: $11,881

  • Missouri: $12,639

  • Montana: $18,081

  • Nebraska: $14,946

  • Nevada: $16,636

  • New Hampshire: $23,256

  • New Jersey: $25,573

  • New Mexico: $13,533

  • New York: $22,807

  • North Carolina: $14,647

  • North Dakota: $13,375

  • Ohio: $12,975

  • Oklahoma: $12,642

  • Oregon: $19,221

  • Pennsylvania: $14,983

  • Rhode Island: $21,994

  • South Carolina: $15,065

  • South Dakota: $14,581

  • Tennessee: $14,662

  • Texas: $18,036

  • Utah: $19,137

  • Vermont: $19,836

  • Virginia: $17,647

  • Washington: $23,365

  • West Virginia: $12,656

  • Wisconsin: $14,508

  • Wyoming: $15,420

Alexa Can Notify You When Something You Want Goes on Sale for Prime Day

Amazon’s Prime Day sale is coming this July—but keeping up and keeping track of the best discounts yet to land and figuring out which deals are worthwhile may be almost impossible. As an alternative, you can have Alexa give you a heads-up about deals on products you already know you want to purchase, so you don’t have to spend time sorting through the noise.

Amazon Prime subscribers in the United States who also have Echo smart speakers can enable deal alerts to receive notifications 24 hours before discounts go live and even have your Alexa purchase these items for you. Here’s how to do it.

How to set up Alexa deal alerts

First, open the Amazon Shopping app or go to Amazon’s website via browser and add products you want alerts for to your Wish List, your Shopping Cart, or a Saved for Later list.

Then head to the Alexa mobile app and go to More > Settings > Notifications > Amazon Shopping and toggle on Deal Recommendations under the Shopping Recommendations options. This ensures you’ll receive notifications for items that appear in your shopping activity.

If Alexa finds an upcoming deal on something in your Saved for Later, your Wish List, or in your Shopping Cart, you’ll receive a pop-up alert on your Echo Show display or see a yellow light ring on your Echo speaker. You can also ask, “Alexa, what are my notifications?” to hear a list of deals it has compiled thus far.

Alexa can detect deals up to 24 hours in advance, so you can either ask it to remind you again when a deal starts or request that it buy the item when the deal goes live. Simply say, “Alexa, buy it for me,” and it’ll charge the default payment and send the item to the default delivery address on your account.

Here are some Alexa smart speaker options:

Today’s Wordle Hints (and Answer) for Tuesday, June 18, 2024

If you’re looking for the Wordle answer for June 18, 2024 read on. We’ll share some clues, tips, and strategies, and finally the solution. Today’s puzzle is easier; I got it in three. Beware, there are spoilers below for June 18, Wordle #1,095! Keep scrolling if you want some hints (and then the answer) to today’s Wordle game.

How to play Wordle

Wordle lives here on the New York Times website. A new puzzle goes live every day at midnight, your local time.

Start by guessing a five-letter word. The letters of the word will turn green if they’re correct, yellow if you have the right letter in the wrong place, or gray if the letter isn’t in the day’s secret word at all. For more, check out our guide to playing Wordle here, and my strategy guide here for more advanced tips. (We also have more information at the bottom of this post, after the hints and answers.)

Ready for the hints? Let’s go!


Does today’s Wordle have any unusual letters?

We’ll define common letters as those that appear in the old typesetters’ phrase ETAOIN SHRDLU. (Memorize this! Pronounce it “Edwin Shirdloo,” like a name, and pretend he’s a friend of yours.)

There are three common letters from our mnemonic today. One letter is pretty common and one is uncommon.

Can you give me a hint for today’s Wordle?

A noun or a verb, something you can use for protection.

Does today’s Wordle have any double or repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters today. 

How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?

There are two vowels.

What letter does today’s Wordle start with?

Today’s word starts with C. 

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

Today’s word ends with R. 

What is the solution to today’s Wordle?

Ready? Today’s word is COVER.

How I solved today’s Wordle

I started with RAISE and TOUCH, which gave me four of five letters. There were a number of possible solutions but COVER was the most common word among them.

Wordle 1,095 3/6

🟨⬛⬛⬛🟨
⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle was medium difficult. The hint was “before” and the answer contained four common letters and one fairly common letter.

The answer to yesterday’s Wordle was PRIOR.

A primer on Wordle basics

The idea of Wordle is to guess the day’s secret word. When you first open the Wordle game, you’ll see an empty grid of letters. It’s up to you to make the first move: type in any five-letter word. 

Now, you can use the colors that are revealed to get clues about the word: Green means you correctly guessed a letter, and it’s in the correct position. (For example, if you guess PARTY, and the word is actually PURSE, the P and R will be green.)

  • Yellow means the letter is somewhere in the word, but not in the position you guessed it. (For example, if you guessed PARTY, but the word is actually ROAST, the R, A and T will all be yellow.)

  • Gray means the letter is not in the solution word at all. (If you guessed PARTY and everything is gray, then the solution cannot be PURSE or ROAST.)

With all that in mind, guess another word, and then another, trying to land on the correct word before you run out of chances. You get six guesses, and then it’s game over.

The best starter words for Wordle

What should you play for that first guess? The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing. (And if you get all grays when guessing common letters, that’s still excellent information to help you rule out possibilities.) There isn’t a single “best” starting word, but the New York Times’s Wordle analysis bot has suggested starting with one of these:

  • CRANE

  • TRACE

  • SLANT

  • CRATE

  • CARTE

Meanwhile, an MIT analysis found that you’ll eliminate the most possibilities in the first round by starting with one of these:

  • SALET

  • REAST

  • TRACE

  • CRATE

  • SLATE

Other good picks might be ARISE or ROUND. Words like ADIEU and AUDIO get more vowels in play, but you could argue that it’s better to start with an emphasis on consonants, using a starter like RENTS or CLAMP. Choose your strategy, and see how it plays out.

How to win at Wordle

We have a few guides to Wordle strategy, which you might like to read over if you’re a serious student of the game. This one covers how to use consonants to your advantage, while this one focuses on a strategy that uses the most common letters. In this advanced guide, we detail a three-pronged approach for fishing for hints while maximizing your chances of winning quickly.

The biggest thing that separates Wordle winners from Wordle losers is that winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word. If you know that the word must end in -OUND, don’t waste four guesses on MOUND, ROUND, SOUND, and HOUND; combine those consonants and guess MARSH. If the H lights up in yellow, you know the solution.

One more note on strategy: the original Wordle used a list of about 2,300 solution words, but after the game was bought by the NYT, the game now has an editor who hand-picks the solutions. Sometimes they are slightly tricky words that wouldn’t have made the original list, and sometimes they are topical. For example, FEAST was the solution one Thanksgiving. So keep in mind that there may be a theme.

Wordle alternatives

If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include:

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