Today’s Wordle answer is going to annoy a LOT of people.
‘Wordle 274 X’ was already trending on Twitter within 10 minutes of the game going live, and I guarantee that people will lose their streaks today. I also predict that people will accuse the NYT of deliberately trying to wind them up — and it quite possibly is.
On a streak-killing day such as this, you might want some clues to make sure you don’t join those unhappy folks saying they’re never playing again.
Each day, I’ll be updating this article with tips to help you find today’s Wordle answer. My colleague Henry T. Casey also has a slick Wordle trick to keep his streak going. And if the hints aren’t enough, I’ll even give you the solution, in case you’re really stuck or just haven’t had time to complete today’s puzzle. But no cheating though, because that’s bad.
So be warned: spoilers lie ahead for game #274. Only read on if you want to know today’s Wordle answer!
Today’s Wordle answer #274 — hints to help you solve it
My first tip is that you should use one of the best Wordle start words for every game you play. But if you want some more specific clues to today’s Wordle answer then here you go:
- It has vowels in two places
- It has a repeated letter
- It ends in an uncommon letter
Hopefully those hints will get you at least some of the way towards finding today’s Wordle answer, but if not then you can read on for a bigger clue; or, if you just want to know the answer, then skip down further for that.
Alright then, here’s my final hint for today’s Wordle answer: let’s begin again.
Hopefully that will help you without giving it away entirely. Anyway, the answer’s coming up next…
Today’s Wordle answer #274, Sunday, March 20
So, what is today’s Wordle answer for game #274?
I won’t keep you waiting any longer — it’s RENEW.
Yes, that’s RENEW. And yes, the NYT actually is messing with people now.
As you might recall, yesterday’s Wordle answer was ALLOW — a word that caused people to lose their streaks and get upset because it ended in a W and had a repeated letter.
Now today’s answer is… RENEW — a word that ends in a W and has a repeated letter.
If that’s just a coincidence, then I apologise now to anyone who works on the NYT’s games section. But as I said yesterday, only 17 of Wordle’s 2,309 answers end in a W, so to get two of them in a row is, well, unfortunate.
On the other hand, maybe it helped a few people out; anyone who played yesterday’s Wordle should at least have considered a W as a possible ending today too.
The double E might actually be a bigger problem today. E features in many of the best Wordle start words, so lots of people will have got one in their first guess. But I suspect most will have then played another vowel in subsequent goes rather than using a second E early on. Either way, it makes for a tricky Wordle answer.
Wordle 274 6/6That was stressful⬛🟩⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩March 20, 2022
RENEW is a pretty common word — according to Word and Phrase Info, it’s the 5,589th most frequently used in English. So, not as high as ALLOW, which sits at 339th, but still a lot more common than CAULK or SWILL, two Wordle answers I’ll never forget.
What does RENEW mean? Here’s some of the Merriam-Webster definition:
- to make like new
- to make new spiritually
- to restore to existence
- to make extensive changes in
- to do again
- to begin again
I got today’s Wordle answer in 3/6, which is the same score as yesterday’s game. As always, I played STARE as my first guess because I’m a creature of habit and it generally gives me a yellow letter or two.
That’s what happened today, and with R and E the two yellows in question the obvious thing to do was to play them together at the end of the word as ER. I thought I’d probably need another vowel and O is the third most common, so that went in too. Then I just needed another couple of common consonants; adding L and N gave me LONER as my second guess.
I was a bit surprised to see the N and E turn green here but the R stay yellow. But on the plus side, I was pretty sure it had to start the answer rather than being in the second position. I did mentally run through every option for _RNE_ but couldn’t find anything that worked, so instead I set about solving R_NE_.
This proved surprising easy — because the only words I could find were RUNES (which is a plural and the S was gray anyway) and RENEW. I did do a double-take when I realized that — surely the NYT wouldn’t do another repeated letter and W ending two games in a row? — but it was the only option I could see, so I played it and was relieved when I saw those green letters pop up.
I’ve got my fingers crossed that not too many of you lost your streak today — let me know how you did in the comments or via email.
Today’s Wordle answer — Twitter reaction
The fact that ‘Wordle 274 X’ is trending on Twitter is an obvious sign that people have once again found this answer to be tough. Lots of people seem to have lost their streak, so here’s a selection of Twitter reactions to today’s Wordle answer.
Wordle 274 X/6⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩🟨🟨⬜🟨🟨🟨 pic.twitter.com/2qKIR1wloiMarch 19, 2022
This one threw me, I had 4 different guesses with 3 correct letters and still didn’t get it! 😂Wordle 274 X/6⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩⬜🟩⬜March 19, 2022
Wordle 274 X/6⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜🟨🟩🟩⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜🟩 what even are words, anyway?March 19, 2022
The streak has come to an end.Wordle 274 X/6⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨🟩🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛🟨 pic.twitter.com/TOsTDziKaBMarch 19, 2022
Wordle 274 X/6⬜⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩🟨🟩🟩🟩🟩⬜don’t talk to meMarch 20, 2022
Previous Wordle answers
If you’re looking for a list of older Wordle answers, we can also help. Here’s a list going back 20 games.
- Wordle #273: ALLOW
- Wordle #272: SAUTE
- Wordle #271: MOVIE
- Wordle #270: CATER
- Wordle #269: TEASE
- Wordle #268: SMELT
- Wordle #267: FOCUS
- Wordle #266: TODAY
- Wordle #265: WATCH
- Wordle #264: LAPSE
- Wordle #263: MONTH
- Wordle #262: SWEET
- Wordle #261: HOARD
- Wordle #260: CLOTH
- Wordle #259: BRINE
- Wordle #258: AHEAD
- Wordle #257: MOURN
- Wordle #256: NASTY
- Wordle #255: RUPEE
- Wordle #254: CHOKE
Wordle tips — how to win at Wordle
What else should I know about Wordle?
Wordle launched in October 2021, but only grew in popularity towards the end of the year, then went viral in January as the world woke up to its charms. In fact, it proved so successful that The New York Times bought Wordle for a seven-figure sum in early February and the game is now part of NYT Games.
It’s played via the NYT Games website here, and is entirely free. Both the NYT and the game’s creator, Josh Wardle, have stated that it will remain free. Some people think that Wordle has got harder since the NYT takeover, but it really hasn’t.
Wordle is a simple game in which your challenge is to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. Each time you guess, you’re told which of your chosen letters are in the target word, and whether they are in the right place.
If a letter is in the correct place, it turns green. If it’s in the word but in the wrong place, it turns yellow. And if it’s not in the word at all, it turns gray.
There’s just one puzzle a day, and everyone completes the same one. It resets at 7 p.m. ET each day, but if you’re eager for another game to pass the time while you wait, we’ve put together a list of the best Wordle alternatives such as the ultra-stressful (but very good) Squabble, the four-Wordles-at-once Quordle, the eight-Wordles-at-once Octordle and the new, soccer-themed, Who Are Ya?.
We also like the geography-based Wordle clone Worldle, the Star Wars-themed SWordle and the math-based Mathler. And, there’s the unofficial Wordle Unlimited, which lets you play as many games per day as you like, and adjust the number of letters in the word, from four to a crazy 11.
We also have pages on today’s Quordle answers and today’s Octordle answers if you want a triple hit of puzzle solutions. And we’d also recommend checking out the excellent new Heardle, which is like Wordle for pop music.