Today’s Wordle hints – answer, clues and tips for game #705, Thursday, May 25

It’s time for your daily round of Wordle hints, expertly crafted to help you keep your streak going even on the toughest of days. 

You might think that you don’t need any clues for Wordle today, but remember: failure in this game is only ever six guesses away.   

Below, you’ll find a selection of Wordle hints to guide you in the right direction. You don’t have to use them all, but there are five in total should you need them, covering vowels, starting letter, ending letter and more. And if you don’t have time to play at all, you can see the answer, too. 

Want more word-based fun? My Quordle today page contains hints and answers for that game, which remains the best of all the main Wordle alternatives.

SPOILER WARNING: Wordle hints and today’s answer are below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to see them.

Your Wordle expert

Marc McLaren
Your Wordle expert

Marc McLaren

Marc is TechRadar’s UK Editor in Chief and has been playing Wordle for more than a year. He’s authored dozens of articles on the game for TechRadar and its sister site Tom’s Guide, including a detailed analysis of the most common letters in every position. His Wordle streak just reached the 500 mark and he’ll be inconsolable if he loses it. Yes, he takes it all too seriously. 

Wordle hints (game #705) – clue #1 – Vowels

How many vowels does today’s Wordle have?

Wordle today has two vowels*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too). 

Wordle hints (game #705) – clue #2 – first letter

What letter does today’s Wordle begin with?

The first letter in today’s Wordle answer is B.

B is a very, very common starting letter in Wordle. In fact, it’s the third most common overall, behind only S and C. 

Wordle hints (game #705) – clue #3 – repeated letters

Does today’s Wordle have any repeated letters?

There are no repeated letters in today’s Wordle.

Repeated letters are quite common in the game, with 748 of the 2,309 Wordle answers containing one. However, it’s still more likely that a Wordle doesn’t have one.

Wordle hints (game #705) – clue #4 – ending letter

What letter does today’s Wordle end with?

The last letter in today’s Wordle is L.

L is a really common letter to find at the end of a Wordle. There are 155 games that finish with an L, and it ranks as the fifth most likely letter there.

Wordle hints (game #705) – clue #5 – last chance

Still looking for more Wordle hints today? Here’s an extra one for game #705.

  • Today’s Wordle answer has a hole in it.

If you just want to know today’s Wordle answer now, simply scroll down – but I’d always recommend trying to solve it on your own first. We’ve got lots of Wordle tips and tricks to help you, including a guide to the best Wordle start words.

If you don’t want to know today’s answer then DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER BECAUSE IT IS PRINTED BELOW. So don’t say you weren’t warned!


Today’s Wordle answer (game #705)

Wordle answer 705 on a yellow background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today’s Wordle answer (game #705) is… BAGEL.

Have we finally turned a corner and entered a more difficult phase of Wordle? Maybe. WordleBot says people are solving this one in an average of 4.2 guesses, following 4.1 yesterday and on Monday. 

While BAGEL is a little more difficult than some, it shouldn’t be a streak-killing Wordle. It doesn’t have the too-many-answers problem that so many of the really difficult ones have (e.g. JOKER or HOUND) and it doesn’t have repeated letters, uncommon letters, or unusual formats (e.g. COCOA, GUPPY or PLAZA). And it’s definitely not an obscure/annoying word as BORAX was; everyone knows what a BAGEL is, right?

The fact that it has a relatively high average score is probably related to the fact that none of the best Wordle starting words were very helpful in narrowing the options down. All five of WordleBot’s favorites left more than 40 (SLATE was the best, at 42), while my choice (STARE) left 110 and the most popular option (ADIEU) left 73. Many players will therefore have needed a second guess to get it down to a dozen or so possible answers, a third to narrow it down to a couple and a fourth to solve it.

That’s what happened with me at least. After STARE I played LADE, a word that added three very common consonants into the mix and positioned my yellow A and E in their next most common positions. This worked really well: the A and E were duly confirmed in place, and an L was also uncovered.

I had a quick play around with the letters to see if -ALE- was an option and quickly decided it wasn’t. All of my focus instead went on A-EL, where I came up with four possibilities – the same as those found by WordleBot. These were HAZEL, BAGEL, GAVEL and CAMEL, but unfortunately it would take me two more guesses to work out which one was the answer.

What I needed was a word that would include three of the seven extra consonants that were spread across those possible answers: H, Z, B, G, V, C and M. If I couldn’t find one, I might still be staring at a 5/6 by the end of the game.

Fortunately, I found one: BEGUM was accepted by Wordle, and it did the trick brilliantly. With the B and G turning green, I now had my answer: BAGEL. But I had to work for it. 

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.


Yesterday’s Wordle hints (game #704)

In a different time zone where it’s still Wednesday? Don’t worry – I can give you some clues for Wordle #704, too.

  • Wordle yesterday had two vowels.
  • The first letter in yesterday’s Wordle answer was U.
  • There was one repeated letter in yesterday’s Wordle.
  • The last letter in yesterday’s Wordle was R.
  • Yesterday’s Wordle answer is absolute.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #704)

Wordle answer 704 on a yellow background

(Image credit: New York Times)

Yesterday’s Wordle answer (game #704) was… UTTER.

I hate ER Wordles with a vengeance. They always cause me problems, because there are just too damn many words that can fit that pattern. My overall average score across 500-odd games is about 3.6; my score for ER games is probably about 5.6.

Anyway, today’s Wordle answer is an ER word that I solved in 3/6! What gives? Well, it’s all about that T (or rather both of them). 

The problem with most ER answers (for me at least) is that the consonant-vowel-consonant-E-R format includes so many options – think WIDER or PAGER or JOKER or about a billion others. 

However, once I turned up a green T in that second spot, I knew it couldn’t be that format. And because I had already ruled out the S too, I knew it had to start with a vowel, because no other letter goes before a T. 

That massively reduced my options today, leaving me with just four possible solutions after my opening guess: OTTER, UTTER, OTHER and ETHER.

Others among the best Wordle starting words were not so fortunate. SLATE, WordleBot’s favorite, left 114 possible answers. CRANE (187) and SLANT (180) were worse still. Many fell in-between, for instance ADIEU (31) and TRACE (36).

That points the way towards this not being a particularly easy Wordle, for most players. WordleBot says people are solving it in an average of 4.1 guesses, which is higher than most recent games, and any Wordle with a repeated letter in it tends to be difficult.

But not so for me. That green T made STARE, my choice, the best of the most popular start words today and set me firmly on the path to success.

In fact, with just four words to pick from, I couldn’t score lower than a 3/6 – but only so long as I chose either OTHER or OTTER for my second guess. 

If I went for OTTER, and the O turned green but not the T, it would have to be OTHER. If the T and not the O, it would be UTTER. If neither, it would be ETHER. The same rules applied to OTHER. 

However, if I went with UTTER or ETHER, I might score a 2/6 or 3/6, but it could also be a 4/6, because I might still face a 50/50 on the third guess.

I wasn’t certain OTTER would be an actual solution, and couldn’t recall either having been a past Wordle solution, so I went with OTHER. The O and T stayed gray, so I knew it had to be UTTER and scored my 3/6. 

As it turned out, OTHER had been an answer (in February 2022), and if I’d remembered that then UTTER would have been the best word to play and I’d have scored a 2/6. Proof once again that a good memory really helps in Wordle (and also proof that I don’t have one).


Wordle answers: The past 50

I’ve been playing Wordle every day for more than a year now and have tracked all of the previous answers so I can help you improve your game. Here are the last 50 solutions starting with yesterday’s answer, or check out my past Wordle answers page for the full list.

  • Wordle #704, Wednesday 24 May: UTTER
  • Wordle #703, Tuesday 23 May: CLERK
  • Wordle #702, Monday 22 May: IGLOO
  • Wordle #701, Sunday 21 May: BRASH
  • Wordle #700, Saturday 20 May: FLASK
  • Wordle #699, Friday 19 May: GRIEF
  • Wordle #698, Thursday 18 May: SHORN
  • Wordle #697, Wednesday 17 May: PLANK
  • Wordle #696, Tuesday 16 May: LATTE
  • Wordle #695, Monday 15 May: CANOE
  • Wordle #694, Sunday 14 May: SCARF
  • Wordle #693, Saturday 13 May: ACRID
  • Wordle #692, Friday 12 May: SNACK
  • Wordle #691, Thursday 11 May: BROOM
  • Wordle #690, Wednesday 10 May: ETHIC
  • Wordle #689, Tuesday 9 May: COCOA
  • Wordle #688, Monday 8 May: AGLOW
  • Wordle #687, Sunday 7 May: GHOUL
  • Wordle #686, Saturday 6 May: ANGER
  • Wordle #685, Friday 5 May: BELOW
  • Wordle #684, Thursday 4 May: GUPPY
  • Wordle #683, Wednesday 3 May: HORDE
  • Wordle #682, Tuesday 2 May: SULKY
  • Wordle #681, Monday 1 May: RANGE
  • Wordle #680, Sunday 30 April: PLAZA
  • Wordle #679, Saturday 29 April: CEDAR
  • Wordle #678, Friday 28 April: CIRCA
  • Wordle #677, Thursday 27 April: LOGIC
  • Wordle #676, Wednesday 26 April: METRO
  • Wordle #675, Tuesday 25 April: JOKER
  • Wordle #674, Monday 24 April: DITTO
  • Wordle #673, Sunday 23 April: UNZIP
  • Wordle #672, Saturday 22 April: BROKE
  • Wordle #671, Friday 21 April: KAYAK
  • Wordle #670, Thursday 20 April: PLATE
  • Wordle #669, Wednesday 19 April: THUMP
  • Wordle #668, Tuesday 18 April: HOUND
  • Wordle #667, Monday 17 April: WHIFF
  • Wordle #666, Sunday 16 April: DWELT
  • Wordle #665, Saturday 15 April: AGONY
  • Wordle #664, Friday 14 April: THIEF
  • Wordle #663, Thursday 13 April: CARAT
  • Wordle #662, Wednesday 12 April: BORAX
  • Wordle #661, Tuesday 11 April: QUALM
  • Wordle #660, Monday 10 April: UNDER
  • Wordle #659, Sunday 9 April: SNAFU
  • Wordle #658, Saturday 8 April: LEDGE
  • Wordle #657, Friday 7 April: LOCUS
  • Wordle #656, Thursday 6 April: LEAFY

What is Wordle?

If you’re on this page then you almost certainly know what Wordle is already, and indeed have probably been playing it for a while. And even if you’ve not been playing it, you must surely have heard of it by now, because it’s the viral word game phenomenon that took the world by storm last year and is still going strong in 2023.

We’ve got a full guide to the game in our What is Wordle page, but if you just want a refresher then here are the basics.

What is Wordle?

Wordle challenges you to guess a new five-letter word each day. You get six guesses, with each one revealing a little more information. If one of the letters in your guess is in the answer and in the right place, it turns green. If it’s in the answer but in the wrong place, it turns yellow. And if it’s not in the answer at all it turns gray. Simple, eh? 

It’s played online via the Wordle website or the New York Times’ Crossword app (iOS / Android), and is entirely free. 

Crucially, the answer is the same for everyone each day, meaning that you’re competing against the rest of the world, rather than just against yourself or the game. The puzzle then resets each day at midnight in your local time, giving you a new challenge, and the chance to extend your streak.

What are the Wordle rules?

The rules of Wordle are pretty straightforward, but with a couple of curveballs thrown in for good measure.

1. Letters that are in the answer and in the right place turn green.

2. Letters that are in the answer but in the wrong place turn yellow. 

3. Letters that are not in the answer turn gray.

4. Answers are never plural.

5. Letters can appear more than once. So if your guess includes two of one letter, they may both turn yellow, both turn green, or one could be yellow and the other green.

6. Each guess must be a valid word in Wordle’s dictionary. You can’t guess ABCDE, for instance.

7. You do not have to include correct letters in subsequent guesses unless you play on Hard mode.

8. You have six guesses to solve the Wordle.

9. You must complete the daily Wordle before midnight in your timezone.

10. All answers are drawn from Wordle’s list of 2,309 solutions. However…

11. Wordle will accept a wider pool of words as guesses – some 10,000 of them. For instance, you can guess a plural such as WORDS. It definitely won’t be right (see point 4 above), but Wordle will accept it as a guess.

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