What started as a pandemic pastime has become an enduring diversion for millions every morning; Wordle has become one of the most popular online games. One of the appeals is its challenge, and to see how your score compares with that of everyone else who played that day.
To that end, the New York Times’ Wordlebot analyzes everyone’s scores and the average number of guesses it takes to solve each day’s puzzle. According to the Wordlebot, these were the 10 most difficult Wordles of 2024.
As a note of warning, this story will reveal Wordle answers from the past year. If you need hints for a current puzzle, be sure to check out today’s Wordle hint and answer. Also, if you want to play past Wordle puzzles, you can sign up to access the Wordle Archive from The New York Times.
Note: This only reflects Wordles through December 19, so if there’s another stumper between then and now, it’s not on here.
I’d like to thank Engaging Data’s archive of Wordle stats for help in compiling this list. Otherwise, it would have taken me a lot longer to put together.
Wordle #990 – March 5
NYT average: 5.3
Solve rate: 83%
This day’s answer was HUNCH, which undoubtedly took many longer to solve, especially if they figured out the final four letters, but were stumped on the first; I’m sure many tried Bunch, Lunch, Munch, and Punch to no avail.
Wordle #1218 – October 19
NYT average: 5.3
Solve rate: 80%
Twenty percent of all Wordle players failed to find the correct work (FIBER); as with some others we’ll see that are particularly tricky, if you correctly guessed “_I_ER,” you’re stuck with a lot of potential combinations. “F” as a first letter is fairly common, appearing 135 times, but “B” as the third letter only appears a total of 56 times.
Wordle #1272 – December 12
NYT Average: 5.3
Solve rate: 87%
This answer (VYING) was a tricky one, as it starts with two letters you rarely see together, much less at the start. In our Wordle analysis, V only appears a total of 43 times as a starting letter, and Y only appears in the second position 22 times.
Wordle #980 – February 24
NYT Average: 5.4
Solve rate: 75%
Today’s answer (PIPER) was difficult as it has a repeated letter “P,” and if you got the remaining letters first, you were presented with a bevy of options: Liver, River, Miler, Diver, Riper, Viper, Wiper, and Piler, to name a few. In fact, it even tripped us up!
Wordle #1065 – May 19
NYT Average: 5.4
Solve rate: 73%
This puzzle literally threw a HITCH into people’s plans to continue their Wordle streaks. As with some of the other trickier Wordles, this one includes a repeated letter “H,” which only happens 10 times total through all of the Wordle answers. Plus, there are many other options for “_ITCH,” which tripped many up.
Wordle #1208 – October 9
NYT Average: 5.4
Solve rate: 80%
This answer literally had people calling out for their MOMMY; having a Wordle answer with three of the same letter is exceedingly rare, occurring only 20 times in all Wordle answers.
Wordle #1039 – April 23
NYT Average: 5.5
Solve rate: 70%
ROVER proved a tricky one for a lot of people, as “_OVER” presents a lot of different alternatives: Cover, Lover, Hover, and Mover were most likely guessed by solvers — like us — trying to figure this one out.
Wordle #1273 – December 13
NYT Average: 5.5
Solve rate: 72%
As a letter, “X” only appears a total of 37 times in all Wordle answers, so it’s not one that comes up very often, so “BOXER” probably didn’t come to mind for many. Plus, the combination of “_O_ER” has dozens of alternatives. Not surprising then, that more than 25% of players failed this one.
Wordle #1037 – April 21
NYT Average: 5.6
Solve rate: 71%
The second-hardest Wordle of 2024, JOLLY, also had a double letter, plus the infrequently used J — there are only 20 words that start with it in all the Wordle answers. Plus, if you get “_OLLY,” there are a lot of alternatives: Holly, Folly, Golly, Lolly, and Dolly. Add that up, and you’ve got a word that 29% of all players failed to reach in six guesses.
Wordle #1214 – October 15
NYT Average: 5.9
Solve rate: 56%
By far the hardest Wordle of the past two years, nearly half of everyone who tried this puzzle failed to figure it out. On the surface, a word like “CORER” wouldn’t seem too difficult, but there are a few things leading to its trickiness. C as a starting letter isn’t exactly rare; it shows up 198 times, which is the second-most common after S. However, there’s two r’s, which happens just 60 times in all or Wordle, and the combination of “_O_ER”, which we’ve seen in other difficult puzzles, once again rears its head here.
