Wordle Today: Hints and Answer for Puzzle 1947 on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, Plus Tips to Keep Your Streak Alive

NEW YORK — The New York Times released a new Wordle puzzle at midnight local time Sunday, offering players a more familiar word after a tricky Saturday puzzle that tripped up many solvers with a doubled letter.

Puzzle No. 1947 is now available. Below are hints for players who want to solve it on their own, followed by the answer. Readers who want to avoid spoilers should stop before the answer section.

How Wordle works

Wordle challenges players to guess a five-letter word in six tries or fewer. After each guess, the tiles change color. A green tile means the letter is correct and in the right position. A yellow tile means the letter is in the word but in a different spot. A gray tile means the letter is not in the answer.

The puzzle resets at midnight in each player's local time zone.

How hard is today's puzzle?

Sunday's puzzle is of moderate difficulty. The answer uses common letters with no repeats, but its letters can be arranged in several ways, which may lead players to waste guesses on near misses.

Hints for Wordle No. 1947

These clues are listed from least to most revealing.

Hint 1: The word is a verb often used when talking about decorating a room or a person.

Hint 2: You might use it to describe hanging lights on a holiday tree or putting flowers on a table.

Hint 3: It shares its name with a popular 2012 song by R&B singer Miguel.

Hint 4: The word has two vowels, and no letter appears more than once.

Hint 5: The answer starts with A and ends with N.

Strategy tips

Today's word begins with a vowel, which is less common among Wordle answers. Players who usually start with consonant-heavy guesses may want to test vowels early.

Starting words that include A, O and R can help narrow the possibilities quickly. One puzzle guide suggested ROAST as a strong opener for today's puzzle because it tests several of the most useful letters.

If you have found the right letters but in the wrong positions, try rearranging them systematically rather than guessing new letters. Remember that the vowel at the start of the word may be easy to overlook.

SPOILER WARNING: The answer is below.

Today's Wordle answer

The answer to Wordle No. 1947 on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026, is ADORN.

The word is a verb meaning to decorate something to make it more beautiful or attractive, as in "fresh flowers adorn the table." It comes from the Latin word "adornare," meaning to decorate.

Yesterday's answer

For players catching up, the answer to Wordle No. 1946 on Saturday, Oct. 17, was GAFFE.

Recent Wordle answers

• Oct. 17 (No. 1946): GAFFE
• Oct. 16 (No. 1945): SHADY
• Oct. 15 (No. 1944): DUNCE
• Oct. 14 (No. 1943): PSYCH
• Oct. 13 (No. 1942): WIDER
• Oct. 12 (No. 1941): YODEL
• Oct. 11 (No. 1940): UNCAP
• Oct. 10 (No. 1939): BUMPY
• Oct. 9 (No. 1938): MAJOR
• Oct. 8 (No. 1937): STREW

Repeat answers possible

The New York Times began reintroducing older words into Wordle's rotation on Feb. 2, 2026, starting with CIGAR, the game's first-ever answer. That means players should not rule out a word simply because it has appeared before.

About Wordle

Wordle was created by software engineer Josh Wardle and acquired by The New York Times in early 2022. Its once-a-day format and shareable grids of colored squares turned it into one of the most popular word games in the world.

Tips for future puzzles

Experienced players recommend using a consistent starting word and paying close attention to yellow tiles to eliminate letter positions. When several possible answers remain, using a guess to test multiple new letters can be more efficient than guessing a single likely word.

A new Wordle puzzle will be available at midnight local time.