Wordle puzzle
Wordle puzzle

NEW YORK — Saturday's Wordle, puzzle No. 1953, has an answer that sounds just like a far more common word. That could lead some players to guess the wrong spelling.

The answer for Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, appears near the end of this article for players who want to protect their streak without solving it alone. Hints come first, from gentle to specific.

How Wordle works

Wordle, published daily by The New York Times, gives players six tries to guess a hidden five-letter word. After each guess, the tiles change color:

Green: the letter is in the word and in the right position. Yellow: the letter is in the word but in the wrong position. Gray: the letter is not in the word at all.

A new puzzle is released at midnight local time, and everyone in the same time zone plays the same word. Software engineer Josh Wardle created the game, and The New York Times bought it in early 2022. It remains one of the most widely played daily puzzles.

Hints for Wordle No. 1953

These clues get more specific as you go. Stop when you have enough.

Hint 1: The word contains two vowels. Hint 2: It has no repeated letters. Hint 3: It is an adjective. Hint 4: It describes something full of gaps or openings, such as an old sock or a slice of Swiss cheese. Hint 5: It sounds exactly like a word meaning sacred.

More specific clues

The word starts with H. It ends with Y. The four letters before the Y spell a common noun meaning a hollow or opening.

The homophone trap

Saturday's main challenge is spelling. The answer is pronounced the same as "holy," meaning sacred, and "wholly," meaning entirely. "Holy" has only four letters, so it can't be the answer, but players who think of the sound first may try the wrong combination.

Letter frequency adds a second trap. Endings such as -LLY, -ILY and -OLY are common, and a player who finds H, O, L and Y early may still have to work out where the remaining vowel goes.

Strategy tips

Longtime Wordle players often rely on a few habits:

Open with common letters. Starting words heavy in frequently used letters, such as E, A, R, T, O and S, quickly narrow the options. Avoid gray letters. Once a letter is ruled out, don't use it again unless you are in "hard mode," which requires reusing confirmed letters. Consider Y as a vowel. Many five-letter adjectives end in Y, and it often does the work of a vowel at the end of a word. Think about word families. Saturday's answer is built from a common four-letter noun plus Y, a pattern that also produces words such as BONEY, HONEY and MONEY.

Today's Wordle answer

The answer to Wordle No. 1953 on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, is:

HOLEY

"Holey" describes something that has holes, gaps or hollow spaces, such as a worn T-shirt, a hole-filled road or a holey pair of socks. It is often used playfully in descriptions of well-worn clothing or porous foods.

The word is a classic example of a homophone: different words that sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning. HOLEY, HOLY and WHOLLY are often cited together in spelling lessons.

Friday's answer

Friday's Wordle, No. 1952 on Oct. 23, was TRILL. A trill is a rapid alternation between two musical notes, or a quivering, warbling sound, such as a bird's song.

Weekend Wordle

Weekend puzzles draw some of the game's biggest audiences, as players have more time to solve and compare results with friends and family. Answers are not officially sorted by difficulty, but players often notice that words with unusual spellings or several close alternatives tend to require more guesses.

After solving, players can share a grid of colored squares showing how many tries they needed, without giving away the answer. The grids remain a popular way to compare results on social media and group chats.

Other New York Times games

Wordle is part of a daily lineup of puzzles from The New York Times that includes:

Connections, which asks players to sort 16 words into four hidden groups Strands, a themed word search Spelling Bee, which challenges players to make words from seven letters The Mini Crossword, a short daily crossword

Saturday's Connections puzzle, No. 1231, included a group of things found on sticks, including a popsicle, a pinwheel and a sparkler.

A new Wordle puzzle is released every day at midnight local time.