Wordle
Wordle

The New York Times' Wordle opened November on Sunday with a word that carried a little leftover Halloween bite, a five-letter creature that can make hikers and zoo visitors keep their distance.

Wordle No. 1961 starts with V, ends with R and contains two vowels with no repeated letters. For players who want to solve it on their own, hints come first below, followed by the answer and strategy tips.

Spoiler-free hints

These clues run from gentlest to most revealing.

The answer is a noun with two vowels, and no letter appears more than once.

It belongs to the world of reptiles. You might spot this word in a wildlife guide or on a sign at a zoo.

Keep your distance. This one has a dangerous streak.

The vowels sit in the second and fourth positions.

The word begins with V and ends with R.

As a final nudge: think of venomous snakes.

Warning: Answer below

Players who want to keep trying should stop reading here.

The answer to Wordle No. 1961 on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, is VIPER.

A viper is a venomous snake. The word is also used figuratively to describe a spiteful or treacherous person, as in the phrase "a nest of vipers."

The word traces back to the Latin "vipera." It is often explained as a blend of words meaning "alive" and "to bring forth," a reference to the fact that many vipers give birth to live young rather than laying eggs.

The answer follows Saturday's Halloween puzzle, YAHOO, keeping a slightly spooky theme alive for one more day.

Why it was tricky

VIPER is a common word, but its first letter gives it an edge.

V is one of the least frequently used letters in five-letter Wordle answers, and most popular starting words don't include it. Only 33 of the 1,961 earlier Wordle answers begin with V, according to one puzzle guide.

That means many players likely uncovered the I, E and R early but still had to hunt for the opening letter.

The word's ending also creates a classic Wordle trap. Once a player has the pattern _IPER, several words fit, including PIPER, WIPER and RIPER. Guessing each option one at a time can quickly burn through the six allowed attempts.

Starting words made a noticeable difference Sunday. One puzzle guide calculated how many common five-letter words remained possible after popular openers: 177 after SLATE, 131 after CRANE and just 43 after ADIEU. Vowel-heavy openers performed well because VIPER's I and E are revealed right away.

Strategy tips for future puzzles

Wordle gives players six tries to guess a five-letter word. After each guess, a green tile means a letter is in the correct spot, yellow means it is in the word but in the wrong position, and gray means it is not in the word.

Here are ways to sharpen your game:

Test uncommon letters when stuck. If common consonants keep coming up gray, it may be time to try a word containing less frequent letters such as V, W, K or Y. Saturday's YAHOO and Sunday's VIPER both rewarded players who looked beyond the usual suspects.

Break up rhyming traps with a "burner" guess. When several words share the same ending, such as _IPER, guess a word that contains multiple candidate first letters at once. A word with P, W and V, even if it can't be the answer, could narrow the field in one turn.

Pay attention to vowel positions. Many five-letter words alternate consonants and vowels. Once you know where the vowels sit, the remaining consonant slots become easier to fill.

Mix up your opener. Different starting words perform better on different days. Rotating between a vowel-heavy word like ADIEU and a consonant-balanced word like CRANE or SLATE can help on puzzles with unusual letters.

Remember that old answers can return. According to PC Guide, The New York Times began reintroducing older words into the rotation on Feb. 2, 2026, starting with CIGAR, the first-ever Wordle answer. Players should no longer rule out a word just because it has appeared before.

Recent answers

Saturday's answer, puzzle No. 1960, was YAHOO. Before that, recent solutions included SLIDE, MOTOR, GRIST, BINGO and GEEKY.

About the game

Wordle was created by software engineer Josh Wardle and became a social media phenomenon before The New York Times bought it in early 2022. Every player worldwide solves the same word each day, and a new puzzle is released at midnight local time.

Players in most of the United States also gained an extra hour of sleep Sunday as daylight saving time ended, though the clock change does not affect the daily puzzle schedule.

After Wordle, many players move on to the Times' other games, including Connections, Strands, Pips and the Mini Crossword.

Monday brings puzzle No. 1962 and a fresh five-letter challenge.