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Wordle Today: Wordle answer and hints for August 20

We have the solution to Wordle on July 16, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Let’s start by first reminding ourselves of yesterday’s Wordle answer for those new to the game or who don’t play it daily, which was “METER.” So we can say that the Wordle answer today definitely isn’t that. Now, with that in mind, perhaps take another stab at it using one of these Wordle starting words and circle back if you have no luck.

Hints for today’s Wordle

Still can’t figure it out? We have today’s Wordle answer right here, below. But first, one more thing: Let’s take a look at three hints that could help you find the solution, without giving it away, so there’s no need to feel guilty about keeping your streak alive — you put in some work, after all! Or just keep scrolling for the answer.

  • Today’s Wordle includes the letter y.
  • Today’s Wordle uses three vowels.
  • Today’s Wordle is a word for slowing something down.
Someone playing Wordle on a smartphone.
Adobe Stock

Today’s Wordle answer

No luck? Don’t sweat it — you can’t get them all! If you just want to see today’s Wordle answer to continue your streak, you can find it below.

The answer to today’s Wordle is …

DELAY

Today’s Wordle definition

And here’s what it means, according to our good friend ChatGPT:

“Delay” refers to a period of time by which something is postponed or happens later than expected. It can apply to a wide range of contexts:

  1. General Use: The act of making something happen later than planned. For example, if a meeting starts an hour late, that hour is considered the delay.
  2. Transportation: In travel, a delay might refer to a plane, train, or bus arriving or departing later than scheduled.
  3. Technology: In computing and telecommunications, a delay can refer to the time taken for data to be transmitted or processed.
  4. Psychology: It can also refer to procrastination or the act of putting off tasks or decisions.

Essentially, a delay is any instance where the timing of an event is pushed beyond its intended or expected schedule.

Tips for tomorrow’s Wordle

It might seem like Wordle is all luck, but there are a few good practices you can use to help get as many clues as possible in just a few guesses, making it that much more likely you can figure out the final word before you run out of tries. The most important guess is your first, and the trick is to load up on vowels (A, E, I, O, and U).

Some popular starting words people have had good luck with are “adieu,” “media,” “arise,” and “radio.” Just make sure not to pick a word with double letters, or you’re wasting precious guesses. The aim here is to try to figure out which vowels the mystery word contains, then layer in common consonants and close in from there.

Your second word, assuming that the first one gave you a good jumping-off point, should begin to lean more heavily on common consonants like R, S, and T. More good ones here we’ve seen are “stern,” “irate,” and “atone.” You never want to reuse any letters from a prior round that showed up as gray — you know they aren’t in the word.

Now that’s all solved and the definition is taken care of, and you’re armed with some tips to crush tomorrow’s Wordle, here are some games like Wordle you can try today.

Sam Hill
Sam Hill is a journalist and the gaming guides editor at Digital Trends. He's also written tech guides for Input and has…
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