Today's Quordle lands on Friday, and this challenge serves up a balanced mix of common and tricky vocabulary. GREET and STEAK are everyday words, while DUSKY leans descriptive and HAUTE throws a French-derived curveball. With nine guesses to solve all four words simultaneously, you'll need every edge you can get. We've got the hints to guide you to a clean sweep.
The Basics (For New Players)
Quordle gives you nine attempts to crack four five-letter words at once. Each guess applies to all four grids simultaneously. After each guess, tiles change color: green means right letter, right spot; yellow signals right letter, wrong position; gray indicates the letter isn't in that particular word. One puzzle per day, shared by word game enthusiasts worldwide.
Created as a Wordle variant and now hosted by Merriam-Webster, Quordle has become the ultimate test for word puzzle veterans who want more challenge. Today's puzzle awaits with four words to conquer.
Today's Four-Word Challenge
Let's break down each quadrant. Use these hints progressively, stop reading when you've cracked each word.
Word 1 (Top-Left): Hints
The Vibe: Warm and welcoming, the kind of word you'd use at a front door or across a conference table.
The Category: Verb. A social action involving recognition and acknowledgment.
The Boundaries: Starts with G, ends with T.
The Structure: Two vowels, both E's, with one repeated consonant in the middle.
The Giveaway: What you do when you see an old friend walk into the room.
Word 2 (Top-Right): Hints
The Vibe: Juicy and savory. This one could appear on a dinner menu or a grill recipe.
The Category: Noun. A cut of meat, often cooked over high heat.
The Boundaries: Starts with S, ends with K.
The Structure: Two vowels (E, A) in the middle positions, bookended by consonants.
The Giveaway: A thick slice of beef, preferably medium-rare.
Word 3 (Bottom-Left): Hints
The Vibe: Shadowy and atmospheric. Think twilight, dim light, or muted colors.
The Category: Adjective. Describes low lighting or a subdued color palette.
The Boundaries: Starts with D, ends with Y.
The Structure: One vowel (U) in the second position, with three consonants before the Y ending.
The Giveaway: The opposite of bright and sunny.
Word 4 (Bottom-Right): Hints
The Vibe: French and sophisticated. Borrowed straight from upscale culinary and fashion vocabulary.
The Category: Adjective. Describes high-end cuisine, fashion, or culture.
The Boundaries: Starts with H, ends with E.
The Structure: Three vowels, A, U, E, making this the trickiest vowel pattern of the set. The H starts silent in French pronunciation.
The Giveaway: The kind of "cuisine" served at Michelin-starred restaurants.
Quick-Reference Clues (All Four Words)
Word 1 First Letter: G | Last Letter: T
Word 2 First Letter: S | Last Letter: K
Word 3 First Letter: D | Last Letter: Y
Word 4 First Letter: H | Last Letter: E
Today's Quordle Answers
Final warning: All four answers are directly below. Scroll only if you're ready.
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Word 1 (Top-Left): GREET
Word 2 (Top-Right): STEAK
Word 3 (Bottom-Left): DUSKY
Word 4 (Bottom-Right): HAUTE
Word DNA: Breaking Down Today's Answers
GREET, Verb. To address with an expression of welcome, recognition, or courtesy. From Old English grētan, meaning "to approach or accost," with roots in Proto-Germanic. One of those sturdy Anglo-Saxon words that's barely changed in over a thousand years.
STEAK, Noun. A slice of meat, typically beef, cut across the muscle fibers and cooked by grilling or frying. Borrowed from Old Norse steik ("roast meat") via Scandinavian settlers in medieval England. The word's journey from Viking campfires to fine-dining menus is a culinary history lesson in itself.
DUSKY, Adjective. Dimly lit, shadowy, or somewhat dark in color. From Middle English dusk ("twilight") plus the adjectival suffix -y. Shares ancestry with Old English dox ("dark-haired, dark-colored"). The Y ending makes it a classic descriptive adjective, and a common closing letter in Quordle answers.
HAUTE, Adjective. High-class, elevated, or sophisticated, especially in cuisine or fashion. Directly from French haute ("high, elevated"), the feminine form of haut. Found in fixed phrases like haute couture (high fashion) and haute cuisine (high-end cooking). Unusual in Quordle for its French spelling and silent H.
The Difficulty Rating
Overall Difficulty: 3 / 5
Hardest Word: HAUTE, French-derived spelling with a silent H and unusual vowel sequence (A-U-E) makes it the least intuitive guess of the set.
Easiest Word: STEAK, Common noun with a predictable consonant-vowel pattern and no unusual letters.
Trap Factor: MEDIUM. GREET and STEAK are straightforward, but DUSKY's Y ending and HAUTE's French spelling can eat up guesses if you're locked into English-only patterns.
This is a middle-of-the-road puzzle. The first two words should fall quickly with a strong opener like STARE or CRANE. DUSKY might stall you for a round or two if you're cycling through common consonant patterns. HAUTE is the real test, you either know the French borrowing or you don't. Players who opened with a vowel-heavy word like ADIEU will have an edge on HAUTE's A-U-E setup.
Strategic Insights
Open with a word that covers multiple vowel positions. STARE hits S, T, A, R, E, covering the E in GREET, the A and E in STEAK, and the A in HAUTE in a single guess. A second guess like CLOUD would sweep up DUSKY's D, U, and Y consonants efficiently.
Watch for the Y-ending pattern across all four grids. DUSKY ends in Y, and HAUTE ends in E, both are common closing letters in Quordle. If you've locked in GREET and STEAK early, use remaining guesses to test unusual letters (H, K, Y) rather than burning moves on vowels you've already identified.
Tomorrow's Reset
Tomorrow's puzzle drops at midnight. Did today's quartet catch you off guard, or did you sweep all four with guesses to spare? Either way, every Quordle sharpens your instincts for the next one.
See you at midnight for the next four-word challenge.
