Today's NYT Wordle lands with puzzle #1878, and offers a clean-looking challenge with enough branching possibilities to punish an impulsive guess. Streak protectors and newcomers alike are welcome to work through it.
The Basics (For New Players)
Wordle gives you six attempts to crack a five-letter word. 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 the word at all. One puzzle per day, shared by millions worldwide. That's the beauty of it.
Created by Josh Wardle in 2021 and now part of The New York Times Games family, Wordle has become a daily ritual for word lovers everywhere. Today's puzzle #1878 awaits.
The Letter Rundown
Today's puzzle breaks down like this:
Vowel Count: 2 vowel(s)
Consonant Count: 3 consonant(s)
Repeated Letters: No repeats today
Letter Rarity: Mostly common letters, with P the least frequent of the set
The Elimination Game (Progressive Hints)
We've designed these hints to reveal just enough at each level. Stop when you've got it figured out.
Level 1 (The Vibe): Think of something elusive, quick, and difficult to pin down.
Level 2 (The Category): This word works as both a noun and a verb, with meanings connected to a wary creature, concealed action, and sharp criticism.
Level 3 (The Boundaries): Starts with S, ends with E.
Level 4 (The Structure): All five letters are different, and the vowels sit in positions 3 and 5.
Level 5 (The Giveaway): It can mean firing at a target from concealment or launching a cutting attack from the sidelines.
Quick-Reference Clues
First Letter: S
Last Letter: E
Vowels Present: I, E
Double Letters: No
Rhymes With: PIPE, RIPE, TYPE
Today's Wordle Answer
Final warning: The answer is directly below. Scroll only if you're ready.
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The answer to Wordle #1878 is: SNIPE
Word DNA: Breaking Down Today's Answer
SNIPE is today's answer.
As a noun, it names a long-billed wading bird. As a verb, it can describe shooting from concealment or making a spiteful verbal attack, as in sniping at a rival's proposal.
Origins: The bird name comes through Middle English from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse -snípa. The shooting sense developed from hunting the elusive bird, then broadened to concealed gunfire and verbal attacks.
Word Family: sniped, sniping, sniper, snipers
Fun Fact: The same word can name a bird, describe concealed shooting, or label a cutting remark. That semantic range makes the answer easier to recognize once its letter pattern emerges, even if its first meaning does not come to mind.
The Streak Saver Rating
Difficulty: 3 out of 5. The trap factor is a flexible S-opening and E-ending frame, with all five letters appearing exactly once and several plausible alternatives competing before N and P are settled.
A solver can lock onto the S, I, and E structure, then burn guesses cycling through familiar options such as SHINE, SLICE, SPIKE, SPITE, and SWIPE. A probe using several unresolved consonants is the disciplined move because it can identify N and P without repeating too much confirmed material.
What This Puzzle Teaches
When a familiar frame supports several answers, stop guessing within the family and spend one turn testing distinct unresolved consonants. Information gained across several candidates is more valuable than another narrow attempt at the answer.
Tomorrow's Reset
Puzzle #1879 drops at midnight in your timezone, Monday handing the streak over to a fresh board.
How did SNIPE treat your streak, did the N and P arrive cleanly, or did the surrounding word family pull you off course?
See you at midnight for the next challenge.
