Hint For Today's Wordle For July 9, #1116 Is To Try Out Several First Letters

Did Wordle stump you today? It was one of those brain-bashers were if you guessed the last four letters correctly, you could still keep getting the first letter wrong. Once I realize the puzzle is one of THOSE, I try to pick a word that uses as many of those possible letters as I can, even if it doesn't feature the correct letters I know are there. That way, I can use a single turn to figure out the starter letter instead of wasting multiple guesses and getting nowhere. 

If you ever find yourself stumped on the New York Times puzzle games, check CNET. Our home page always has the answers for Wordle, Connections and Strands.

Here's the Connections answer for today, and here's the answer for Strands.

Also, we've ranked all the letters in the alphabet by popularity if you want to use this list to decide on your best start words.

Today's Wordle hints

Before we show you today's Wordle answer, we'll give you some hints. If you don't want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today's Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today's Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter

Today's Wordle answer starts with the letter B.

Wordle hint No. 4: You take the good, you take the bad

Today's Wordle answer is pronounced the same, but not spelled the same, as the first name of a main character from the 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today's Wordle answer refers to a loud, harsh sound.

TODAY'S WORDLE ANSWER

Here comes the spoiler: Today's Wordle answer is BLARE. Lisa Whelchel played Blair Warner, the spoiled rich girl, on The Facts of Life. Spelled differently, pronounced the same. Also, you might have been tripped up into guessing GLARE or FLARE.

Yesterday's Wordle answer

Yesterday's Wordle answer, July 8, No. 1115, was SHAPE.

Past Wordle answers

July 4, No. 1111: DEBUT

July 5, No. 1112: CRUSH

July 6, No. 1113: SCOFF

July 7, No. 1114: CANON

Everyday Wordle tips

I've written a lot about Wordle -- from covering its 1,000th word to my list of the best starter words to a helpful two-step strategy to news about controversial word changes. I've even rounded up what I learned playing the hit online word puzzle for a full year. So if you're rethinking your need for the actual answer, you might try tips from one of those stories.

Still need a starter word? One person told me they just look around and choose a five-letter object that they've spotted to use as their starter word -- such as COUCH or CHAIR. I tend to stick to starter words that have the most popular letters used in English words. I like TRAIN as a starter, though I have a friend who uses TRAIL. I've read that people use the financial term ROATE, but I like to use words I actually know.

What is Wordle?

If you read this far, you know how to play. You have six chances to guess a five-letter word, and the game gives you feedback as to whether the letters you've guessed are in the puzzle or not, and if they're in the same spot where you guessed they are. The New York Times bought the game from creator Josh Wardle for seven figures in 2022. Wardle famously created the game for his partner, and let her narrow down the 12,000 five-letter words in the English language to just 2,500, creating the database of answers. It was convenient, too, that he has a name that plays off "word."

A Times spokesperson told me it lists the very first Wordle as appearing on June 19, 2021, and the paper celebrated the game's 1,000th word on March 15. Spoiler: That 1,000th word was ERUPT. As in, "Dad will erupt if the Wordle is so tough he loses his streak."