How to solve today’s Wordle.
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Welcome back, Wordlers. Thank goodness it’s Friday! Not only that, it’s 2XP Friday for all you Competitive Wordle players out there. Double your points, good or bad, and let the chips fall where they may! Let’s solve today’s Wordle shall we?
Looking for Thursday’s Wordle? Check out our guide right here.
Today’s Bonus Custom Wordle
Now that we can create our own custom Wordles, I’m including a bonus Wordle with each daily Wordle guide. These can be 4 to 7 letters long. Hopefully this is a fun extra challenge. Click the link below to play the Wordle I hand-crafted for you.
Today’s Bonus Custom Wordle is 7 letters long.
The hint: Dog
The clue: This Wordle has more consonants than vowels.
Yesterday’s Custom Wordle Answer: MUTT
How To Play Wordle
Wordle is a daily word puzzle game where your goal is to guess a hidden five-letter word in six tries or fewer. After each guess, the game gives feedback to help you get closer to the answer:
- Green: The letter is in the word and in the correct spot.
- Yellow: The letter is in the word, but in the wrong spot.
- Gray: The letter is not in the word at all.
Use these clues to narrow down your guesses. Every day brings a new word, and everyone around the world is trying to solve the same puzzle. Some Wordlers also play Competitive Wordle against friends, family, the Wordle Bot or even against me, your humble narrator. See rules for Competitive Wordle toward the end of this post.
Today’s Wordle Hints And Answer
- Wordle Bot’s Starting Word: SLATE
- My Starting Word Today: BLAME (6 words left)
- The Hint: Shadow
- The Clue: This Wordle begins with a vowel.
Okay, spoilers below! The answer is coming!
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The Answer:
Today’s Wordle
Screenshot: Erik Kain
Wordle Bot Analysis
Every day I check Wordle Bot to help analyze my guessing game. You can check your Wordle score with Wordle Bot right here.
BLAME ended up being super lucky today, leaving me with three yellow boxes and just six possible solutions. This is why I often pick starting words with less common letters like “B”. It’s a gamble, but sometimes gambles pay off. I only came up with three words (MAMBO, RUMBO and UMBRA) and didn’t even realize there were a few more to choose from. Of the ones I thought up, UMBRA is just the coolest by far. Sometimes you just have to go with the word you like most, and once and a while that pays off. UMBRA for the win!
Competitive Wordle Score
Wordle Bot
Screenshot: Erik Kain
This is bad news for the evil Wordle Bot. I get 2 points for guessing in two and 1 point for beating the Bot. With 2XP Friday that comes to 6 points. The Bot gets 0 points for guessing in four and -1 for losing to me. That’s -2 for 2XP Friday. Our May totals widen significantly:
Erik: 15 points
Wordle Bot: 1 points
How To Play Competitive Wordle
- Guessing in 1 is worth 3 points; guessing in 2 is worth 2 points; guessing in 3 is worth 1 point; guessing in 4 is worth 0 points; guessing in 5 is -1 points; guessing in 6 is -2 points and missing the Wordle is -3 points.
- If you beat your opponent you get 1 point. If you tie, you get 0 points. And if you lose to your opponent, you get -1 point. Add it up to get your score. Keep a daily running score or just play for a new score each day.
- Fridays are 2XP, meaning you double your points—positive or negative.
- You can keep a running tally or just play day-by-day. Enjoy!
Today’s Wordle Etymology
“Umbra” is Latin for “shadow” or “shade.” It comes from an ancient Indo-European root associated with darkness or covering. In English it’s used especially in astronomy (the darkest part of a shadow, like during an eclipse) and metaphorically for gloom or obscurity.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2026/05/07/nyt-wordle-answer-friday-may-8/








