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It is Wednesday, my dudes, and that means — just like every other day — there's a fresh new Wordleto work on. Finding it tricky? We believe in you! All you need is a little nudge in the right direction, and we're here to help.

The answer to the July 20 Wordle, puzzle #396, can be found at the end of this article, or you can simply read on for a few tips, gentle hints, and strategies to help you every day.

Where did Wordle come from?

Wordle's sudden explosion at the end of 2021 led to a round of press focused on its creator. Former Reddit engineer Josh Wardle actually came up with the game in 2021 as a private exercise for him and his word game-loving partner. It eventually became a staple of their family WhatsApp messaging, and that's when Wardle started to suspect he might have something special enough to merit a wider release.

Thousands of people around the globe now play this game each day, and fans have even created alternatives to Wordleinspired by the original format. This includes music identification game Heardle, Hollywood nerd faves Actorleand Framed, and variations like Dordleand Quordlethat make you guess multiple words at once.

Not the day you're after? You'll find the Wordleanswer for July 19 here.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

We have some ideas to help you pick the perfect first move. Such tips include choosing a word with at least two different vowels in it, plus a few common consonants such as S, T, R, or N. Also, even if you're attached to your mathematically sound starter, once it's been the answer on any given day it won't be the answer again for a few years — so if you happen to get the elusive 1/6 result, celebrate by swapping out your starting five.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

While you could once play the entire archive of past puzzles, the archive was taken down at the request of the New York Times, according to the site's creator.

SEE ALSO:Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL.

Is Wordle getting harder?

If you've been finding Wordletoo easy, there is a Hard Mode you can enable to give yourself more of a challenge. But unless you activate this mode, we can assure you that Wordle isn't getting harder. 

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Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

The whole point of Wordleis that everyone's solving the same puzzle, with the same answer, no matter where you are in the world. However, occasionally the puzzle game will accept two different correct solutions on the same day. This aberration is due to changes the New York Timesbegan making after it acquired Wordleearlier this year, excising words form Wardle's original list that the team considers obscure or potentially offensive.

To make sure you're always getting the same puzzle as everyone else, refresh your browser before you play — don't worry, the site will keep your streak.

A subtle hint for the Wordle answer on July 20

It's an adjective.

Wordle today is a 5-letter word that starts with...

...the letter T!

Does today's Wordle word have a double letter?

It does! One letter appears twice — but not consecutively.

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Wordle today: What's the answer?

Ready?

We're finally going to tell you today's word.

It's...

TRITE.

Don't know the meaning of TRITE? That's OK! It means something that's insincere, overused, cliché, like a platitude.

Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

TopicsWordle