For players of the popular word game Wordle, the puzzle for Sunday, August 23, 2026, has been revealed. Those looking to maintain their daily streak or simply confirm their guesses can find assistance within this guide.
Wordle challenges players to identify a five-letter word within six attempts, utilizing color-coded feedback from each guess. Letters turn green if correctly placed, yellow if present but misplaced, and gray if absent from the word entirely.
Today's Wordle puzzle provides several clues for those needing a nudge. The word is described as "From a long time ago." It begins with the letter 'O' and ends with 'N'. The solution contains two vowels and consists of five unique letters, meaning there are no double letters. A helpful starting word suggested for the August 23rd puzzle is "stone," which is said to yield three yellow letters.
For those who wish to see the answer directly, today's Wordle solution is OLDEN. The word 'olden' refers to something ancient or belonging to a past era.
Wordle originated as a personal project by software engineer Josh Wardle, created for his partner during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its simple yet engaging gameplay led to rapid popularity after its public release in October 2021, attracting millions of daily players. The game's viral success was further amplified by its built-in spoiler-free sharing feature, which allowed players to showcase their results on social media without revealing the daily word. This feature was instrumental in its acquisition by The New York Times in January 2022 for a seven-figure sum.
While players can input any five-letter word as a guess, the daily answers are selected from a curated list of common words. The New York Times occasionally alters the chosen word to avoid potentially sensitive or politically charged terms, as was the case with the word "FETUS" being changed to "SHINE" around the time of significant news events. Rude or offensive words are also excluded from being the daily answer.
To increase the challenge, players can enable "Hard Mode" via the game's settings cog. In Hard Mode, any revealed letters must be incorporated into subsequent guesses. An even more stringent approach, termed "Ultra-Hard" rules, requires every guess to be a potential answer, adhering strictly to all revealed clues. For those seeking alternatives, numerous Wordle-inspired games exist, including Worldle (guessing countries by shape), Waffle (letter rearrangement), Moviedle (guessing movies from short clips), and Quordle (solving four Wordles simultaneously).
Players can share their Wordle progress using the game's integrated sharing function, which generates a visual representation of their guesses without disclosing the answer. This feature is accessible after completing or failing the day's puzzle, with options to copy to the clipboard or share directly to other applications on mobile devices.