Wordle today: Here's the answer, hints for December 18

It's finally Sunday, and with it comes a new daily Wordle puzzle for you to ponder — as well as our tips and hints to help you solve it.

If you'd rather jump straight to the answer, you can scroll to the bottom of this article to find December 18's Wordle solution revealed. Otherwise, keep on reading for some tips, tricks, and hints to help you figure it out yourself. 

Where did Wordle come from?

Wordle was originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner. It quickly exploded in popularity, becoming a global phenomenon enjoyed by thousands of players around the world every day. Some Wordle fans even began creating alternate versions of the daily word puzzle game themselves, such as battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations such as Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

TikTok creators have even live streamed themselves playing Wordle, and the puzzle game eventually grew so big that the New York Times bought it earlier this year.

Not the day you're after? Here's the Wordle answer for December 17.

The future is now! December 19's solution and clues are here.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

There is no objectively best Wordle starting word, as Wordle is a game, games are meant to be fun, and fun is extremely subjective. However, if strategy and tactics are what you find fun, we have a few ideas to help you optimise your first move. Some helpful tips include choosing a word that has at least two different vowels in it, and making sure there are some common consonants like S, T, R, or N mixed in.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

Once upon a time the entire archive of past Wordles was openly available for any puzzle enthusiast to plunder and play whenever their hearts desired. Unfortunately this bounty has since been erased from the internet, with the website's creator saying its removal was at the New York Times' request.

Is Wordle getting harder?

Though it may feel as though solving Wordle's puzzles is more of a struggle than it used to be, the game isn't getting any harder. You are able to make it more difficult though, as Wordle has a Hard Mode you can enable.

Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

While Wordle law usually dictates that there can only ever be one correct solution per day, the word puzzle game does occasionally violate this law and accept two different answers. This is because the New York Times made changes to Wordle after acquiring it, swapping out some answers for new ones.

The Times has since added its own updated word list, so this should happen even less frequently than before. To avoid any confusion, it's a good idea to refresh your browser before getting stuck into a new puzzle.

Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

Today's Wordle solution is slimming.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There aren't any double letters in today's Wordle answer, so there's no need to worry about that!

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter T.

What's the answer to Wordle today?

Get your last guesses in, because we're about to reveal today's Wordle answer!

Are you ready?

The solution to Wordle #547 is...

TAPER.

Don't feel bad if you didn't guess it this time! There will be a new Wordle puzzle for you to try tomorrow, and we'll be back again with more tips and tricks to help you out.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to the latest Wordle.