'Wordle' today: Answer, hints for May 20

Good morning (or afternoon! or evening!) word nerds, and welcome to your daily dose of Wordle. If you haven't found today's word yet, you can find it down the bottom of this post (scroll carefully to avoid the clearly marked spoilers). But if you just want a few clues to help nudge you towards the right answer, keep reading for some background, tips and strategies we've reported on here at Mashable.

Wordle was originally created by former Reddit engineer Josh Wardle and went super-viral in late 2021, becoming a daily habit for thousands of players worldwide. It was purchased by the New York Times earlier this year in a huge deal, and is now run by the paper's puzzles department.

Have you wondered if Wordle is getting harder? Sorry, conspiracy theorists: it isn't. If anything, it's more accessible now than in its original form, as the Times has regularly been cutting obscure words from the original list. But you can always switch Wordle to Hard Mode for an extra challenge.

Not the day you're after? Here's the Wordle answer for May 21.

More Wordle: Here's the Wordle answer for May 19.

What's a Heardle? A Dordle?? A Quordle?!

Wordle's addictive format has inspired plenty of knock-offs, but also an endless stream of fun clones and variations, such as Hollywood guessing games Actorle and Framed, music identification game Heardle, and combo styles like Dordle and Quordle that have you guessing multiple words at once. 

Best Wordle starting word?

We have plenty of ideas that can help if your go-to isn't cutting it. If you just want to start with the absolute top most common letters in English, ETAOIN are the ones to look for; try something like PIANO, TONER, or NAIVE.

Explore the Wordle archive

The whole archive of past Wordle puzzles is available to play right now if you want to get some extra practice in.

Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

Half the fun of Wordle is that everyone gets the same word to guess every day — but occasionally two different answers can both be correct. This is due to changes the New York Times made after acquiring the game. As we've reported already, just last week a word was swapped out because it was unexpectedly topical. Make sure you refresh your browser before you play each day.

And now, a subtle hint for today’s Wordle…

It's almost meta today! It refers to a person who's a fan or participant in a certain activity, and some people even do it professionally.

Today’s 5-letter word starts with…

For the second day in a row, it's the letter G.

What's the answer to Wordle #335 on May 20?

Today’s answer is…

GAMER.

Check back for more hints and tips tomorrow!

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

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