You've probably been there. It’s early. You have a cup of coffee in one hand and your phone in the other, staring at a grid of gray squares that feel like they’re judging your vocabulary. Wordle has this weird way of making us feel like geniuses one day and total amateurs the next. Today is one of those "wait, is that actually a word?" kind of days for a lot of people.
The Wordle answer Jan 23 is a bit of a curveball. It isn't necessarily a "hard" word in the sense of being obscure, but the letter structure is just tricky enough to burn through your guesses if you aren't careful.
Hints for the Jan 23 Wordle Puzzle
Look, I get it. You don't want the answer immediately. You want to feel the victory of solving it yourself, but you also don't want to lose that 200-day streak because of a silly mistake. Here are a few nudges in the right direction to keep your stats safe.
- The Vowel Count: Today’s word is carrying two vowels.
- The Starting Letter: It begins with a vowel, which already makes it statistically harder since most of us start with words like STARE, AUDIO, or ADIEU.
- Double Trouble: There is a repeating letter in this one. That’s usually where the "Game Over" screen starts to loom for most players.
- The Definition: It’s often used to describe a higher position or a part of something that is situated above another part. Think "the [blank] deck of a ship."
If you’re still scratching your head, don’t feel bad. The New York Times' own WordleBot often highlights that words starting with vowels or featuring double consonants have a much higher "fail" rate than your standard consonant-heavy words.
The Big Reveal: Wordle Answer Jan 23
Still stuck? No worries. It happens to the best of us.
The Wordle answer Jan 23 is UPPER.
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It’s a funny word when you think about it. It’s common, we use it every day, yet seeing that double "P" pop up after an initial "U" can be jarring. If you started with a word like "ADIEU," you likely saw that "U" turn yellow or green right away. But moving from "U" to a double "P" isn't the most intuitive jump. Most people try to hunt for an "S," "T," or "R" first.
Honestly, the "ER" ending is a lifesaver here. If you use a strategy that focuses on common suffixes, you probably nailed the last two letters by your third guess. The real challenge was filling in that middle gap.
Why Today’s Word Tripped People Up
Statistically, Wordle players struggle most with "trap" words. A trap word is a word that has many similar cousins. For example, if you have _ _ G H T, it could be LIGHT, NIGHT, FIGHT, SIGHT, or MIGHT.
UPPER isn't exactly a trap word in that sense, but the "U" start is a psychological hurdle. According to linguists who have analyzed the Wordle dictionary (which originally started with about 2,315 words), words starting with "U" are significantly less frequent than those starting with "S," "C," or "B."
When your brain is scanning for possibilities, it usually ignores vowels as starters unless you've trained yourself otherwise. If you’re a fan of the "Crane" or "Slate" starting methods—popularized by various competitive Wordle communities—you might have found today's puzzle a bit more frustrating than usual.
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Strategies to Avoid Losing Your Streak
If you barely escaped with your streak intact today, it might be time to shake up your opening moves. While everyone has their favorite, the "best" word is often debated.
For a long time, researchers suggested ADIEU was the king of starters because it knocked out four vowels. However, the WordleBot (the NYT’s internal AI) actually prefers CRANE or TRACE. Why? Because it’s not just about finding vowels; it’s about eliminating the most common consonants.
- Stop guessing "S" at the end. The NYT famously removed most plural versions of four-letter words (like CATS) from the answer list. If you're guessing a word ending in S, you're likely wasting a turn.
- Use the "Double Letter" Rule. If you have four green letters and can’t think of a fifth, always check if one of your existing letters repeats.
- Switch to Hard Mode. It sounds counterintuitive, but Hard Mode forces you to use the hints you’ve found. This prevents you from "burning" a guess on a word you know can't be the answer just to test new letters.
Basically, Wordle is as much about discipline as it is about vocabulary. You've got to be willing to abandon your favorite "lucky" word if the data is telling you something else.
A Brief History of Wordle
It’s wild to think that this game was just a simple gift from Josh Wardle to his partner, Palak Shah. They played it together during the pandemic, and eventually, it became the global phenomenon we know today.
When the New York Times bought it for a "low seven-figure" sum in early 2022, many feared the game would change. People complained the words were getting harder or that the "vibe" was off. In reality, the word list has remained largely the same, though the Times did remove a few obscure or potentially offensive terms to keep the game accessible.
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The Jan 23 answer, UPPER, is a perfect example of the original list's philosophy: simple, everyday language that is surprisingly difficult to find when you're limited to six rows.
Improving Your Game for Tomorrow
If today was a struggle, don't sweat it. The beauty of the game is that there is always a new one at midnight. To prepare for the next round, try practicing with some "U" starters in your head or looking at words that utilize double consonants like "P," "L," or "T."
The most important thing to remember is that the Wordle answer Jan 23 is just one puzzle in a long line of them. Some days you get it in two, some days you're sweating on guess six.
To keep your brain sharp, try these specific steps tonight:
- Review your guess history to see if you have a "blind spot" for certain letters.
- Try a secondary word game like Connections or Strands to build your lateral thinking skills.
- Check the WordleBot after your game to see how your efficiency compared to the "perfect" path.
The data shows that players who analyze their mistakes are 30% more likely to solve the next day's puzzle in fewer than four guesses.