【Dear Utol (2025): Fake Orgasm Episode 44】

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas — just three sleeps to go! Will we get a festive Wordleon the day? Only time will tell. In the meantime, there's today's to solve. And as always, we're here with some tips and hints to help you nail it.

If you want to bypass the struggle, you can jump to the bottom of this article to get December 22's Wordlesolution straight up. But if you prefer to work it out yourself, keep reading for a few clues, tips, and strategies to help you get there.

Where did Wordle come from?

While engineer Josh Wardle originally created Wordlefor his partner, the word guessing game has since become a daily habit for thousands of players across the globe. In fact, Wordlebecame so popular that it was eventually purchased by the New York Times. 

Wordle has also inspired numerous fanmade clones and alternate iterations, such as battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordleand Quordlethat have you trying to guess multiple words at once. It has also provided ample content for TikTok creators, because sometimes it's nice to just watch someone solve a problem rather than do it yourself.

Not the day you're after? Here's the Wordleanswer for December 21.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

Like snowflakes, every Wordlestarting word has its own unique beauty. However, if you prefer to be strategic with your choice, 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?

In happier times, the entire archive of past Wordles was openly available for everybody to enjoy whenever they felt the urge for a word puzzle. Unfortunately this library 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 Wordlehas a Hard Mode you can enable.

Why are there two different Wordle answers some days?

While conventional wisdom states there should only be one Wordlesolution on any given day, there are rare days where two different answers will be deemed acceptable. This is because the New York Timesmade changes to Wordleafter acquiring it, swapping out some answers for new ones.

The Timeshas 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:

Spread those sheets.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

It does! But they're not consecutive.

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

Today's Wordleends with the letter L.

What's the answer to Wordle today?

Lock in your final answers, because it's time to reveal the answer to today's Wordle.

Drum roll, please!

The solution to Wordle #551 is...

EXCEL.

Don't be discouraged if you didn't guess it this time! There will be a new Wordlepuzzle 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 today's Wordle.