heyloTHE HEYLOBUDDY PLAYBOOK
WordleRules, tips & a good first game.
Find a five-letter word in six guesses. Each guess gives clues about both the letters and their positions, so a wrong answer can still be a useful move.
YOUR CONTROLS
Type using your keyboard or the on-screen keys, then press Enter to submit. Backspace removes a letter before submission.
Read the colors
Green means the letter is correct and in the correct position. Gold means the letter is in the answer but belongs elsewhere. Gray means no remaining copy of that letter matches. Keep green letters in mind and try gold letters in new positions.
Repeated letters are counted
Color feedback respects the number of copies in the answer. If you guess two Es but the answer contains only one, both Es will not receive positive feedback. A gray repeated letter therefore does not always mean that letter is absent everywhere.
Choose daily or practice
The daily puzzle changes at local midnight and retains your progress in this browser. Practice lets you start more puzzles without waiting for tomorrow. Clearing browser data can remove saved daily progress, and another device has its own local record.
Use each guess to learn
An opening word with varied letters can test several possibilities at once. After that, use the feedback instead of repeating the same rejected positions. Before submitting, check that a new guess could still fit the clues you have already collected.
Share without spoiling
The Copy result control creates a result you can share without posting the answer. This is an independent HeyloBuddy word game and is not affiliated with The New York Times.
One letter, two colors: a worked example
Repeated letters are easier to understand when you count copies, not just letter names. Consider the teaching answer APPLE and the guess ALLEY. These are fixed examples, not a reveal of today’s puzzle.
The words are selected to demonstrate feedback. This tool does not choose or reveal a live answer.
Match exact positions first
The first A in ALLEY is green because APPLE also starts with A. That copy of A has been accounted for. The game then compares the other letters with the copies still available in the answer.
APPLE contains one L, in position four. The first L in your guess receives gold: the letter belongs somewhere else. The second L is gray because no second L remains to match. E is gold because it belongs in position five, and Y is gray because the answer has no Y.
Green matches have priority
Now select GEESE against THOSE. The final E is green. It uses the answer’s only E, so both earlier Es are gray. The S is also green. If you handed out gold tiles before reserving exact matches, you would count the same E twice; the game avoids that by resolving greens first.
Decide what you need from the next guess
After ALLEY, you know more than “some letters were wrong.” Your next candidate should start with A, allow one L outside positions two and three, contain E outside position four, and omit Y. AMPLE fits those constraints and tests M and P. It is an example of a consistent next guess, not a claim that it is always the best choice.
If several candidates differ at just one position, repeating the same familiar letters may teach you little about that uncertain position. Compare what each proposed guess could settle. With only one guess left, choose a possible answer; an exploratory guess that cannot be the answer cannot win on that final turn.
Check yourself: does a gold tile rule out a second copy?
No. One gold tile proves at least one copy exists, not that only one exists. In ALLEY, the second L being gray supplies the extra information. If you guessed only one L, that single tile would not tell you the maximum number of Ls.
Try the reasoning in Practice → Keep the teaching answer separate from the word your live game selected.
A couple of good questions
Why was a repeated letter gray?
You may have already matched all available copies of that letter in the answer.
Can I keep playing after the daily puzzle?
Yes. Switch to Practice for more puzzles.
Worked examples checked against the current game rules · November 8, 2026