‘Wordle’ #1,003 Hints and Answer for Monday, March 18 Game

It’s a new week, which means another seven Wordle puzzles to tease your brain.

Don’t worry if today’s answer has you stumped. Even creator Josh Wardle admits to struggling with the game, usually needing four or five guesses to solve the daily puzzles.

“I’m afraid I’m not really the best,” the Brooklyn-based software engineer told Newsweek in January 2022, shortly before The New York Times added Wordle to its roster of brainteasers.

“[My partner] and I play it on the couch together each morning,” he said. “She will consistently get it in three goes, which is way, way better than I can ever hope to achieve. I normally need at least four or five attempts.”

According to Wordsrated, it takes users four guesses on average to find the answer. So, if you manage to solve the puzzle in three tries or fewer, you’re better than the average Wordle player—including its creator!

The most popular starting letter is S, followed by C. If you’re stuck, The New York Times Wordle bot recommends using “Slate” as a starting word for players in normal mode and “Dealt” in hard mode, as these choices contain letters that most commonly appear in Wordle answers.

Although Wardle and his partner, Palek Shah, curated the original list of 2,315 words, The New York Times removed six after purchasing the game as they were deemed offensive, outdated or didn’t use a U.S. spelling.

The publication also assigned a Wordle editor to manually pick the answer each day, instead of automating the selection, to help avoid controversial or confusing choices.

There are enough possible answers left over to last until October 2027, so players still have plenty of time to enjoy Wordle’s daily puzzles. If you need help deciphering today’s Wordle, we’ve gathered a few clues to make things easier.

‘Wordle’ #1,003 Hints for Monday, March 18 Game

Newsweek has put together five clues to help you solve today’s puzzle.

Hint #1: Today’s Wordle is a noun or a verb.

Hint #2: The word begins with the letter “S.”

Hint #3: The answer contains one vowel.

Hint #4: There are no duplicated letters.

Hint #5: The answer ends with the letter “T.”

‘Wordle’ #1,003 Answer for Monday, March 18 Game

The answer to today’s Wordle is “Spelt.”

Merriam-Webster defines the noun “Spelt” as “an ancient wheat (Triticum spelta synonym T. aestivum spelta) with long spikelets containing two light red flattened grains.”

It also describes it as the “chiefly British past tense and past participle of Spell.”

Did you figure it out? If not, you can try again tomorrow, as Wordle resets at midnight in your local time zone. In the meantime, why not challenge yourself with another popular online word puzzle such as Typochondria or Spellspire?