Wordle hint and answer #662: Wednesday, April 12

Today's Wordle puzzle on a smartphone
(Image credit: Future)

A clue for today's Wordle (opens in new tab) is waiting just below, alongside a wide range of tips, guides, and our archive, all designed to help make the April 12 (662) and every other Wordle just that little bit easier, and if you just need to secure that win, you'll find the answer only a quick click or scroll away.

I didn't so much solve Wordle today as much as make a desperate guess using the only letters I had left to try, and even then, I wasn't sure it would work. Luckily for me, it turned out fine in the end, but I'm hoping for a Wordle answer that's a little less "exciting" in the near future.

Wordle hint

(Image credit: Josh Wardle)

A Wordle hint for Wednesday, April 12

Today's word is the name of a white crystalline salt with a wide variety of uses, including washing powder, soap, and enamel glazes. This substance is also known as sodium borate, and one of today's three consonants is a letter you'd normally avoid.  

Is there a double letter in today's Wordle? 

No letters are used twice in today's puzzle. 

Wordle help: 3 tips for beating Wordle every day 

Playing Wordle well is like achieving a small victory every day—who doesn't like a well-earned winning streak in a game you enjoy? If you're new to the daily word game, or just want a refresher, I'm going to share a few quick tips to help set you on the path to success: 

  • You want a balanced mix of unique consonants and vowels in your opening word. 
  • A solid second guess helps to narrow down the pool of letters quickly.
  • The answer could contain letters more than once.

There's no time pressure beyond making sure it's done by the end of the day. If you're struggling to find the answer or a tactical word for your next guess, there's no harm in coming back to it later on. 

Today's Wordle answer

(Image credit: Future)

What is the #662 Wordle answer?

Here's your winning word. The answer to the April 12 (662) Wordle is BORAX.

Previous answers

The last 10 Wordle answers 

Knowing previous Wordle solutions can be helpful in eliminating current possibilities. It's unlikely a word will be repeated and you can find inspiration for guesses or starting words that may be eluding you. 

Here are some recent Wordle answers:

  • April 11: QUALM
  • April 10: UNDER
  • April 9: SNAFU
  • April 8: LEDGE
  • April 7: LOCUS
  • April 6: LEAFY
  • April 5: SMASH
  • April 4: RATIO
  • April 3: FLORA
  • April 2: STOCK

Learn more about Wordle 

(Image credit: Nurphoto via Getty)

Wordle gives you six rows of five boxes each day, and it's your job to work out which five-letter word is hiding by eliminating or confirming the letters it contains.

Starting with a strong word (opens in new tab) like LEASH—something containing multiple vowels, common consonants, and no repeat letters—is a good place to start. Once you hit Enter, the boxes will show you which letters you've got right or wrong. If a box turns ⬛️, it means that letter isn't in the secret word at all. 🟨 means the letter is in the word, but not in that position. 🟩 means you've got the right letter in the right spot.

Your second go should compliment the starting word, using another "good" guess to cover any common letters you missed last time while also trying to avoid any letter you now know for a fact isn't present in today's answer.  After that, it's just a case of using what you've learned to narrow your guesses down to the right word. You have six tries in total and can only use real words (so no filling the boxes with EEEEE to see if there's an E). Don't forget letters can repeat too (ex: BOOKS). 

If you need any further advice feel free to check out our Wordle tips (opens in new tab), and if you'd like to find out which words have already been used, you can scroll to the relevant section above.

Originally, Wordle was dreamed up by software engineer Josh Wardle (opens in new tab), as a surprise for his partner who loves word games. From there it spread to his family, and finally got released to the public. The word puzzle game has since inspired tons of games like Wordle (opens in new tab), refocusing the daily gimmick around music or math or geography. It wasn't long before Wordle became so popular it was sold to the New York Times for seven figures (opens in new tab). Surely it's only a matter of time before we all solely communicate in tricolor boxes. 

Kerry Brunskill
Contributing Writer

When baby Kerry was brought home from the hospital her hand was placed on the space bar of the family Atari 400, a small act of parental nerdery that has snowballed into a lifelong passion for gaming and the sort of freelance job her school careers advisor told her she couldn't do. She's now PC Gamer's word game expert, taking on the daily Wordle (opens in new tab) puzzle to give readers a hint each and every day. Her Wordle streak is truly mighty. Somehow Kerry managed to get away with writing regular features on old Japanese PC games (opens in new tab), telling today's PC gamers about some of the most fascinating and influential games of the '80s and '90s. Much of her free time is spent writing about old, imported, and weird games for her own site (opens in new tab), giving herself a headache trying to code another short text adventure in C64 BASIC, or saying "Wow, I forgot I had this!" whenever she stares at a bookcase stuffed with games.