Today’s Wordle #561 Clues, Tips and Answer for Sunday, January 1 Game

Happy New Year! May 2023 shower you and your family with happiness, health and respectable Wordle scores. You might even like to make playing the game part of your New Years resolution, but no pressure of course.

Wordle has developed into a global sensation since first being released to the public by New York based software developer Josh Wardle in October 2021.

Speaking to Newsweek in January 2022 Wardle admitted that, despite inventing Wordle, he sometimes still struggles with the game.

He said: “Well, I did create Wordle and I’m not very good at it, so there’s your answer! I’m afraid I’m not really the best.

“[My partner] and I play it on the couch together each morning. 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 4 or 5 attempts.”

During the same month Wardle sold Wordle to the New York Times for an undisclosed seven figure fee, though the game remains free to play.

Speaking to Newsweek Erhan Aslan, Associate Professor of applied linguistics at the University of Reading in the U.K., gave some tips on playing the game.

He said: “One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels (e.g., e, a), consonants (e.g., r, t) and sound sequences might be helpful. Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j, or x, for instance, may not be the best choice.

“As you get more feedback after a few guesses, users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking. For example, if the second letter of the target word is L (indicated by green) and the player feels that the word starts with a consonant, they will need to know that there are only a few consonant cluster possibilities (e.g., bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl).”

The answer to today’s puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article, so scroll down with caution if you want to work it out for yourself. To help you solve today’s Wordle, Newsweek has provided some tips.

‘Wordle’ #561 Tips and Clues for Sunday, January 1

Wordle players can use these five hints to solve puzzle #561.

Hint #1: There are no repeated letters.

Hint #2: Today’s answer contains two vowels.

Hint #3: Synonyms for today’s word include “moan” and “wail.”

Hint #4: You might do this before starting the housework.

Hint #5: The first letter is one of the last five in the alphabet.

‘Wordle’ #561 Answer for Sunday, January 1

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

Did you get it? A relatively common word, with two vowels, this may not have been the toughest challenge Wordle has thrown out way, but it was still a great brainteaser. But please don’t worry if you got it wrong – one of the best things about Wordle is seeing if you can improve your score over time.

Either way, Newsweek will be back tomorrow with more Wordle hints and tips.

What Does ‘Whine’ Mean?

The Cambridge University Dictionary defines “whine” as ” to make a long, high, sad sound.”

For example: “Leon’s dog was sitting by the door whining, so I thought I’d better take it for a walk.”

The next Wordle puzzle will be available at 7 p.m. ET, when the daily update occurs.