Today's Wordle Answer #575 - January 15, 2023 Solution And Hints

Today's Wordle answer has a pretty conventional letter combination — it's not unusual like yesterday's answer — but it might still be a difficult word to guess because it's not exactly in common usage. If you're struggling, we're here to help. We'll supply hints that'll help you figure out the answer before you run out of guesses, and you can skip to the second section for the full solution if you'd rather cut to the chase.

The mystery word has two vowels, I and E, as its third and fifth letters respectively. It rhymes with fire, and it describes a pinnacle or steeple — a gradual tapering part of something that ends in a peak or point. There are no repeating letters, and if you added the letter A as a prefix, you'd have a new word, a verb, that means to seek to accomplish a goal.

The word also contains the letter S, but we won't reveal its exact position so players who like a challenge can still have some fun. Going by new Wordle rules though, you can be sure it's probably not the last letter of the word.

If you're still unsure, the word you're looking for is "spire." According to Merriam-Webster, a spire is "a slender tapering blade or stalk of grass," or a spiral or coil. The word traces back to Old English "spir," Proto-Germanic "spiraz," and Dutch "spier," which translates as tapering stalk or a small point. These words go even further back to the Proto-Indo-European root "spei-," which means a sharp point (via Etymonline). Spires are popular on skyscrapers and church towers, but they're more than an aesthetic element. Spires are a functional addition too — they serve as lightning rods and broadcast antennas. 

It took four tries to solve the puzzle today. Our opening guess, banjo, didn't color any tiles, but it narrowed down the possible answer words to 138. After that, we tried the word crude, and that further whittled it down to 31. The third guess, sired, provided enough info to make a lucky and correct fourth guess. We hope you do better.