If completing today’s Wordle puzzle remains unchecked on your to-do list, Newsweek has all the help you need to secure a victory.

The game was first invented by Josh Wardle, a New York-based software developer, during the COVID lockdowns.

He shared the puzzle with the general public in October 2021, after which it quickly picked up a dedicated following around the world, with players sharing their results on social media.

In January 2022, Wardle sold Wordle to The New York Times, but the principles of the game have remained unchanged.

“The game has gotten bigger than I ever imagined,” Wardle said in a statement following the sale. “I’d be lying if I said this hasn’t been a little overwhelming. After all, I am just one person.”

In an interview with Newsweek, Erhan Aslan, a linguistics expert at the U.K.’s University of Reading, offered some tips for Wordle players.

“One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen. Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels, for example, e and a, consonants such as r and 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,” he said.

“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 (such as bl, cl, fl, gl, pl, sl).”

The answer to Sunday’s puzzle will be revealed at the end of this article.

‘Wordle’ #1,303, Clues for Sunday, January 12

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

Hint #1: There are no repeated letters.

Hint #2: The answer contains two vowels.

Hint #3: A commonly used word.

Hint #4: Synonyms include “entire” and “outright.”

Hint #5: There is no ‘I’ in team. The same applies to Sunday’s Wordle puzzle.

‘Wordle’ #1,303, Answer for Sunday, January 12

The answer to today’s Wordle puzzle is “total.”

It may not have been the toughest Wordle game we’ve faced yet, but it was still a good brainteaser.

Wordle updates every day at midnight, at which point the next puzzle becomes available. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.

What Does ‘Total’ Mean?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “total” as “comprising or constituting a whole.”

For example: “The total amount.”