Wordle #1288 Answer – December 28, 2024

This page covers Wordle puzzle #1288, played on Saturday, December 28, 2024. If you are playing it in the NYT Wordle archive, start with the hints. The answer comes after them, along with what the word means, how hard it was, and how the most popular starting words would have done.

Hints for Wordle #1288

Hint 1: How many vowels?

The answer has 1 vowel (A, E, I, O, U).

Hint 2: First letter

It starts with the letter D.

Hint 3: Last letter

It ends with the letter Y.

Hint 4: Repeated letters?

No, all five letters are different.

Hint 5: Meaning

verb — To denounce as harmful.

Wordle #1288 Answer

The answer to Wordle #1288 on December 28, 2024 was:

DECRY

DECRY has been the Wordle answer only once so far.

What Does DECRY Mean?

Decry (verb): To denounce as harmful.

How Hard Was Wordle #1288?

5.3/10Medium-Hard
57%harder than this share of all 1,962 Wordles
2look-alike answers
  • Only 1 vowel, so the vowel pattern is hard to find early.
  • Five different letters, which suits most guessing strategies.
  • Less common letters (Y) that starting words rarely test.
  • A few look-alike answers share four of its five letter spots.

Look-alike answers: DECAY, DECOY.

How Popular Starting Words Did Against DECRY

Here is the color feedback each well-known opener would have given on this puzzle, and how many past Wordle answers would still fit after that one guess. Fewer is better.

OpenerFeedbackAnswers left
SLATESLATE138
CRANECRANE8
TRACETRACE13
STARESTARE9
RAISERAISE89
AUDIOAUDIO27

On this puzzle, CRANE was the most useful opener, leaving 8 possible answers. Read our guide to the best starting words →

How to Solve Wordle #1288 Step by Step

Here is one efficient way to reach DECRY. We open with SLATE, then each next guess is the word, from those still possible, that leaves the fewest options on average. Every guess fits all the clues so far, so this path is also legal in Hard Mode.

GuessFeedbackWords still possible
1. SLATESLATE157
2. DECORDECOR1
3. DECRYDECRYSolved

Solved in 3 guesses. After SLATE, 157 everyday words still fit. Try your own guesses in our Wordle solver to see which words were left at each step.

Letter-by-Letter Breakdown of DECRY

PositionLetterAppears in (all answers)In this exact spot
1stD16.2%4.7%
2ndE47.1%10.6%
3rdC19.1%2.6%
4thR36.2%6.6%
5thY16.5%14.3%

On This Day in Wordle: December 28

Answers from the same date in other years:

YearPuzzleAnswer
2025#1653ABBOT
2023#922LEARN
2022#557IMPEL
2021#192ASIDE

Wordle #1288 FAQ

What was the Wordle answer on December 28, 2024?

The answer to Wordle #1288 on December 28, 2024 was DECRY.

Was Wordle #1288 hard?

We rate it 5.3 out of 10 (Medium-Hard), harder than about 57% of all Wordle puzzles.

What was the best starting word for Wordle #1288?

Of the popular openers, CRANE did best, leaving 8 possible answers after the first guess.