Wordle #477 Answer – October 9, 2022

This page covers Wordle puzzle #477, played on Sunday, October 9, 2022. 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 #477

Hint 1: How many vowels?

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

Hint 2: First letter

It starts with the letter H.

Hint 3: Last letter

It ends with the letter Y.

Hint 4: Repeated letters?

No, all five letters are different.

Hint 5: Meaning

noun — A wife, a midwife.

Wordle #477 Answer

The answer to Wordle #477 on October 9, 2022 was:

HOWDY

HOWDY has been the Wordle answer only once so far.

What Does HOWDY Mean?

Howdy (noun): A wife, a midwife.

How Hard Was Wordle #477?

7.7/10Hard
93%harder than this share of all 1,963 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 (W, Y) that starting words rarely test.
  • A few look-alike answers share four of its five letter spots.

Look-alike answers: ROWDY, DOWDY.

How Popular Starting Words Did Against HOWDY

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
SLATESLATE179
CRANECRANE196
TRACETRACE186
STARESTARE186
RAISERAISE144
AUDIOAUDIO37

On this puzzle, AUDIO was the most useful opener, leaving 37 possible answers. Read our guide to the best starting words →

How to Solve Wordle #477 Step by Step

Here is one efficient way to reach HOWDY. 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. SLATESLATE214
2. IRONYIRONY10
3. DODGYDODGY1
4. HOWDYHOWDYSolved

Solved in 4 guesses. After SLATE, 214 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 HOWDY

PositionLetterAppears in (all answers)In this exact spot
1stH16.9%2.9%
2ndO30%12.6%
3rdW8.3%1%
4thD16.2%3.2%
5thY16.5%14.3%

On This Day in Wordle: October 9

Answers from the same date in other years:

YearPuzzleAnswer
2026#1938MAJOR
2025#1573HARDY
2024#1208MOMMY
2023#842TRUTH
2021#112ALONE

Wordle #477 FAQ

What was the Wordle answer on October 9, 2022?

The answer to Wordle #477 on October 9, 2022 was HOWDY.

Was Wordle #477 hard?

We rate it 7.7 out of 10 (Hard), harder than about 93% of all Wordle puzzles.

What was the best starting word for Wordle #477?

Of the popular openers, AUDIO did best, leaving 37 possible answers after the first guess.