Wordle #88 Answer – September 15, 2021

This page covers Wordle puzzle #88, played on Wednesday, September 15, 2021. 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 #88

Hint 1: How many vowels?

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

Hint 2: First letter

It starts with the letter L.

Hint 3: Last letter

It ends with the letter Y.

Hint 4: Repeated letters?

No, all five letters are different.

Wordle #88 Answer

The answer to Wordle #88 on September 15, 2021 was:

LUSTY

LUSTY has been the Wordle answer only once so far.

How Hard Was Wordle #88?

6.2/10Medium-Hard
75%harder than this share of all 1,963 Wordles
4look-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.
  • 4 look-alike answers share four of its five letter spots, which can turn the last guesses into a coin flip.

Look-alike answers: RUSTY, MUSTY, GUSTY, DUSTY.

How Popular Starting Words Did Against LUSTY

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
SLATESLATE1
CRANECRANE196
TRACETRACE89
STARESTARE16
RAISERAISE57
AUDIOAUDIO74

On this puzzle, SLATE was the most useful opener, leaving 1 possible answer. Read our guide to the best starting words →

How to Solve Wordle #88 Step by Step

Here is one efficient way to reach LUSTY. 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. SLATESLATE1
2. LUSTYLUSTYSolved

Solved in 2 guesses. After SLATE, 1 everyday word still fit. Try your own guesses in our Wordle solver to see which words were left at each step.

Letter-by-Letter Breakdown of LUSTY

PositionLetterAppears in (all answers)In this exact spot
1stL28%4.1%
2ndU19.4%7.5%
3rdS25.8%3.1%
4thT29.6%5.9%
5thY16.5%14.3%

On This Day in Wordle: September 15

Answers from the same date in other years:

YearPuzzleAnswer
2026#1914DEALT
2025#1549ALONG
2024#1184RECUR
2023#818EXERT
2022#453DOUBT

Wordle #88 FAQ

What was the Wordle answer on September 15, 2021?

The answer to Wordle #88 on September 15, 2021 was LUSTY.

Was Wordle #88 hard?

We rate it 6.2 out of 10 (Medium-Hard), harder than about 75% of all Wordle puzzles.

What was the best starting word for Wordle #88?

Of the popular openers, SLATE did best, leaving 1 possible answer after the first guess.