By FiveLetterWords · Guide updated . The puzzle date is shown separately.

This page always keeps Wordle #321 for May 6, 2022. Check that number against your game before opening a hint. The answer remains below a separate reveal.

Wordle changes at midnight in your local time zone. For the current local puzzle, use today’s hints. This dated page keeps the same puzzle when the day changes.

Our independent hints use the verified puzzle answer. Play the official game at The New York Times.

Hints for Wordle #321

What kind of word

Wiktionary lists it as a noun.

What it means

“A small nameplate, identifying the wearer, and often giving additional information.”

Source: Wiktionary contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected and lightly formatted from Wiktionary; long entries may be shortened.

Fill the gap

“He calmed down a lot when the policeman _____ him.”

Source: Wiktionary contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentence selected from Wiktionary, with the answer removed.

How it starts

Begins with B.

The middle letter

The middle letter is D.

Reveal the answer and explanation

The answer to Wordle #321 was

BADGE: A distinctive mark, token, sign, emblem or cognizance, worn on one’s clothing, as an insignia of some rank, or of the membership of an organization.

Source: Wiktionary contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected and lightly formatted from Wiktionary; long entries may be shortened.

Word difficulty: Easy

Why it may be easier: five different letters, at least two vowels and none of Q, Z, X, J, K, V or W.

The word rating describes familiarity and letter features. The solver score below measures how a fixed strategy handles the puzzle; an unusual word can still be easy for that strategy.

Compare past puzzle difficulty →

How difficult was it for the solver?

Solver pressure: 32/100 (easier for the solver). This is a percentile among past puzzles under the same strategy: 0 is easiest and 100 is hardest for the solver.

51 Possible answers after CRANE
31 Possible answers after SLATE
35 Possible answers after ADIEU
4 Guesses in the solver replay

This compares past puzzles under the same solver settings; it does not measure how players performed. Compare more puzzles →

Wordle #321, measured

This section compares BADGE's solver-difficulty percentile, first-guess results for ten familiar openers, and opt-in player reports. Each number identifies its dataset.

Solver difficulty, as a percentile

32/100

This score is a percentile, not an opinion. Under the site's fixed solver settings, BADGE measured harder for the solver than about 32% of all 1,952 recorded answers to date. Its rating is easier for the solver. The example solver route takes four turns.

Solver pressure ranks the answer within the pool; it does not measure player performance. The opener table compares first-guess results, and the contributed ratings report player results.

CRANE, SLATE and ADIEU benchmark

AUDIO left the fewest candidates: its first-guess feedback left 17 of the 2,384 words in the site's working answer pool. At the other end, CRANE left 51 candidates, about 3 times as many.

First-guess feedback each opener would have received against BADGE, and how many answer-pool words would still match it
OpenerFirst-guess feedbackAnswers still possible
AUDIO AUDIO 17
SALET SALET 18
TARSE TARSE 24
RAISE RAISE 28
SLATE SLATE 31
ADIEU ADIEU 35
STARE STARE 41
TRACE TRACE 45
ARISE ARISE 49
CRANE CRANE 51

“Answers still possible” counts the words in the site's 2,384-word working answer pool whose feedback would match that opener exactly. This is pattern arithmetic, not a simulation. A smaller number means the opener left fewer possible answers after the first guess. It does not describe later turns.

Contributed player ratings

Not enough contributed games to publish player figures for this puzzle. Per-puzzle numbers appear only after at least 10 opt-in games arrive. See how the Observatory collects and publishes player data →

What did you get?

Tap your result to compare it with contributed games. Your choice stays in this browser and is not sent anywhere.

1 Suppressed
2 Suppressed
3 12
4 10
5 Suppressed
6 Suppressed
X Suppressed

The bars pool all 40 contributed games across every completed puzzle. The Observatory does not publish per-puzzle guess distributions below its sample threshold, so this is the broadest available comparison. “Suppressed” marks a low-count cell.

Solver replay

One route our solver takes from its usual opening word to BADGE.

The solver reaches the answer in 4 guesses.

Common questions

What was the Wordle answer for May 6, 2022?
The Wordle answer for May 6, 2022 (puzzle #321) was BADGE.
What does BADGE mean?
BADGE: A distinctive mark, token, sign, emblem or cognizance, worn on one’s clothing, as an insignia of some rank, or of the membership of an organization.
Why was Wordle #321 tricky?
BADGE is rated easy for estimated word difficulty. Why it may be easier: five different letters, at least two vowels and none of Q, Z, X, J, K, V or W.

Keep solving and playing