Today's Wordle hint and answer on Friday 3rd May for 1049

It's Friday! So grab yourself a treat and hide from your responsibilities with us to figure out the Wordle answer for today, 3rd May.

For the uninitiated, the aim of Wordle is to work out a daily five-letter word within six guesses. The fewer the guesses, the better - and if you fail to guess it at all, you'll break your streak.

The latter is why working out today's Wordle answer is such a priority, as players pride themselves on keeping their streak going. So why gamble on a risky final guess when you can learn a few clues and, failing that, get the definitive answer? This page can help with that.

Once you have today's word, learn more about Wordle and how the New York Times became interested in games in this interview with Jonathan Knight, Head of Games for the NYTimes. In keeping with the word theme, we've also discussed why The NYTimes Mini Crossword is a reliable joy.

Clues for today's Wordle answer

Instead of going straight to the answer, you might only need a few hints to get you over the line:

• There are two different vowels in this word.
• There are no repeating letters.
• This word starts with 'E'.
• Today's word is the name given to extremely dark coloured timber.

Still not sure? Read on for the answer.

Wordle answer for word 1049 on 3rd May 2024

Even with the above clues, still not sure and want to keep that streak going?

The Wordle answer today is EBONY.

So... that streak was nice while it lasted. I'm not sure what's irritated me more, the fact I was so close to getting it right or the fact I was literally using a weapon called 'EBONY' last night in a game! Either way, I suppose there's always tomorrow to start the streak again.

Now you have the answer, do not spoil it for others! Remember, you can share your results spoiler-free in the form of a grid.

Of course, no one has to know you came to this page to work it out. Maybe put in two or three fake guesses first to throw them off the scent, perhaps?

Today's Wordle etymology

There's no real agreement on how this word came to its modern day iteration. Some think that it could be an extended form of the Middle English words 'Ebon' and 'Hebenyf' from the late 14th Century. Others think that it could be from the Greek word 'Ebenos' which does mean 'EBONY'.

Either way, one thing I do know for sure is that one of the twin sons of Sparda from Devil May Cry wields a gun called 'EBONY' and, as its name suggests, it's the darker one of the two he uses. Brilliantly, and in true Dante fashion, the partnering gun is brightly coloured and named 'Ivory'.

Wordle past answers for this week

And now for our 'Previously on Wordle' segement! (I know 'in' works better, but let me have this...) This week has seen the following words make appearance in Wordle so far:

• Thursday 2nd May (1048) - SLICE
• Wednesday 1st May (1047) - DIARY
• Tuesday 30th April (1046) - PROWL
• Monday 29th April (1045) - CRAFT
• Sunday 28th April (1044) - PRUNE

If you'd like to know all of the words which has graced Wordle in times gone by, check out our past Wordle answers archive.

What to play after Wordle

With your daily Wordle completed, the question is - what shall you play now?

You can, of course, try out the other word-based games offered by the New York Times, like Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword and Letter Boxed. You can also take a crack at Connections, the daily Sudokus and Tiles - a rather additive motif matching game.

There’s also a range of games which have put a twist on the Wordle formula. Squaredle challenges you to find a series of words by connecting letters in a four by four grid. Meanwhile Dordle, Quorodly, Octordly and Sedecordle all keep to the standard Wordle, while increasing the number of words you have to find. The challenge comes in how your guesses count for all of the words, so you need to decide whether you’re going to focus on a specific word or try to solve multiple words at the same time. Thankfully, the number of guesses you’re given increases alongside the amount of words you’re expected to solve.

If you want a break from spelling though, try GeoGuessr. Here you’ll be given a picture of somewhere, anywhere, in the world and have to place a marker on where you think that location is. There’s even an Old School RuneScape version.

Hope you enjoyed playing Wordle today!