Wordle #1,698: The Plant-Based Puzzle That Might Trip You Up
Another day, another five little green squares to chase. Wordle #1,698 has arrived, and it’s serving up a word that’s both common in modern conversation and surprisingly tricky to pin down on the grid. If you’re feeling a bit stumped, you’re not alone. Today’s answer is one of those words that feels obvious once you see it, but can leave you staring at your yellow and gray tiles in frustration. Let’s break it down, hint by hint, so you can keep that precious streak alive.
According to the New York Times’ own WordleBot, the average player will need about 4.0 moves to solve today’s puzzle on easy mode, or 3.9 if you’re playing by hard rules. That suggests a moderate challenge—not a brutal brain-melter, but certainly not a freebie.
Ready for the answer? Scroll on for hints, strategy, and the full solution. Consider this your official spoiler warning!
Need a Nudge? Here Are Your Progressive Hints
Stuck but don’t want the full answer just yet? Use these clues, starting gentle and getting more direct.
Level 1: Gentle Nudges
Today’s Wordle is a noun that can also be used as an adjective. It contains two of the five standard vowels. The word falls into the category of lifestyle and dietary choices.
Level 2: Intermediate Clues
The word begins with the letter V. One vowel is the second letter, and the other is the fourth letter. Think about choices that exclude certain food groups.
Level 3: Advanced Spoiler Hints
The letter structure is: V _ _ A _. Synonyms include “plant-based” or “dairy-free.” It’s a term commonly used in restaurants and supermarkets.
Today’s Difficulty Breakdown
| Factor | Level | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Common Letters | 6/10 | It uses several common letters (V is the outlier), but their arrangement is uncommon. |
| Patterns | 4/10 | The “V” start is rare, and the “_EG_N” pattern has several common alternatives. |
| Vowels | 7/10 | Two vowels in clear positions is helpful, but they are common ones (E, A) with many possibilities. |
| Red Herrings | 8/10 | Very high! Words like BEGAN, PECAN, SEDAN, and WAGON are likely to send you down wrong paths. |
How to Solve It: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Starting with a strong opener is key. Using a word like CRANE or SLATE is excellent. Let’s say you used CRANE. A likely result would be a yellow ‘A’ and a yellow ‘E’, which is informative but leaves many options open.
For your second guess, you need to test common consonants and pin down vowel positions. A word like MEDIA could turn the ‘E’ green in the second spot and the ‘A’ yellow again, revealing its position isn’t at the end. Now you’re cooking.
The elimination process gets interesting here. You know the pattern is something like _ E _ A _. Your mind might jump to BEGAN or SEDAN. Testing a word with a ‘B’ or ‘S’ and a less common letter like ‘V’ or ‘G’ is smart. Trying BEGAN would give you three greens (E, G, A) but reveal the ‘B’ is wrong, pointing you directly to today’s answer.
The “Aha!” moment comes when you realize the only common word fitting _ E G A N is VEGAN. The recommended number of tries is 4, which aligns perfectly with the WordleBot average.
Specific Strategies for This Puzzle
If you get stuck with the pattern _ E _ A N, don’t forget the letter ‘V’! It’s easy to overlook because it starts fewer than 50 Wordle answers. Avoid the trap of assuming the first letter must be a common consonant like ‘B’ or ‘S’. Today’s puzzle is a perfect reminder to consider those less-frequent starting letters once you’ve narrowed the field.
The unique letter pattern today is the “V” start followed by a soft “E.” This combination isn’t seen often, so if you have green in the first two slots as V E, your options shrink dramatically.
By The Numbers: Fun Stats
- Word Frequency: “Vegan” is a moderately common word in modern English, especially in food and lifestyle contexts.
- Wordle Commonality: It ranks as a less common answer due to its starting letter, but the word itself is well-known.
- Comparison: This is tougher than yesterday’s answer (SCENE), which had more common starting letters and a double ‘E’.
- Success Rate: We estimate a slightly lower success rate today, with more players likely needing 4 or 5 guesses due to the tricky ‘V’ and the tempting red herrings.
For the Curious Minds
The term “vegan” was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson, a founder of the British Vegan Society. He took the beginning and end of the word “vegetarian.” It started purely as a dietary term but has since expanded to describe a philosophy and lifestyle avoiding all animal products.
A fun, lesser-known fact: before “vegan” caught on, the diet was sometimes called “strict vegetarian” or “pure vegetarian.” In other languages, the word is often a direct adaptation, like “vegano” in Spanish and Italian, showing its relatively recent and global spread.
Looking Back: Yesterday’s Answer (Wordle #1,697)
If you’re just joining us, yesterday’s solution was the double-E word SCENE. It was a more straightforward puzzle, with common starting letters and a recognizable pattern. Compared to today’s VEGAN, it was a walk in the park. The shift from a common ‘S’ start to a rare ‘V’ start is what defines today’s heightened challenge.
General Wordle Wisdom
Today’s puzzle reinforces some universal strategies:
- Beware the Common Trap: Just because a pattern fits a very common word (like BEGAN), doesn’t mean it’s correct. Always use a strategic guess to test multiple possibilities at once.
- Embrace Uncommon Starters: When you’ve narrowed it down, don’t be afraid to guess words starting with less common letters like V, K, J, X, or Z. They can be the key.
- Use Your Yellow Tiles Strategically: The goal of your second and third guesses should be to move yellow letters to new positions to confirm or deny their place, not just to find new letters.
- Best Starter Words: Based on today’s letter set, starters like SLATE, CRANE, or ADIEU would have been effective in revealing vowels and common consonants early.
