Wordle #1,698: The Plant-Based Puzzle That Might Just Break Your Salad Bowl
Alright, Wordlers, gather ’round. Wordle #1,698 is here, and it’s serving up a particular kind of challenge. It’s one of those words that feels obvious once you see it, but can have you staring at a grid of yellow and green squares, wondering if your vocabulary has secretly been replaced with alphabet soup. The New York Times’ ever-judgmental WordleBot reports that the average player will crack this one in about 4.0 moves on easy mode, or a slightly more disciplined 3.9 if you’re playing by hard rules. Not the hardest, but certainly not a gimme.
Ready for some help? Below, you’ll find our trademark progressive hints, designed to nudge you in the right direction without just handing you the win. But be warned: full spoilers for Wordle #1,698 lie ahead. If you want to solve it pure, turn back now!
Need a Nudge? Here Are Your Progressive Hints
Level 1: Gentle Nudges
Stuck on the first guess? Let’s start soft. Today’s answer is primarily used as an adjective, though it can also be a noun. It contains two vowels. In terms of category, think about lifestyle choices and dietary habits.
Level 2: Intermediate Clues
Need more? Okay, here we go. The word starts with the letter V. One of the vowels is an ‘E’, and it’s in the second position. The word describes something that consciously avoids all animal products.
Level 3: Advanced Spoiler-Hints
Last chance to turn back! This is your final hint set. The structure of today’s Wordle is: V _ G _ N. A close synonym would be “plant-based.” You’ll most commonly encounter this word on menus, food packaging, and in discussions about ethics or the environment.
Breaking Down Today’s Difficulty
So, why does this one feel a bit tricky? Let’s score its challenge factors.
| Factor | Level | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Common Letters | 6/10 | It uses several top-tier letters (E, A, N, G), but starts with a less common one. |
| Patterns | 4/10 | The “V” start is rare, and the “_E_A_” vowel pattern isn’t the most frequent. |
| Vowels | 7/10 | Two vowels in clear positions is helpful, but the ‘A’ and ‘E’ combo can lead to many options. |
| Deception | 8/10 | High! Words like “VEGAN,” “VEGAS,” “VIGOR,” and common “-AN” endings create a minefield. |
How to Solve It: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Let’s talk strategy. Imagine you started with a classic like ORATE. Good move. You’d likely get the ‘A’ and ‘E’ showing up, but both in yellow—not yet in their correct homes. That still leaves a whopping 100+ possibilities, which is why your second guess is crucial.
This is where you need a strategic clean-up word. You want to test common consonants that pair with those vowels. A word like SLICE or CLINE would be excellent here, probing for ‘L’, ‘I’, ‘S’, ‘N’, and ‘C’. Let’s say you play SLICE and the ‘E’ turns green in its final position. Now you’re cooking.
The elimination process begins. You know it ends with “_ _ E N” and contains an ‘A’ and an ‘E’ somewhere. Your brain might jump to common words like “SEDAN,” “PECAN,” or “BEGAN.” But wait—none of those fit the green ‘E’ in spot five if you tried them. This is the “aha” moment: you need a word ending in “-AN” but with an ‘E’ locked in the second position? That narrows it down dramatically.
The recommended solve path should take a sharp player 3-4 attempts. The key is avoiding the trap of more common “-AN” words and remembering that tricky initial ‘V’.
Specific Strategies for This Puzzle
If you’re stuck staring at a yellow ‘A’ and ‘E’ with a green ‘N’ at the end, stop thinking about cars and nuts. The “-AN” ending is a massive red herring today. Your brain will want to fill it with BEGAN, SEDAN, PECAN, WAGON. Fight that instinct.
The letter ‘V’ is the real gatekeeper. There are only 43 Wordle answers that start with ‘V’, so if you can confirm or eliminate it, you make huge progress. Use a guess to test it alongside other common letters if you have the space.
The unique pattern today is the “V_E_A_” framework. Once you have the ‘V’ and the ‘E’ in position two, the pool of words shrinks to a very select few.
By The Numbers: Some Fun Stats
How common is today’s word? It’s a modern staple in English, but not a historical heavyweight. In everyday written English, it’s moderately frequent, especially in the last decade. Compared to previous puzzles, it’s about average in terms of obscurity—not as out-there as “SQUIB,” but not as daily as “TABLE.”
We estimate the player success rate for this one to be slightly below the overall average, maybe around 85-90%. That initial ‘V’ and the deceptive “-AN” ending will trip up a fair number of streaks.
For the Truly Curious
Where does the word VEGAN come from? It was coined in 1944 by Donald Watson, a founder of the British Vegan Society. He simply took the beginning and end of the word “vegetarian.” Talk about efficient word-building!
A less-known use? While it’s overwhelmingly dietary, the core philosophy extends to avoiding all animal products in any form, including clothing (leather, wool) and cosmetics. In some languages, like German, it’s simply “vegan” (pronounced vay-gahn), while Spanish uses “vegano/vegana.”
Flashback: Yesterday’s Answer (Wordle #1,697)
Just in case you’re catching up, yesterday’s answer was SCENE. A much more straightforward puzzle, despite the double ‘E’. It was a classic example of how common letters in common positions can lead to a quick, 3-turn solve. Today’s “VEGAN” is a different beast entirely—less about double letters and more about navigating a less common starting letter amidst deceptive friends.
Sharpen Your Game: General Wordle Wisdom
Based on today’s puzzle, here are some evergreen tips:
- Beware the Common Ending Trap: Just because you see a pattern like “_ _ _ AN” or “_ _ _ ED”, don’t assume the most common fill-in. Today proved that.
- Test the Rarer Starters Early: If your first two guesses reveal very common vowels but no hits, consider using a third guess to probe letters like V, J, X, Z, or Q. Eliminating them is powerful.
- Your Second Guess is Your Strategy: Don’t just chase the yellows from your first word. Use it to test a new set of high-frequency consonants (L, S, N, C, R, T).
- When in Doubt, Remember Wordle’s Dictionary: It favors concrete nouns and adjectives over obscure jargon. “VEGAN” fits perfectly—a well-known, specific concept.
