Wordle #1,707: A Puzzle That Stinks (In the Best Way)
Wordle #1,707 has arrived, and let’s just say it has a certain… aroma to it. If you’re staring at a grid of grey, yellow, and green boxes, feeling a bit stumped, you’re not alone. Today’s answer is one of those words that feels common enough but can easily slip through the cracks of your strategic letter-guessing. We’re here to offer a lifeline, from gentle nudges to the full solution, all while keeping your precious streak intact.
According to the New York Times’ own WordleBot, the average player is cracking today’s puzzle in about 4.1 moves. That’s a solid hint that we’re dealing with a word that’s moderately tricky—not a nightmare, but certainly not a gimme. It requires a bit of finesse and maybe a willingness to think a little outside the box.
Ready for the answer? Spoilers lie ahead like banana peels on a Mario Kart track. If you want to solve it yourself, our progressive hints section is the perfect place to start. But if you’re truly stuck and just need to know, we’ve got you covered. Let’s dive in.
Your Progressive Clues for Wordle #1,707
Stuck but not ready to give up? Use these clues, escalating from gentle to direct, to guide your way to victory.
Level 1: Gentle Nudges
Word Type: It can be a verb or a noun.
Vowel Count: This word contains just one vowel.
General Theme: It’s often associated with a strong, and usually unpleasant, sensory experience.
Level 2: Intermediate Insights
Starting Letter: The word begins with the letter S.
Vowel Position: The single vowel is an A, and it sits in the third position.
Context Clue: It’s a simple past tense of a much more common four-letter verb.
Level 3: Advanced Assistance
Letter Structure: The pattern is S _ A _ _.
Related Synonyms: Reeked, smelled bad, was foul.
Common Use: You might say the garbage blank after sitting in the sun all week, or that a suspicious excuse blank of dishonesty.
Difficulty Breakdown: Why Today’s Wordle is a Challenge
So, what makes today’s puzzle a head-scratcher? Let’s break down the difficulty factors visually.
| Factor | Level | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Common Letters | 8/10 | It contains four of the ten most common Wordle letters (S, T, A, N), which is actually very helpful. |
| Patterns | 3/10 | Words ending in “NK” are less frequent than those ending in common pairs like “ER” or “ED.” |
| Vowels | 7/10 | Having only one vowel simplifies things, but it also means fewer common vowel combinations to test. |
| Trickiness | 6/10 | The “NK” ending is the main trap, leading guesses toward more obvious words like “STAND” or “STAMP.” |
A Step-by-Step Solving Guide
Let’s walk through how an optimal solve might have unfolded, using strategic guesses to narrow down the field.
First Word (ORATE): Starting with a strong opener like ORATE is always wise. It would have given you a yellow ‘T’ and a green ‘A’ right out of the gate, immediately anchoring that crucial vowel in the middle.
Second Strategic Move: Knowing you have an ‘A’ in the third spot, your next goal is to test other common consonants. A word like STAIN is brilliant here. It places the ‘S’ at the start, the ‘T’ in the second slot, and adds ‘I’ and ‘N’ to the mix. The result? ‘S’ and ‘T’ turn green, and ‘N’ goes yellow. The puzzle is now crumbling.
The Elimination Process: With the pattern S T A _ _ and a yellow ‘N’ to place, your brain likely races to “STAND.” It’s a perfectly common word that fits all the known letters. This is the puzzle’s sneaky red herring.
The “Aha!” Moment: After “STAND” fails, you’re forced to reconsider. The yellow ‘N’ must go in the last spot. What common five-letter word starts with “STA” and ends with “N”? The list gets very short, very fast, leading you to the less common but correct conclusion.
Recommended Attempts: A solve in 3-4 attempts is excellent today. If you got it in 5 or 6, you still conquered a legitimately tricky puzzle!
Specific Strategies for This Puzzle
If you got stuck today, these targeted tips might explain why and help you next time.
If You Got Stuck at S T A _ _: The trap was the ending. Our brains default to common suffixes like “-ND,” “-MP,” or “-CK.” Remember to consciously run through less common endings like “-NK,” “-LK,” or “-SH” when the usual suspects don’t fit.
Avoiding the “N” Trap: The yellow ‘N’ was the key misdirect. When a common letter like N is yellow, don’t just slot it into the first open position you see. Experiment with placing it at the end of words, a position it holds in many solutions.
Today’s Unique Letter Pattern: The “STA-” beginning is quite powerful, but today reminded us that it can lead to several different conclusions. The real differentiator was the final consonant pair.
Interesting Word Stats
Let’s geek out on some data about today’s winning word.
- Frequency in English: It’s a moderately common word, but its simple past tense form makes it less frequent than its base form.
- Common Word List Position: It ranks well outside the top 1,000 most common words in contemporary English.
- Comparison to Past Puzzles: It shares a structure with past answers like “BLANK” and “FRANK,” which also tripped up players with their “-NK” conclusions.
- Estimated Player Success Rate: Given the WordleBot’s 4.1 average, we estimate a high solve rate (likely over 90%), but with a wider spread of attempts than usual.
For the Curious Minds
Today’s answer isn’t just a Wordle solution; it’s a word with character.
Etymology: It comes from the Middle English “stinken,” which has Germanic roots related to the Old English “stincan,” meaning to emit a smell (good or bad). Over time, its meaning narrowed decidedly toward the unpleasant.
Interesting Uses: Beyond literal smells, it’s used powerfully as slang. To say a situation “stank” means it was deeply unfair or corrupt. In basketball, a “stank face” is the grimace a player makes after a particularly nasty dunk on an opponent.
Cultural Reference: It’s immortalized in hip-hop, most famously in the 1993 hit “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer, with the iconic line, “Break it down! Stop. Hammer time. My, my, my music hits me so hard, makes me say ‘Oh my Lord.’ Thank you for blessing me with a mind to rhyme and two hyped feet. It feels good when you know you’re down. A super dope homeboy from the Oaktown. And I’m known as such. And this is a beat, uh, you can’t touch. I told you, homeboy, you can’t touch this. Yeah, that’s how we livin’ and you know you can’t touch this. Look in my eyes, man, you can’t touch this.” (The famous sample in the song includes the word “stank.”).
Yesterday’s Answer (Wordle #1,706)
Just a quick look back: Yesterday’s answer was HOIST. It was a puzzle of similar moderate difficulty, playing on the common “-OIST” ending which created several possible solutions (like MOIST, JOIST, and FOIST). If you navigated that minefield successfully, you were well-prepared for today’s tricky ending! You can read our full breakdown of that puzzle here.
General Wordle Strategy Tips
Whether you aced today’s puzzle or struggled, these evergreen tips will sharpen your game for tomorrow.
- Embrace Uncommon Endings: Don’t just guess “ED,” “ER,” or “ING.” Train yourself to consider endings like “NK,” “PT,” “SH,” or “LD” when the board gets tight.
- Yellow Letter Placement is Key: A yellow letter means “not here.” Your very next guess should try that letter in a different position, especially the first or last slot, which are often overlooked.
- Use Your Second Guess Strategically: Don’t just hunt for greens. Use your second turn to test 3-4 of the other most common consonants (L, S, N, C, R) that weren’t in your starter word.
- Beware the Word Family Trap: If you have “ST A _ _,” your brain will offer “STAND,” “STAMP,” “STACK.” If none fit, force yourself to think of the entire “STA-” family, including the oddballs like “STANK” or “STALK.”
There you have it! Everything you need to know about Wordle #1,707. Whether you solved it with ease or needed a little help, remember: every puzzle is a new chance to learn and improve. See you tomorrow for the next challenge!
