Wordle #1,707: A Puzzle That Stinks (In the Best Way)
Welcome, word wizards, to another day of delightful deduction. Today’s Wordle, puzzle #1,707, has arrived, and it’s a bit of a stinker. Not in a bad way, mind you, but in a way that might make you wrinkle your nose if you pick the wrong path. The New York Times’ own WordleBot reports that the average player will crack this code in about 4.1 moves, whether playing on easy or hard mode. That suggests a moderate challenge with a potential pitfall or two waiting to trip up the unwary.
Below, you’ll find everything from gentle nudges to the full solution. We structure our hints to help you at any stage, so you can read as much or as little as you need. But consider this your official, slightly cheeky spoiler warning: answers and analysis lie ahead. If you want to preserve your streak, turn back now!
Need a Nudge? Our Progressive Wordle Hints
Stuck? Don’t worry. We’ve got a series of clues, from soft and subtle to almost giving the game away. Choose your own adventure.
Level 1: Gentle Nudges
Word Type: It can function as both a verb and a noun.
Number of Vowels: This word contains just one vowel.
General Theme: It’s often associated with a strong, and typically unpleasant, sensory experience.
Level 2: Intermediate Clues
Starting Letter: The word begins with the letter S.
Vowel Position: The single vowel is an A, and it sits in the second position.
Specific Context: Think of a past-tense description for something that didn’t smell very good.
Level 3: Advanced Intel
Letter Structure: The pattern is S _ A _ _.
Related Synonyms: Reeked, smelled bad, ponged.
Common Usage: You might say the garbage blank after sitting in the sun all week, or that a suspicious excuse blank of dishonesty.
Breaking Down Today’s Difficulty
Why was Wordle #1,707 trickier than it looked? Let’s score its challenge factors.
| Factor | Level | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Common Letters | 8/10 | It uses four of the top ten most common letters (S, T, A, N), which is deceptively helpful at first. |
| Patterns | 6/10 | The “ST” start is common, but the “-ANK” ending is less frequent than options like “-AND” or “-ATE”. |
| Vowels | 7/10 | Having only one vowel (A) simplifies guessing, but its fixed position in slot 2 creates a specific constraint. |
| Red Herrings | 9/10 | This is the big one. Words like STAND, STAMP, STALK, and STACK are all very plausible alternatives that can lead you astray. |
How to Solve It: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Let’s trace the optimal strategic path to today’s answer, assuming you’re playing to win in the fewest guesses.
1. The Recommended Opener: Starting with a strong word like SLATE is perfect. It would give you the ‘S’ in green, the ‘A’ in yellow (wrong spot), and the ‘T’ in yellow. WordleBot says this leaves only 15 possible solutions.
2. The Strategic Second Guess: Your goal is to test common consonants and pin down the ‘A’. A word like CHAIN works wonders. It would place the ‘A’ in the correct second position (green), confirm the ‘N’ (yellow), and rule out C and H. You’d be down to just a handful of options, likely seeing the pattern S A _ N _.
3. The Elimination Process: Now you’re hunting for a letter to fit between the ‘A’ and the ‘N’, and a final letter. Common fits are ‘D’ (STAND), ‘L’ (STALK), ‘C’ (STACK), or ‘K’ (STANK). You need a second guess to test these.
4. The “Aha!” Moment: If you test STAND and it fails, you’ve eliminated the most obvious choice. The final piece of the puzzle is realizing that a word ending with a ‘K’ (without a preceding ‘C’) is a valid, if less common, English pattern. STANK emerges as the clear, if pungent, winner.
5. Recommended Attempts: A solve in 3-4 guesses is excellent work today. Needing 5 or 6 is completely understandable given the trap words.
Specific Strategies for This Puzzle
If you got stuck today, here’s what might have happened and how to avoid it next time.
The Stand-Off: If you fixated on STAND, you fell for the most tempting decoy. When you have a pattern like S_A_N_, always ask: “What are the *less* common letters that could fit?” Running through the alphabet beyond D, L, and M can reveal gems like K.
The Final K Conundrum: English words rarely end with a standalone ‘K’ unless it’s part of a ‘CK’ combo or follows a vowel. Remembering exceptions like trek, tank, bark, and today’s answer, stank, is key. Don’t rule it out automatically.
Today’s Unique Pattern: The “ST” + vowel + “NK” structure is a specific beast. Once you had “STANK” as a possibility, checking if it was a past-tense verb related to smell was the final logical step.
By The Numbers: Fun Stats on Today’s Word
- Frequency in English: “Stank” is relatively uncommon in modern everyday writing, ranking far below its more polite cousin “smelled.”
- Wordle History: This is its first appearance as a Wordle answer, making it a truly fresh (or not-so-fresh) challenge.
- Success Rate Estimate: Given the 4.1-turn average and the tricky ending, we estimate a slightly higher-than-usual failure rate today, with many players falling into the STAND trap on guess 4 or 5.
- Comparative Difficulty: More difficult than yesterday’s HOIST (#1,706), but easier than some of the truly obscure five-letter words the puzzle has thrown at us.
For the Truly Curious
So, what’s the deal with STANK? Let’s dig deeper.
Its origin is straightforwardly Germanic, coming from the same Old English root as “stink.” While it’s the simple past tense of “stink,” it has developed a vivid life of its own in slang. In hip-hop and colloquial speech, “stank” can refer to a particularly funky groove or attitude (“that beat has a stank to it”). It’s also used in phrases like “stank face” – that grimace you make when something smells awful or a musical riff is disgustingly good.
In other languages, the concept is just as expressive. The Spanish apestaba, the French puait, and the German stank (yes, it’s very similar) all carry the same visceral weight. It’s a word that transcends mere definition and delivers an experience.
Flashback: Yesterday’s Wordle Answer (#1,706)
If you’re catching up, yesterday’s solution was HOIST. A solid word that was generally kinder than today’s, thanks to its more familiar “-OIST” ending and clear verb meaning. The jump from raising something with a HOIST to detecting something that STANK is quite the thematic shift, keeping us on our toes!
3 General Wordle Tips to Take Forward
Whether you aced today’s puzzle or struggled, these strategies will help tomorrow.
- Beware the “Obvious” Guess: When your pattern yields a very common word (like STAND), pause. The Wordle editors love to place a slightly less common word with the same pattern as a decoy. Use your next guess to test multiple possible letters for one slot instead of locking in the obvious choice.
- Embrace Uncommon Endings: Don’t forget about words ending in K, J, V, or Z. While rare, they are valid. If you’re stuck, mentally run through these “weird” letters as possibilities for the final position.
- Leverage Your Second Guess: If your starter gives you 2-3 green letters, don’t just try to solve. Use your second guess to test multiple common consonants for the remaining blanks. Think of it as a scouting mission to eliminate possibilities, even if it doesn’t look like a real word.
