Wordle #1,707: A Stinky Challenge Awaits
Wordle #1,707 has arrived, and it’s a bit of a stinker. Literally. If you’re finding today’s five-letter puzzle more pungent than usual, you’re not alone. The combination of a common starting letter and an unusual ending is tripping up even seasoned players. According to the New York Times’ own WordleBot, the average player is taking about 4.1 moves to crack this one, whether they’re playing on easy or hard mode. That’s a solid indicator that today’s answer has a little twist.
Ready for some help? Below, you’ll find progressive hints, a full strategy breakdown, and the ultimate answer. But be warned: spoilers lie ahead for Wordle #1,707. If you want to solve it yourself, tread carefully!
Need a Nudge? Here Are Your Wordle Hints
Stuck on today’s puzzle? Don’t worry. We’ve got three levels of hints, from gentle nudges to almost-giving-it-away clues. Start with Level 1 and work your way down only if you need to.
Level 1: Gentle, Spoiler-Free Hints
- Type of Word: It can be both a noun and a verb.
- Number of Vowels: This word contains only one vowel.
- General Theme: It’s often associated with a strong, unpleasant smell.
Level 2: Intermediate Clues
- First Letter: The word begins with the letter S.
- Vowel Position: The single vowel is an A, and it’s the second letter.
- Specific Context: Think of a past-tense verb for something that didn’t smell good.
Level 3: Advanced, Almost-There Hints
- Letter Structure: The pattern is S T A _ _.
- Related Synonyms: Reeked, smelled bad, ponged.
- Common Usage: “The garbage really _____ yesterday.”
Analyzing Today’s Difficulty
Why is Wordle #1,707 proving tricky? Let’s break it down visually.
| Factor | Level | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Common Letters | 8/10 | It uses four of the ten most common Wordle letters (S, T, A, N), which is actually helpful! |
| Patterns | 3/10 | The “ST” start is common, but the “NK” ending is less frequent and trips people up. |
| Vowels | 7/10 | Having only one vowel (A) limits options, making it easier to narrow down. |
| Red Herrings | 9/10 | Extremely high! Many similar words like STAND, STAMP, and STALK can lead you astray. |
How to Solve It: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Let’s walk through a strategic solve. Imagine starting with a top-tier word like SLATE.
Turn 1 (SLATE): A great start. You’d likely get the ‘S’ and ‘T’ in yellow, and the ‘A’ in green. WordleBot says this leaves only 15 possible answers.
Turn 2 – Strategic Follow-up: Now you need to test common consonants around that green ‘A’. A word like STAIN is perfect. It places the ‘S’ and ‘T’ at the start (confirming their position) and adds ‘I’ and ‘N’. This would turn ‘S’ and ‘T’ green and ‘N’ yellow, slashing possibilities to just a handful.
The Elimination Process: With the pattern S T A _ _ confirmed, your brain races through options: STACK, STALK, STAND, STAMP, STANK. It’s a minefield of look-alikes!
The “Aha!” Moment: You might guess STAND first (it’s a very common word). When that fails, the unusual “NK” ending becomes the key. Remembering the “smell” theme from the hints, STANK emerges as the clear, if funky, winner.
Recommended Attempts: Solving this in 4 tries is excellent. 5 is solid. If you got it in 3, you navigated the trap words brilliantly!
Specific Strategies for This Puzzle
If you got stuck today, here’s what to learn for next time.
Stuck on the Ending? When you have S T A _ _, don’t just cycle through common endings like -ND, -CK, -MP. Actively consider less common pairs like -NK. The letter ‘K’ is a rare Wordle citizen unless it follows an ‘N’ or ‘C’.
Avoiding the STAND Trap: “STAND” is a massive red herring. To avoid it, use your second or third guess to test the ‘D’ and ‘N’ separately if you can. A word like “FOUND” could have helped rule out the ‘D’ early.
Today’s Unique Pattern: The “ANK” ending is a distinctive sound unit. Recognizing these phonetic chunks (“INK”, “UNK”, “ANK”) can speed up your guessing when you’re down to the last few letters.
By The Numbers: Fun Stats on Today’s Word
- Frequency in English: “Stank” is relatively uncommon in modern everyday writing, ranking far below its base word “stink.”
- Wordle History: This is its first appearance as a Wordle answer, making it a truly fresh (or not-so-fresh) challenge.
- Success Rate: With an average of 4.1 guesses, today’s puzzle is slightly harder than the typical Wordle, likely due to the deceptive “STAND” trap.
- Bot’s Best Starters: According to WordleBot, starting with SPLAT or SHALT would have given you a major advantage today.
For the Curious: More About “Stank”
Today’s answer is more interesting than it smells.
Etymology: “Stank” comes from the Middle English ‘stanken,’ which itself comes from the Old English ‘stincan,’ meaning to emit a smell (good or bad). Over time, it specialized in the “bad” department.
Interesting Uses: Beyond literal smells, “stank” is used in slang, like “stank face” for a reaction to something distasteful or, in hip-hop, “bringing the stank” to mean adding a gritty, raw quality.
Cultural Data: In some Southern U.S. dialects, “stank” can also refer to a small pond or a drainage ditch, coming from a completely different etymological root.
In Other Languages: The French might say “ça puait” (it stank), the Spanish “apestaba,” and the Germans “es stank.” The concept, unfortunately, is universal.
Recap: Yesterday’s Wordle Answer (#1,706)
Yesterday’s solution was HOIST. It was a moderately challenging word that shared a common “-OIST” ending with several other words (MOIST, JOIST, FOIST), creating a nice little puzzle trap. Compared to today’s “STANK,” HOIST was arguably a bit more straightforward once you locked in the ending sound.
3 General Wordle Tips for Future Puzzles
Learn from today’s stinky struggle to conquer tomorrow’s puzzle.
- Beware the Common Trap: When you have a common prefix like “STA-“, immediately brainstorm the *less* common endings (-NK, -SH, -PH) alongside the obvious ones to avoid wasting guesses.
- Test Two Birds With One Stone: On your second guess, use words that test multiple high-frequency consonants (L, R, N, C, H) around any greens you have, just like using “STAIN” did today.
- Listen to the Word: Say possible answers out loud. Phonetic patterns like “-ANK” are often more obvious to the ear than to the eye on a grid.
- Start Strong, Consistently: Using a proven starter like SLATE, CRANE, or TRACE gives you a statistical edge every single day, as it did in today’s solve path.
