Wordle #1,707: A Puzzle That Stinks (In the Best Way)
Wordle #1,707 has arrived, and it’s a bit of a stinker. Not in a bad way, mind you—it’s a perfectly valid and common word—but it presents a classic Wordle challenge that can trip up even seasoned players. The combination of a less common ending and some deceptive possibilities makes for a puzzle that requires a bit more thought than your average Tuesday brain-teaser.
According to the New York Times’ own WordleBot, the average player is solving today’s puzzle in about 4.1 moves, whether they’re playing on easy or hard mode. That’s a solid indicator that we’re dealing with a puzzle of moderate, but sneaky, difficulty. The answer isn’t obscure, but the path to it is littered with plausible alternatives.
Ready for the full breakdown? Below you’ll find progressive hints, a full strategy guide, and a deep dive into today’s answer. If you just want to preserve your streak and get the solution, you can scroll all the way down. But for those who love the hunt, let’s dig in.
Need a Nudge? Here Are Your Wordle Hints
Stuck on today’s grid? Don’t worry. We’ve got a series of clues, from gentle to nearly giving it away. Use as many as you need to get back on track.
Level 1: Gentle Nudges
Today’s Wordle can be both a noun and a verb. It contains just one vowel. The general theme revolves around a strong, and usually unpleasant, sensory perception.
Level 2: Intermediate Clues
The word begins with the letter S. The single vowel is an A, and it’s the third letter in the word. Think of a past-tense description for something that didn’t smell great.
Level 3: Advanced Hints
The letter structure is: S _ A _ _. A close synonym is “reeked.” It’s a word you’d commonly use to describe old garbage, sweaty gym clothes, or a suspicious odor you just can’t place.
Breaking Down Today’s Difficulty
Why was Wordle #1,707 trickier than it first appeared? Let’s score its challenge factors.
| Factor | Level | Explicación |
|---|---|---|
| Letras Comunes | 8/10 | It uses S, T, A, N, K—four of the top ten most common letters. |
| Patrones | 6/10 | “ST” start is common, but the “-NK” ending is less frequent and trips people up. |
| Vocales | 4/10 | Only one vowel (A) makes it simpler to guess, but its position narrows options slowly. |
| Engaños | 9/10 | Extremely high! Words like STAND, STAMP, STALK, and STACK are all major red herrings. |
How to Solve Wordle #1,707: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
Let’s reconstruct an optimal solving path, similar to what the WordleBot might recommend.
First Move (The Opener): Using a strong starter like SLATE is perfect here. It would reveal the ‘S’ in green (correct letter, correct spot) and the ‘A’ and ‘T’ in yellow (correct letter, wrong spot). This immediately tells you the word starts with S and contains A and T somewhere.
Second Move (Strategic Follow-up): Now you need to place the A and T and probe for more common consonants. A word like STAIN is brilliant. It places the ‘S’, tries the ‘T’ in position two, the ‘A’ in position three, and adds ‘I’ and ‘N’. The result would be stunning: ‘S’ and ‘T’ turn green, ‘A’ turns green, and ‘N’ turns yellow. You now know the word is S T A _ _, with an N somewhere in the last two slots.
The Elimination Process: This is where the puzzle gets tense. Your brain races through options: STAND, STANK, STALL, STACK, STAMP. You’ve ruled out L and I from STAIN, and likely other common letters from your first guess. The pool is small but treacherous.
The “Aha!” Moment: You consider the letters you haven’t tried. If you’ve been playing common letters, you might not have tested ‘K’ yet. Remembering that tricky “-NK” ending, you eliminate STAND (no letter to fill the last slot) and realize STANK fits the discovered pattern perfectly.
Recommended Attempts: Solving this in 3-4 guesses is excellent. Needing 5 is completely understandable given the deceptive trap words. If you got it in 6, you survived a nail-biter!
Specific Strategies for Today’s Sneaky Puzzle
If you got stuck today, here’s what likely happened and how to avoid it next time.
The Final Letter Trap: Many players fixated on a D (for STAND) or a P (for STAMP) for the final letter. When that failed, confusion set in. The lesson? When you have a known pattern like “STA__”, actively consider less common ending pairs like “-NK” or “-LK”. Don’t just recycle common letters from earlier guesses.
Avoiding the “STAN-” Rabbit Hole: The “STAN-” prefix automatically makes you think of standard, stance, or stanza. Wordle loves to use these common prefixes with uncommon endings. Mentally decouple the prefix and think of the word as a whole unit after guess three.
Today’s Unique Pattern: The “NK” combo at the end is the key. It’s not rare in English (think, bank, sink, wink), but it’s less common in Wordle answers than endings like -ND, -NT, or -CK. Adding “K” to your mental list of possible ending letters is a smart move.
By the Numbers: Fun Stats on Today’s Word
- Frequency: “Stank” is a moderately common word, ranking well within the top 20,000 words in contemporary English usage.
- Wordle History: This is its first appearance as a Wordle answer, making it a fresh challenge for all players.
- Success Rate: We estimate a slightly lower-than-average first-try success rate today, perhaps around 1-2%, due to the high number of convincing alternative words.
- Comparative Difficulty: More difficult than yesterday’s HOIST, but easier than true curveballs that use multiple rare letters.
For the Word Nerds: The Story Behind “Stank”
Today’s answer is more interesting than it smells! Etymologically, “stank” is simply the past tense of the verb “stink,” which comes from the Old English “stincan,” meaning to emit a smell—originally any smell, good or bad. Over centuries, it specialized to mean a bad odor.
In modern slang, “stank” has taken on a life of its own. It can refer to a particularly funky groove in music (that “stank face” you make when a bassline is too good) or an attitude of defiant confidence. It’s also a noun in some dialects, meaning a pond or small lake, derived from a completely different Old French root.
So, while you were solving for a foul odor, you were also tapping into a word with a rich and surprisingly melodic cultural footprint.
Flashback: Yesterday’s Wordle Answer (#1,706)
If you’re just catching up, yesterday’s puzzle was HOIST. It was a more straightforward puzzle, with a common “OIST” ending that, while narrowing, gave players a clear path. The jump from HOIST to today’s STANK is a classic example of Wordle keeping us on our toes—just when you think you have a pattern figured out, it changes the game.
3 General Wordle Tips to Boost Your Game
Whether today was a win or a struggle, these strategies will help you tomorrow.
- Embrace the Second-Guess Shuffle: Your second guess should aim to test multiple high-frequency consonants (L, N, R, S, T) and the remaining vowels. Don’t just chase the yellows; use the guess to rule out as much of the alphabet as possible.
- Beware the Common Prefix/Suffix Trap: As seen today with “STAN-“, common beginnings and endings can blind you to the middle. If you’re stuck, write down the known pattern and force yourself to brainstorm words that fit but break your expected mold.
- Letter Frequency is Your Friend, But Not Your Boss: The top letters are E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S, N, C. Prioritize these, but remember that Wordle’s dictionary includes plenty of words with K, W, Y, G, and H. Have a plan to test these if you hit a wall by guess four.
Congratulations on conquering Wordle #1,707! It was a puzzle with a distinct… aroma. Come back tomorrow for another round of lexical logic here at DailyWordleAnswer.com.
