Wordle Answer Today: Don’t Click Here if You Don’t Want Spoilers

Here are some hints, and the answer, for Wordle #1017.

CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of “Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the ’70s and ’80s,” as well as “The Totally Sweet ’90s.” She’s been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She’s Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she’ll be first in line.

Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials

• Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won “Headline Writer of the Year”​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.

Warning: If you keep reading, you’ll see the Wordle answer for Monday, April 1. That could be a devastating spoiler for some players. But if you just need the answer — maybe you’re on your last guess and just don’t want to see an 800-game streak go poof — keep reading. 

We’ll start you off with some general tips and then hints in case you feel just getting the answer itself is cheating. If you just want the answer, scroll down to the final subhead. We’ll update every day with the newest answer.

Tips, strategies and more

I’ve written a lot about Wordle — from covering its 1000th word to my list of the best starter words to a helpful two-step strategy to controversial word changes. I’ve even rounded up what I learned playing the hit online word puzzle for a full year. So, if you are rethinking your need for the actual answer, you might try tips from one of those stories.

Still need a starter word? One person told me they just look around and choose a five-letter object that they’ve spotted to use as their starter word — such as COUCH or CHAIR.  I tend to stick to starter words that have the most popular letters used in English words. I like TRAIN as a starter, though I have a friend who uses TRAIL. I’ve read that people use the financial term ROATE, but I like to use words I actually know.

Is Wordle running out of words?

Tracy Bennett, the Wordle editor, made a TikTok on March 28 where she addressed the possibility that the game will eventually run out of five-letter words. “Yes, there are only about 2,300+ words left in the database,” she acknowledged. But she notes that she’s added about 30 words and could add more. Bennett also says she might recycle words later on, or possibly allow plurals or past tenses, which haven’t been a part of the game. (A TikTok commenter suggests the game move up to six words when the database runs out.) 

By the way, Bennett herself plays the game every day because she wants to get a sense for what players are experiencing, she told the Times. Even though she knows the answer, she chose it weeks before it was published, and she often forgets.

Wordle siblings, Connections and Strands

There are other fun games in the Times Games stable. My latest addiction is Connections, which I think is tricker than Wordle. This is the game where you look at a grid of 16 words and try and put them into four groups of related words. Sometimes the relationships between the words are pretty out there — like the time when it was four words that all began with rock bands, such as RUSHMORE and JOURNEYMAN.

Spelling Bee is a popular Times game, too. And there’s a new game that’s still in beta, Strands, which I’m trying to master.

Wordle hints and answer

OK, let’s talk about the answer for today. Last chance to bow out and stop reading if you don’t want spoilers. I’ll start with some clues that don’t give it away, in order to give you a chance to still win on your own.

Wordle hint #1: Vowels

There’s only one vowel, used only once, in today’s answer. 

Wordle hint #2: Double up

Wordle loves double-consonants to start off the word, and this one has that. Not the same consonant. Tthat wwould bbe wweird. Just two consonants, then a vowel, then two more consonants.

Wordle hint #3: Pete and repeat

Repeated letters sometimes trip me up in Wordle, but there aren’t any in today’s word.

Wordle hint #4: Character clue

Do you watch Bob’s Burgers? You should. I’m a big fan. The Wordle answer is the last name of the school guidance counselor on that show. He has therapy dolls with names like Repressed Memory Emily and Portion Control Joel.

But Bob’s Burgers aside, most people know this word because it means the leaflike part of a plant, like a fern.

Wordle hint #5: Starting letter

Now, we’re giving it away. The answer starts with an F. Last chance to look away, the answer is below the photo.

Wordle answer revealed

The Wordle answer for April 1 is FROND. Not the most common word out there, but it does feature a few of the more popular letters — Reader’s Digest says R is #3, O is #5, and N is #7. 

Hope that helped you keep your streak going! Come back tomorrow if you’re stumped again.