Waking up and opening the New York Times Games app has become a ritual for millions. You know the drill. Six tries, five letters, and that satisfying (or frustrating) grid of green and yellow tiles. Today, January 17, 2026, the puzzle threw a bit of a curveball. The answer is FIERY.
Honestly, it's one of those words that feels easy until you're staring at the screen with four letters filled in and your brain just freezes. You've been there.
The Trouble with FIERY
What makes FIERY such a tricky little word? For starters, the spelling is a classic English language trap. We often want to put the 'E' before the 'I' because of how it sounds—like fire—but the correct sequence is F-I-E-R-Y.
If you used a starting word like "ADIEU," you probably felt pretty good early on. You likely grabbed that 'I' and 'E' right away. But finding the 'F' and 'Y' can be a slog if you're stuck in the middle of the alphabet.
According to data from WordleBot, the average player took about 3.8 guesses to nail this one down today. That’s actually a bit higher than the usual average for a Saturday. It's a "sizzling" word, both in meaning and in the way it burns through your attempts.
Why This Word Is a Streak Killer
Let's talk strategy. If you hit a wall, you're not alone. Many players find themselves with something like _ I E R _ and start throwing everything at the wall.
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- Is it LIER?
- Maybe PIER?
- Wait, those are only four letters.
The 'Y' at the end is a common Wordle trope, but the 'F' at the beginning is less frequent than your standard 'S' or 'T' starts.
If you're playing on Hard Mode, FIERY can be a total nightmare. Once you lock in those middle letters, you're forced to cycle through consonants. If you didn't guess the 'F' early, you might have found yourself staring at a "Game Over" screen while your 200-day streak vanished into thin air.
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Expert Tips for Future Puzzles
To avoid getting burned by words like FIERY again, it’s worth refining your opening gambit. While "CRANE" and "SLATE" remain the statistical darlings of the AI bots, human intuition often favors high-vowel words.
- Don't ignore the Y. It acts as a vowel more often than we think in this game.
- Watch the vowel placement. In this case, having 'I' and 'E' back-to-back is common in adjectives, but easy to miss if you're looking for a more "standard" consonant-vowel-consonant structure.
- Use "burner" words. If you aren't on Hard Mode, use your third or fourth guess to eliminate as many unique consonants as possible.
The word FIERY itself comes from the Old English fȳren, and it’s been tripping people up for centuries, not just on the NYT app. Whether it's describing a passionate personality or a literal blaze, it’s a word that carries a lot of weight.
Practical Steps for Your Next Game
If you struggled today, don't sweat it. Every loss is just a lesson for tomorrow's grid.
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Start by analyzing your first two guesses. Did they cover the most common letters (R, S, T, L, N, E)? If not, consider swapping your starter. Tomorrow is a new day and a new five-letter mystery.
Check your stats, look at your win percentage, and maybe take a breather before the next one drops at midnight. You’ve got this.