If you woke up today thinking you'd breeze through your morning coffee and a quick puzzle, the Wordle answer Jan 7 might have given you a rude awakening. It's one of those words. You know the ones. It feels common when you see it, but when you're staring at a grid of yellow and grey tiles, it suddenly feels like it doesn't exist in the English language.
Honestly, today's puzzle, number 1663, was a bit of a curveball. It wasn't because of rare letters like Z or Q. It was the vowel placement.
The Wordle Answer Jan 7 Revealed
Let's just get to it. You're probably here because you're on your fifth guess and the panic is setting in.
The Wordle answer Jan 7 is PECAN.
Yeah. That's it. Five letters, two vowels, and a whole lot of frustration for anyone who started with "ADIEU" and only found that lonely 'A' and 'E' in the wrong spots.
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Why Today's Word Was So Sneaky
Most people have a strategy. You've probably got your favorite starter. Maybe it's "STARE" or "AUDIO." If you used "RAISE" today—a classic—you got two yellows. Not bad, right? But "PECAN" is a bit of a weirdo.
The "P" at the beginning is common enough, but that "C" in the middle followed by "AN" caught a lot of folks off guard. According to data from the NYT Wordle Bot, words that end in "AN" aren't actually as common as you'd think compared to the dreaded "ER" or "ED" endings.
Also, can we talk about the pronunciation? Depending on where you live, you’re either saying "PEE-can" or "puh-KAHN." Maybe your brain was looking for a word that sounds different than the one you were typing. It happens to the best of us.
Breaking Down the Letters
Let's look at the stats for this specific solve:
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- P: A solid consonant, but not as ubiquitous as S or T.
- E: The most common letter in English, so most players found this early.
- C: This was the killer. It's often paired with H or K, but here it stands alone in the middle.
- A: Another easy find, though its position in the fourth slot is less common than the second or third.
- N: A very common ending, but if you were looking for "S" or "Y," you were in trouble.
Tips for Tomorrow's Grid
If today's Wordle answer Jan 7 broke your streak, don't beat yourself up. Streaks are meant to be broken, though it definitely hurts when it's a word you have in your pantry.
Expert players usually recommend "CRANE" or "SLATE." If you used "CRANE" today, you actually did pretty well. You would have had the C, A, N, and E all in yellow or green. That’s basically a silver platter.
The mistake most people make is "hard mode" thinking. They get a letter and feel like they must use it in the next guess. Sometimes, if you're stuck, it's better to burn a turn. Pick a word with five completely new letters. It's better to lose a row than to lose the whole game because you couldn't think of a word containing a yellow 'C'.
Common Misconceptions About Wordle Difficulty
People always say Wordle is getting harder. It's actually not. The New York Times uses a predetermined list. While they’ve removed a few words that were considered too obscure or offensive, they haven’t actually added "harder" ones to the mix.
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What's actually happening is that our brains get used to certain patterns. We expect "LEAST" or "PLATE." When "PECAN" shows up, it feels like an anomaly. It's just basic probability playing tricks on your head.
Moving Forward From the Pecan Incident
If you managed to get it in three, congrats. You’re probably a pro or you just really like pie. If you're like the rest of us and struggled, there's always tomorrow.
To keep your edge, try diversifying your word games. A lot of people have moved on to Connections or Strands for an extra challenge. They require a different kind of lateral thinking that can actually help your Wordle game. For instance, today’s Connections puzzle was all about gardening tools and things that come in flakes—oddly enough, "PECAN" would have fit right into a "Nut" category if they had one!
Now that you've got the Wordle answer Jan 7, you can go back to your day. Just maybe avoid any nut-based snacks for a few hours if the trauma is still fresh.
Check your stats, share that green-square grid on social media (or don't, if it was a close call), and get ready for the reset at midnight. Your streak starts again tomorrow.
Make sure you've updated your starting word strategy if you're feeling stuck. Switching from a vowel-heavy word like "ADIEU" to a consonant-heavy one like "STERN" or "CLAMP" can sometimes provide the breakthrough you need when the vowels are being stingy.