Look, we’ve all been there. It’s early, the coffee hasn't quite kicked in yet, and you’re staring at those five empty boxes like they’re judging your entire vocabulary. You want to keep the streak alive—honestly, who doesn't?—but your brain is just giving you a 404 error. If you are scratching your head over what does todays wordle start with, you aren't alone.
Saturday puzzles can be a bit of a curveball. Sometimes the New York Times editors like to throw us a bone with a simple noun, and other times they pick a word that feels like it belongs in a Victorian novel or a chemistry lab. Today, January 17, 2026, the word is a bit of a sizzler.
The First Letter of Today's Wordle
Let's get right to it. Today’s Wordle starts with the letter F.
Knowing the starting letter is usually the "make or break" moment for most players. If you used a classic opener like ADIEU or ARISE, you might have caught a vowel, but you probably missed this consonant entirely. F isn't the most common letter in the English language—that honor usually goes to E or T—but it shows up in enough common five-letter words to be a total pest if you don't guess it early.
Hints to Keep Your Streak Alive
Maybe you don't want the full answer just yet. Totally fair. Half the fun is that "aha!" moment when the tiles finally flip green. If you’re stuck after the F, here are a few expert nudges to help you navigate the rest of the grid:
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- Vowel Count: There are two vowels in this word.
- No Repeats: You don't have to worry about double letters today. Every letter is unique.
- The Ending: If you're looking for the bookend, the word ends with a Y.
- The Definition: Think of something intense, burning, or perhaps someone with a very short fuse.
Basically, if things are heating up in your kitchen or your personality, you’re on the right track.
Why Today’s Wordle Starting with F is Tricky
Most veteran players rely on "ETAOIN SHRDLU" (the most common letters used in English) to guide their first two guesses. Since F falls a bit further down that list, many people don't test it until their third or fourth attempt.
If you started with SLATE or CRANE (the WordleBot favorites), you likely saw a bunch of gray today. That’s frustrating. It forces you into a "burn" guess where you try to eliminate as many consonants as possible. Honestly, today is one of those days where a "vowel heavy" strategy like AUDIO might actually leave you more confused because it doesn't help you find that pesky leading F.
The Big Reveal: Today's Wordle Answer
Still stuck? If you’ve reached your fifth guess and the sweat is starting to bead on your forehead, don't let the streak die.
The answer to Wordle #1673 for January 17, 2026, is FIERY.
It makes sense, right? It starts with F, ends with Y, and has those two vowels (I and E) tucked right in the front. It’s a word we use all the time, but for some reason, when it’s laid out in five boxes, it looks completely alien.
How to Win at Wordle Every Day
To avoid the "what does todays wordle start with" panic tomorrow, you've gotta have a system. I’ve played thousands of rounds, and the biggest mistake I see is "hard mode" traps. If you have _IERY, you could easily guess FIERY, but what if LIERY (not a word, but you get the point) or other variations existed?
- Vary your openers. Don't use the same word every single day for a year. Switch between a consonant-heavy word like STERN and a vowel-heavy one like ADIEU.
- Watch for the Y. In five-letter words, Y is a frequent flyer at the end. If you’re stuck, try throwing a Y at position five just to see if it sticks.
- Use a "Sacrificial" Word. If you have three possible answers and only two guesses left, use a word that contains all the missing letters. You’ll lose that turn’s chance at a win, but you’ll guarantee the win on the next turn.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think Wordle is about having a huge vocabulary. It’s actually about patterns. Most 5-letter words in the NYT dictionary follow specific phonetic structures. Today’s word, FIERY, is a classic example of a word that feels "longer" than it is because of the diphthong (the way the 'i' and 'e' blend).
Interestingly, some players get caught up looking for "ER" endings. When you see an E and an R, your brain naturally wants to put them at the end. Today, that would have led you down a rabbit hole. The R is actually the fourth letter, which is just mean enough to trip up even the pros.
Now that you've got the answer and the strategy, you can head back to the grid and claim your victory. Or, you know, just brag to your group chat that you got it in three. I won't tell.
If you are looking to sharpen your skills for tomorrow, try practicing with a "Wordle Archive" or a "Wordle Unlimited" site to get used to the F-starting patterns. You can also check out the NYT Connections or Strands puzzles if you haven't had enough of a brain workout yet.