Wordle Answer for February 20, 2026

Why this word played the way it did

STANK runs on a single vowel (A), which makes opener words like ADIEU or AUDIO nearly useless against it — players who started consonant-heavy had the edge. All five letters are distinct, so no double-letter traps — every green and yellow you earned carried full information.

The real danger came from near-neighbors: SKANK and SLANK differ by just one letter, and players who locked in four greens early often had to burn a guess — or two — separating them. The counter-move is to guess a word that tests the differing letters at once rather than trying each candidate in turn.

Community data puts puzzle #1707 at 4.0 guesses on average, which we rate moderate. Anything under four guesses on this one was a strong result.