Wordle Answer Revealed As Sumac On January 18

For millions of puzzle enthusiasts, the daily ritual of Wordle—The New York Times’ viral word game—remains a cherished moment of challenge and delight. On January 18, 2026, players across the globe awoke to puzzle #1674, which, as many soon discovered, proved a bit thorny. The answer, as reported by multiple outlets including Mashable and CNET, was "SUMAC"—a word that may have left some scratching their heads, but delighted others with its spicy twist.

Wordle, which tasks players with guessing a five-letter word in six tries or fewer, has become a cultural staple since its launch. Its simple design belies the cleverness and, at times, the trickiness of its daily solutions. Each day’s puzzle is released at midnight local time, ensuring that the challenge is fresh for every player, regardless of time zone. For Wordle #1674, the clues were subtle but fair: the word had two vowels, was a noun, and was associated with a type of tree or bush. As CNET noted, "Today's Wordle puzzle is a tough one. It's a word that, to me, looks misspelled even when you know it's not."

For those who braved the puzzle without hints, the challenge lay in the word’s relative obscurity. SUMAC, a spice derived from berries and commonly used in Middle Eastern cuisine, isn’t a word that crops up in everyday conversation, nor is it a typical starter word for Wordle. According to Mashable, "A spice made from berries" was the key hint, and the word fit the bill with its two vowels (U and A), no repeated letters, and its botanical roots.

Players seeking an edge often turn to strategic starter words. The New York Times’ own WordleBot recommends words like CRANE, ADIEU, STARE, and ROAST, all of which maximize the chances of revealing key letters early. MIT’s analysis suggests alternatives such as SALET, REAST, TRACE, and SLATE. As Mashable explained, “The best starters tend to contain common letters, to increase the chances of getting yellow and green squares to guide your guessing.”

For Wordle #1674, those who started with a word like RAISE or TOUCH might have found themselves narrowing down options quickly. As one solver recounted, "I started with RAISE and TOUCH—SUMAC was the only word that fit." Others, perhaps less familiar with the spice rack, may have found themselves stumped by the word’s uncommon status in the English lexicon.

The puzzle’s structure is as familiar as ever: after each guess, players receive feedback via color codes—green for correct letters in the right spot, yellow for correct letters in the wrong spot, and gray for incorrect letters altogether. This system encourages not just luck, but careful deduction and strategy. As Mashable pointed out, “Winners use their guesses to gather information about what letters are in the word.” That means not wasting guesses on similar words, but instead choosing options that maximize the information gained from each attempt.

Yesterday’s Wordle, #1673, featured the word "FIERY"—a word described by CNET as one that "can refer to being passionate or quick-tempered." It also had no repeated letters, two vowels, and started with F and ended with Y. The previous answer, on January 16, was "RACER," and the days before included "TRIAL," "GUMBO," "AVOID," and "CHASM." This variety of answers highlights the game’s unpredictability and the editorial hand that now curates its solutions since The New York Times acquired Wordle. Sometimes, as Mashable notes, the answers are topical or themed, adding another layer of intrigue for regular players.

For those who crave even more daily puzzles, The New York Times has expanded its offerings. Alongside Wordle, players can tackle the Mini Crossword, Connections, and the new game Pips, which launched in August 2025. Pips puts a dominoes-inspired twist on logic puzzles, asking players to place tiles according to color-coded numerical conditions. On January 18, 2026, Mashable provided hints and solutions for Pips at all difficulty levels, detailing strategies for spaces labeled Number, Equal, Less Than, and Greater Than. For example, in the easy mode, a Number (3) space required a 0-3 tile placed vertically, while in the hard mode, a Number (27) space could be solved with a combination of 2-6, 5-6, 4-5, and 5-3 tiles in specific orientations.

Wordle’s popularity has also spawned a host of alternatives, each offering a new twist on the original formula. Dordle and Quordle challenge players to solve two or four puzzles simultaneously, while Octordle and Sedecordle raise the stakes with eight and sixteen grids. Waffle, Absurdle, Squabble, and Antiwordle each bring their own unique mechanics—be it swapping letters, changing solutions mid-game, racing against others, or even trying not to guess the answer at all. As Mashable observed, "If you can’t get enough of five-letter guessing games and their kin, the best Wordle alternatives, ranked by difficulty, include Dordle and Quordle… There is also Octordle, with eight puzzles, and Sedecordle, with 16."

The enduring appeal of Wordle and its kin lies in their blend of simplicity and depth. Whether you’re a casual player who enjoys the satisfaction of a quick win, or a dedicated solver who analyzes letter frequencies and optimal strategies, there’s a daily puzzle waiting. As CNET advised, “Check our list ranking the popularity of all the letters in the alphabet and choose your starter words accordingly.” And, as always, remember that letters can appear more than once, and that sometimes the best guess is one that tests as many new possibilities as possible.

Wordle’s daily puzzles continue to captivate, frustrate, and educate—a testament to the enduring power of a good word game. On January 18, 2026, "SUMAC" took center stage, reminding players that sometimes, the answer is just a little outside the box, but always within reach for those willing to keep guessing.