NYT Wordle Answer Today (#1948) – 19 Oct 2026 Solution & Hints
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About Today’s Wordle
Wordle #1948 (published October 19, 2026) gives you six guesses to find a five-letter word. Green = correct letter in the right spot, yellow = in the word but wrong spot, gray = not in the word. Today’s puzzle leans on a common, everyday word that most solvers already know by heart, though its single vowel can trip up anyone who opens with a vowel-heavy guess and expects more than one hit.
Non-Spoiler Overview
Today’s word lives in the world of everyday sensory complaints — think of the kind of word you’d reach for on garbage day, after a gym session, or when something in the back of the fridge has clearly gone bad. It’s blunt, casual, and the sort of word most English speakers use several times a week without a second thought.
On the difficulty scale, this one sits closer to easy-to-medium. None of the letters are rare, so the challenge isn’t about unusual tiles — it’s about nailing vowel placement early, since there’s only one vowel hiding in the whole word and it’s easy to miss if your opener is vowel-heavy in the wrong way.
The most common slip-up here is sticking too long with vowel-heavy opening guesses instead of pivoting to a consonant-heavy second guess once that single vowel is confirmed. Some players also assume a letter repeats when it doesn’t, which can send a promising guess off in the wrong direction.
Hints
Theme / Domain
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This word belongs to the world of smells and odors — the kind of everyday word you’d reach for when something in the kitchen, the laundry basket, or the gym bag has gone off.
Meaning Nudge
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At its core, it describes giving off a strong, unpleasant smell. It’s also used more loosely to mean something is suspicious or just plain bad, as in a situation that “doesn’t smell right.”
Part of Speech
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It works as both a verb (to give off a bad smell) and a noun (the bad smell itself, or informally, a fuss or commotion).
Tone / Register
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Very informal and conversational — the kind of word you’d use with friends or family, not in a formal report or a job interview.
Usage Clue
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You’ll often hear it paired with phrases like “to high heaven,” or in the expression “kick up a ___” when someone is making a big fuss over something.
Letter Pattern Help
Starting Letter
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Starts with: S.
Ending Letter(s)
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Ends with: K.
Vowel Count
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Just one vowel today, and it sits right in the middle of the word.
Repeated Letters
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No repeats here — all five letters are different.
Pattern Shape
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Final pattern: S T I N K.
Rare/Tricky Letters
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Nothing exotic here — every letter shows up constantly in everyday English, so this one is more about placement than recognizing an unusual tile.
Rhyme or Analogy
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It rhymes with words like THINK, LINK, and PINK — picture that whole family of five-letter words ending in -INK.
Today’s Answer
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Wordle #1948 Answer: STINK
Definition & Example
Definition
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STINK — to give off a strong, unpleasant smell; as a noun, the unpleasant smell itself, or informally, a public fuss or uproar over something.
Example Usage
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Example: “The gym bag he left in the car all weekend started to stink by Monday morning.”
Quick Strategy Tips
When you’re down to a short list of consonant-heavy candidates, don’t be afraid to burn a guess on a word that shares several letters with your leading theory even if it probably isn’t the answer itself — it’s often the fastest way to confirm placement and eliminate options.
If your vowel-mapping opener comes back with only one hit, resist the urge to assume there’s a second hidden vowel. Five-letter words with just a single vowel are more common in Wordle than people expect, especially ones ending in common consonant clusters.
How I Solved Today’s Wordle
I started with AUDIO to map vowels. It ruled out three vowels right away but flagged one as present in the word, just sitting in the wrong slot — a useful nudge without giving anything away yet.
For my second guess, I leaned on a common five-letter word packed with frequent consonants to test the back half of the alphabet. That move lit up several yellow tiles at once, which narrowed my remaining options down to a very short list in a hurry.
From there, the shape of the word became pretty obvious. One more adjustment to the letter order and everything clicked into place — a classic case of a word that looks tricky in isolation but makes complete sense the moment you see the full pattern laid out.
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I started with AUDIO to map vowels. That cleared away A, U, and O right away, but the I lit up yellow — present in the word, just not in that second slot. With four consonants still wide open, I played LINKS next, hoping to pin down some high-frequency consonants in one shot. S came back yellow at the end, I confirmed yellow again, N and K both lit up yellow too, and only the L came back gray. That left me holding S, I, N, and K all confirmed somewhere in the word, with T still a mystery for the front half. Rearranging around a leading S and testing T right behind it, STINK lined up cleanly on the next guess: S opening, T right after it, I in the middle, and N-K closing things out — the smelly five-letter payoff I’d been circling the whole time.
FAQ: Common Sticking Points
How many vowels are in today’s Wordle?
One.
Is there a double letter?
No.
Any tricky letters?
Not really — every letter here is a common one, so the challenge is more about order than recognizing an unusual tile.
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