Quordle today – hints and answers for Wednesday, October 16 (game #996)

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now nearly 1,000 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today – or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don’t read on if you don’t want to know the answers.

Your Quordle expert

Marc McLaren

Quordle today (game #995) – hint #1 – Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #996) – hint #2 – repeated letters

Do any of today’s Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 3.

Quordle today (game #996) – hint #3 – uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today’s Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #996) – hint #4 – starting letters (1)

Do any of today’s Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today’s Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 2.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you’re not ready yet then here’s one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #996) – hint #5 – starting letters (2)

What letters do today’s Quordle answers start with?

• E

• S

• H

• E

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #996) – the answers

Quordle answers for game 996 on a yellow background

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today’s Quordle, game #996, are…

I’m not sure today’s Quordle could have been much harder, so I’m pleased with the way I solved it with one guess to go. All of the words are to some extent difficult, a couple particularly so.

EERIE is probably one of the worst words that could ever turn up here, and I dread the day it arrives in Wordle (if indeed it does). With three Es, two of them together at the start, it has an incredibly uncommon spelling format, which will likely have made it hard even for experienced Quordlers. EMBED also has a repeated E, while HUNCH is one of the worst word-traps in the game; -UNCH has five possible solutions, PUNCH, LUNCH, HUNCH, MUNCH and BUNCH, and all are common words and so equally likely to appear.

My tactic for solving it was to play HIMBO, a word which would rule in/out three of those in one go; the other two had already been ruled out. And not only did it confirm HUNCH, but it also gave me the M and B I needed for EMBED, and the M for SMIRK. After that it was simply a case of identifying EERIE – which took me a while, but I got there in the end.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.