Today’s ‘Wordle’ #1,097 Tips, Clues and Answer for Thursday, June 20 Puzzle

If you’re struggling with today’s Wordle puzzle, fret not. Even the inventor of the game has admitted to needing a few attempts before getting each one right.

“[My partner] and I play it on the couch together each morning,” New York-based software engineer Josh Wardle told Newsweek in January 2022. “She will consistently get it in three goes, which is way, way better than I can ever hope to achieve. I normally need at least four or five attempts.”

Years after coming up with the initial concept, Welsh-born Wardle perfected Wordle during the COVID-19 lockdowns before releasing it to the public in October 2021.

Following its public debut, Wordle exploded from 90 users on November 1, 2021, to 300,000 on January 2, 2022, according to figures by Statista. The New York Times purchased the game for an undisclosed seven-figure fee soon after.

The instructions for playing Wordle are largely straightforward. Players get six attempts to guess a five-letter word. Gray tiles behind each letter indicate that they’re not in the word at all; yellow means the letter features but is in the wrong position; while green lets players know the letter is in the word and in the correct place.

Erhan Aslan, an expert in applied linguistics who teaches at the University of Reading in the U.K., previously provided some useful advice for Wordle players in an interview with Newsweek.

“One thing that I think is important in this game is the starting word chosen,” Aslan said. “Starting off with words that include commonly used vowels, for example, e and a, consonants such as r and t, and sound sequences might be helpful.

“Choosing a word that starts with q, z, j, or x, for instance, may not be the best choice. As you get more feedback after a few guesses. Users need to draw on some knowledge of phonics to narrow down or eliminate some words that they might be thinking.”

Newsweek has provided some clues below for today’s Wordle puzzle. The answer will be revealed at the end of this article, so please scroll down with caution if you want to work it out for yourself.

‘Wordle’ #1,097, Clues for Thursday, June 20

Newsweek has put together five hints to help you figure out today’s Wordle puzzle.

Hint #1: Today’s answer contains one vowel.

Hint #2: “S” is the first letter of today’s word.

Hint #3: There are no repeated letters.

Hint #4: Today’s answer is a noun and a verb.

Hint #5: For the correct answer, think of an odor.

‘Wordle’ #1,097 Answer for Thursday, June 20

Today’s Wordle answer is “Scent.”

Wordle updates every day at midnight, at which point the next puzzle becomes available. Newsweek will be back with another round of hints and tips for each new game.

Players who would like something to keep themselves busy while they wait can have a go at other word-based puzzles such as Typochondria and Spellspire.