Today's Wordle Answer #1709 for Sunday, February 22, 2026: GUAVA Stumps Players With Double Letter Trap

Sunday's Wordle puzzle arrived with a tropical twist — and a hidden snag that caught thousands of players off guard. Wordle #1709 for February 22, 2026 ET is officially in the books, and the answer is a fruit-aisle favorite with a deceptive letter pattern. If you're still playing and don't want spoilers, stop reading now. Everyone else: here's everything you need to crack today's puzzle or confirm your solve.

What Is the Wordle Answer Today? Puzzle #1709 Revealed

 SPOILER WARNING — The Wordle answer for February 22, 2026 is below.

Today's Wordle answer on Sunday, February 22, 2026, is GUAVA. The word refers to the sweet, aromatic tropical fruit recognized for its green skin and pink or white interior flesh. While the word itself is widely known, its unusual letter structure makes Wordle #1709 one of the trickier puzzles of the month.

Why GUAVA Is a Tricky Wordle Puzzle

Today's NYT Wordle lands with a tropical fruit featuring an uncommon V that could trip up players relying on standard vowel-heavy openers. The structure breaks down like this:

The double A isn't adjacent, which adds another layer of complexity. Players who test consonants like V early will have an advantage, while those stuck in vowel-first patterns may struggle.

The average player completes Wordle #1709 in 4.2 moves in easy mode, or 4.1 if playing by hard rules.

Wordle #1709 Hints: Clues Without the Spoiler

For anyone still mid-game or looking to challenge a friend, today's puzzle hints broke down across a clean spectrum:

• Three vowels are in the word
• The word starts with a consonant
• There is one repeated letter
• It is a noun — something you'd find in a fruit bowl or tropical market
• A yellowish tropical fruit known for being sweet and slightly tangy
• Starts with G, ends with A

Best Starting Words to Solve Today's Wordle Faster

The double A pattern (non-consecutive) teaches players to consider vowel repetition even when letters aren't adjacent — a subtle pattern recognition skill that separates average solvers from experts. For puzzles like today's, Wordle veterans recommend opening with words that test the vowel U early, since it appears in position two of GUAVA and is one of the less commonly guessed early vowels.

Strong openers for patterns similar to today's include words that cover U, A, and common consonants like R, T, L, S, and N in the first two guesses — saving V-testing for guess three if consonants haven't been confirmed.

Yesterday's Wordle Answer and Recent Wordle Archive

The Wordle answer for yesterday, Saturday, February 21, 2026, was AWAKE. The average number of guesses to get yesterday's answer in normal mode was 4.5, and around 10.5% of players solved the answer in 3 or fewer turns.

Recent answers from the last two weeks show a pattern of common but moderately tricky words:

About Wordle: The NYT Puzzle That Became a Daily Ritual

Wordle was created by Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle as a game to play with his partner. The game became publicly available in October 2021, and quickly gained popularity after Wardle added the ability for players to copy their daily results as emoji squares. In January 2022, The New York Times Company purchased Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, with plans to keep it free for all players. It has remained one of the most-played free daily games on the internet ever since — and Sunday's GUAVA is a reminder that even a familiar word can hide a sting in its letters.