Waffle #1757 Hints & Answers Today, November 13, 2026

Waffle (wafflegame.net) puzzle #1757, for Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, starts with 7 of its 21 tiles already green. That leaves 14 to move. One letter shows up six times, and that is where this board gets tricky; the answers and the route wait in the marked last section.

The tile colors and the swap rules are on our Waffle page; today’s board needs nothing beyond them, just care with the six copies of one letter.

Clues for each of the six words

Across

• Row 1: starts with S and ends with R. An underground pipe that carries waste away from homes and streets.
• Row 3: starts with O and ends with N. Many times; at frequent intervals.
• Row 5: starts with T and ends with W. To hurl something through the air with your arm.

Down

• Column 1: starts with S and ends with T. The lip of a kettle or tap, where liquid comes out.
• Column 3: starts with W and ends with R. What flows from a faucet; two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen.
• Column 5: starts with R and ends with W. To make fresh again, as with a library book or a passport.

Where the seven greens sit

Five of the seven greens count for two words each: the four corner tiles (a row and a column apiece) and the center (row 3 and column 3). The other two greens, one in row 2 and one in row 4, help one word each.

Word	Tiles already in place
Row 1	2 of 5
Row 3	1 of 5
Row 5	2 of 5
Column 1	2 of 5
Column 3	2 of 5
Column 5	3 of 5

Column 5 has the best start, with three of its five tiles home. Row 3 has the worst, with only its center.

Six copies of one letter

The 21 tiles hold six E tiles, four letters that appear twice (W, R, O and T) and seven that appear once (S, P, A, F, N, U and H). Only E has more than two squares to choose from.

Letter	Tiles	Start in the right square
E	6	2
W	2	1
R	2	1
O	2	0
T	2	2
S, P, A, F, N, U, H	1 each	1 (the S)

A yellow tile of a twice-used letter has two possible homes. A yellow E is the trap: four E tiles are loose and four open squares want an E, so any of them can look right in almost any gap. Count the gaps in each word before you swap an E anywhere.

Keep your own record of the week on the printable weekly calendar or the November 2026 printable calendar.

More puzzles today: Wordle hints and Connections hints. Yesterday’s board: Waffle #1756.

Waffle #1757 answers and swap route (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

Direction	Position	Answer
Across	Row 1	Sewer
Across	Row 3	Often
Across	Row 5	Throw
Down	Column 1	Spout
Down	Column 3	Water
Down	Column 5	Renew

The solved grid, with a dot for each hole:

S E W E R
P . A . E
O F T E N
U . E . E
T H R O W

The starting grid

The starting grid, row by row, with dots for the holes:

S U E O R
H . E . E
E O T A E
F . E . R
T N W P W

The green tiles are S in row 1, column 1; R in row 1, column 5; E in row 2, column 5; T in the center; E in row 4, column 3; T in row 5, column 1; and W in row 5, column 5.

Where each E belongs

Four of the six words hold an E. Renew has two, Sewer has two, and Often and Water have one each. Spout and Throw have none.

E tile at the start	Belongs in	Word
Row 1, column 3	Row 4, column 5 (via row 5, column 3)	Renew
Row 2, column 3	Row 3, column 4	Often
Row 2, column 5	already home	Renew
Row 3, column 1	Row 1, column 4	Sewer
Row 3, column 5	Row 1, column 2	Sewer
Row 4, column 3	already home	Water

None of the four loose E tiles ends in the row it started in. The E in row 1, column 3 is the long traveler: it goes to the bottom row first, to make room for the W, and only then to its home in column 5.

A 10-swap route to finish

The minimum is 10 swaps, found by an exhaustive search. Play them in order, because each one assumes the earlier ones are done. Swaps 1, 2, 5 and 10 put two tiles home at once; the other six fix one each.

Swap	Squares	Letters
1	Row 1, column 4 and row 3, column 1	O and E
2	Row 2, column 3 and row 3, column 4	E and A
3	Row 1, column 2 and row 3, column 5	U and E
4	Row 1, column 3 and row 5, column 3	E and W
5	Row 4, column 5 and row 5, column 3	R and E
6	Row 2, column 1 and row 5, column 4	H and P
7	Row 3, column 2 and row 4, column 1	O and F
8	Row 3, column 5 and row 5, column 2	U and N
9	Row 4, column 1 and row 5, column 2	O and U
10	Row 5, column 2 and row 5, column 4	O and H

Why the count is 10

Fourteen tiles are misplaced, and a loop of n tiles costs n minus 1 swaps, so swaps equal misplaced tiles minus loops. With 10 swaps there are 4 loops. Only two pairs trade home for both tiles at the start: the O in row 1, column 4 with the E in row 3, column 1, and the E in row 2, column 3 with the A in row 3, column 4. Two more swaps become two-for-one only after earlier moves clear the way, as swaps 5 and 10 do.