Waffle Answer and Hints Today, #1749 for Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026: Six Clues, One Route

Waffle (wafflegame.net) puzzle #1749 is the grid for Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, and it starts with six green tiles out of 21. Three five-letter words run across and three run down. The clues below go one word at a time, and a route that solves the board in the minimum number of swaps waits in the marked spoiler section.

Today’s board starts with six green tiles; the rules and tile colors are on our Waffle page.

Clues for each word

Across

• Row 1: starts with T and ends with H, and has the letter O in both the second and third spots. A noun for one of the hard white pieces set in the jaw.
• Row 3: starts with O and ends with R, and has the letter D in the middle. An adjective that describes someone who has lived more years than another person.
• Row 5: starts with N and ends with E, and has the letter R in the third spot. A verb meaning to look after a person who is ill or hurt.

Down

• Column 1: starts with T and ends with N, and shares its first letter with the row 1 word and its last letter with the row 5 word. A noun for a sharp point that grows on a rose stem.
• Column 3: starts with O and ends with R, and has the letter D in the middle, where it crosses the row 3 word. A noun for a neat arrangement, or a command that someone gives.
• Column 5: starts with H and ends with E, and shares its first letter with the last letter of the row 1 word and its last letter with the last letter of the row 5 word. A noun for a large, noisy crowd.

What today’s letter pile tells you

The 21 tiles hold four copies of one letter, four of another, three of a third, two each of three more, and four letters that appear once. Two of the six green tiles are corner tiles at the left edge, so the left column is partly settled before your first move. The center tile is green too, and it sits where a down word and an across word cross, so leave it alone. Nine tiles sit where an across word meets a down word (the four corners, the center and the middle of each edge), so a swap on one of those nine changes two words at once; the other 12 tiles each belong to a single word.

Mark your streak on our printable weekly calendar or the November 2026 printable calendar.

More of today’s puzzles: Wordle hints and Connections hints. Yesterday’s grid: Waffle #1748.

Today’s Waffle answers (spoilers)

Stop here if you still want to solve it yourself.

Direction	Position	Answer
Across	Row 1	Tooth
Across	Row 3	Older
Across	Row 5	Nurse
Down	Column 1	Thorn
Down	Column 3	Order
Down	Column 5	Horde

The solved grid, with a dot for each hole:

T O O T H
H . R . O
O L D E R
R . E . D
N U R S E

The starting grid

This starting grid shows the letters row by row, with dots for the holes:

T S T U H
L . E . E
H R D O O
R . R . O
N O D R E

Six tiles are already green: T in row 1, column 1; H in row 1, column 5; D in the center; R in row 4, column 1; N in row 5, column 1; and E in row 5, column 5.

A 10-swap route for five stars

Here is a 10-swap route, the minimum, that turns the starting grid into the solved grid. Play the swaps in order, since each one assumes the earlier ones are done. Ten swaps leave five of the 15 unused, so it earns five stars.

Swap	Squares	Letters
1	Row 1, column 2 and row 3, column 5	S and O
2	Row 1, column 3 and row 5, column 2	T and O
3	Row 1, column 4 and row 5, column 2	U and T
4	Row 2, column 1 and row 3, column 1	L and H
5	Row 2, column 3 and row 4, column 3	E and R
6	Row 2, column 5 and row 3, column 4	E and O
7	Row 3, column 1 and row 4, column 5	L and O
8	Row 3, column 2 and row 4, column 5	R and L
9	Row 3, column 5 and row 5, column 4	S and R
10	Row 4, column 5 and row 5, column 3	R and D