SALET did its usual dependable work to open today’s puzzle — landing the S in the right spot but scattering the E into yellow territory and striking out on A, L, and T. A solid first step, but still 165 candidates left standing.

The second guess, SEINE, was where things got interesting. Every letter connected to the answer in some way: S locked green, the two E’s bounced back as yellows, and N lurked somewhere it didn’t belong. Five candidates remained — a tight cluster, but enough for the solver to pinpoint the target.

SNORE dropped in round three for the clean solve. Once you know the S is anchored at the front and an E is waiting at the end, and that N, O, and R all belong somewhere in the middle, the word practically writes itself.

🟩⬛⬛🟨⬛ SALET
🟩🟨⬛🟨🟩 SEINE
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 SNORE