Here's your first Quordle of the week, guaranteed to get your brain going in the morning. Today's is a fairly tricky one, so you may find my hints useful.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my Wordle today, NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #896) - hint #1 - Vowels

How many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 3*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #896) - hint #2 - repeated letters

Do any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 1.

Quordle today (game #896) - hint #3 - uncommon letters

Do the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #896) - hint #4 - starting letters (1)

Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #896) - hint #5 - starting letters (2)

What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• D

• S

• C

• K

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #896) - the answers

Quordle answers for game 896 on a yellow background
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #896, are…

  • DATUM
  • SLUMP
  • CHUMP
  • KNOLL

M doesn't feature among my three start words, but it would have been very helpful today if it did, because it appears in DATUM, SLUMP and CHUMP. Fortunately that didn't matter, because U and P are both among the 15 letters I play at the start – and working out that M would go between them for UMP was enough to get my game going.

KNOLL is the odd one out here; it doesn't have an M, but it does contain a repeated L and a silent K, and is arguably the toughest answer here as a result. Both M and K also featured in the Daily Sequence, so you'll have wanted to play them early on there for the best chance to win that variant too.

How did you do today? Send me an email and let me know.

Daily Sequence today (game #896) - the answers

Quordle Daily Sequence answers for game 896 on a yellow background
(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #896, are…

  • SLUNG
  • DAUNT
  • STINK
  • MIDST

Quordle answers: The past 20

  • Quordle #895, Sunday 7 July: STEAM, STAID, SCOUR, WHERE
  • Quordle #894, Saturday 6 July: GRAIN, VIDEO, OLDER, FROCK
  • Quordle #893, Friday 5 July: SOGGY, SCRUM, TENOR, WIGHT
  • Quordle #892, Thursday 4 July: MIRTH, BLISS, SWUNG, MAUVE
  • Quordle #891, Wednesday 3 July: QUOTE, PLUMP, SINGE, SCOWL
  • Quordle #890, Tuesday 2 July: YACHT, LODGE, BELLY, COVET
  • Quordle #889, Monday 1 July: INCUR, MINTY, LIMIT, SYNOD
  • Quordle #888, Sunday 30 June: ALIBI, HYENA, NERVE, KNOWN
  • Quordle #887, Saturday 29 June: BASIL, PLAID, REMIT, SHEIK
  • Quordle #886, Friday 28 June: SCENE, PRIMO, MOGUL, OPIUM
  • Quordle #885, Thursday 27 June: MAXIM, DOWNY, ROUSE, ATOLL
  • Quordle #884, Wednesday 26 June: NORTH, LEVER, SERUM, SLATE
  • Quordle #883, Tuesday 25 June: APPLY, FUNKY, SWORE, TWEAK
  • Quordle #882, Monday 24 June: ANGER, SILKY, HURRY, ANODE
  • Quordle #881, Sunday 23 June: SPIED, DIZZY, ABUSE, POPPY
  • Quordle #880, Saturday 22 June: GROIN, STOVE, SHRUB, HARSH
  • Quordle #879, Friday 21 June: INDEX, CLUED, ORBIT, LOSER
  • Quordle #878, Thursday 20 June: DELVE, BEZEL, MAMMA, AZURE
  • Quordle #877, Wednesday 19 June: CELLO, PRIVY, HUMOR, PAPER
  • Quordle #876, Tuesday 18 June: ABYSS, OCTET, BEEFY, PUPAL