New Delhi, Aug. 16 -- a five-letter noun most players know only from old cookbooks, with two vowels, no repeated letters, and a C in the final position that almost nobody reaches early.

Three hints first, for anyone still working the grid.

The word starts with A and ends with C.

It contains exactly two vowels, in positions one and four, and no letter appears twice.

It is a noun from the kitchen: a clear savory jelly, set with gelatin from meat or fish stock, used to glaze a dish or to hold one in a mold.

The answer to Wordle #1884 is

ASPIC.

The word came into English from the French aspic, which also means asp, the snake. The usual explanation is that the finished dish, cloudy and mottled with whatever had been suspended in it, res...