Wordle is the internet’s new collective obsession. A very simple game with a new daily puzzle for you to solve. Anyone can play by hopping onto the official Wordle site here. The game is deceptively simple. You have to guess a 5-letter word in 6 attempts or less. If a letter appears in green, then you’ve correctly guessed the location of the letter. If a letter appears in yellow, then you’ve guessed a correct letter, but not the correct location. That’s really all there is to it.
You don’t need to be a math wiz to understand that letters in the English language are more likely to appear in words than others. You’re going to have a lot more “E”s and a lot less “Z”s — that’s common sense. But, you might not know that using certain words can cover almost all your bases as for letters. By utilizing a simple set of words as your first three guesses, you’ll almost always collect (most) of the letters you need. Unless Wordle has beaten the odds and chosen a 5-letter word with multiple “Q”s, “X”s and “J”s, then these starting words will always put you on the right track toward victory.
This does take some of the fun out of Wordle. If you don’t want to spoil the game, you might want to turn back now.
Three Magic Words To Make Wordle Much Easier To Solve
After doing some quick calculations (and looking up which letters are used most commonly in English) we can extrapolate a very simple strategy — for your first three words, guess three words that cover as many bases as possible. We’ll want words that don’t reuse the same letters and use letters where they’ll most commonly be found. For example: vowels are much more likely to appear as the second / fourth letter.
In Wordle, three things will happen when you guess a word. The letters will be highlighted in one of three ways.
- Green: The letter is in the solution and in the correct spot.
- Yellow: The letter is in the solution but not in the correct spot.
- Gray: The letter is NOT in the solution.
When a letter is grayed out, you’ll want to avoid using it in any words. Each time you use a gray word, you’re wasting a potential new letter discovery. Stick to using letters you haven’t yet used and thinking of words with any Green / Yellow discoveries. This is all very basic. Now, let’s get to the best words to start your puzzle with.
Best Words To Start With On Wordle
To check as many letters as possible, you’ll want to use words with the most common letters. Vowels, “Ts”, “H”s and “R”s are the most common. Start with these guesses — if you score ridiculously well after one or two, you can focus on solving.
Note: These words are based on useful community suggestions!
- Set #1:
- Laser
- Mound
- Pitch
- Set #2:
- Ducky
- Point
- Reals
- And More Good Starting Words:
- Adieu
- Ocean
- Cores
- Irate
- Oater
- Words
And that covers many, many words you can start with in Wordle that will knock out at least a few letters. There’s no prize for winning at World, just a sense of smug accomplishment you can hold over others. I’m lucky if I solve in 4 guesses. If you’re able to get it in 3, then maybe you do deserve a medal.