Guide · 7 min read
Wordle Strategy Guide
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Wordle Strategy: How to Solve It in Three Guesses
Wordle rewards a specific kind of discipline: spending early guesses on information rather than on plausible answers. Once that clicks, three-guess solves stop being luck.
Pick an opener that tests common letters
A good first guess has nothing to do with the odds of being correct, which are always negligible. It has to do with how much the result narrows the field. CRANE, SLATE, RAISE, TRACE and ADIEU all work well because they pack high-frequency letters and two or three vowels into one guess.
Any word covering five common letters is close enough to optimal. Arguing about which is best is a much smaller effect than what you do on turns two and three.
Guess for information, not for the win
The critical habit is being willing to play a word that cannot possibly be the answer. If five candidates remain and they differ only in their third letter, a guess containing several of those letters — even one that is definitely wrong — will identify the answer outright. Guessing candidates one at a time is how four-guess solves become six-guess failures.
Early on, maximise elimination. Late on, choose the guess that splits the remaining candidates most evenly.
Watch for repeated letters
Doubled letters end more streaks than any other pattern. Most players unconsciously assume five distinct letters, and when the clues stop making sense that assumption is usually why.
If you have confirmed several positions and nothing fits, deliberately test a repeat. Words like ABBEY, FLUFF, SASSY and MUMMY are easy to overlook by eye and easy to find with a solver once you know to look.
Do not waste guesses re-testing dead letters
Including a letter you have already ruled out wastes a position that could have carried new information. It is the most common unforced error in the game, and it happens most often when players fixate on a word they like the look of rather than on what remains untested.
Hard mode changes the calculus
Hard mode forces you to reuse every revealed clue, which removes the pure-information guess from your toolkit. That makes some positions genuinely unwinnable — if four candidates differ only in the first letter, you may simply have to guess.
The counter is to front-load information. In hard mode your opener and second guess matter far more, because they are the last moments when you are free to choose without constraint.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Wordle starting word?
CRANE, SLATE, RAISE, ADIEU and TRACE all perform well because they test several of the most common letters and two or three vowels at once. The specific choice matters far less than how you use guesses two and three.
Should I guess a word I know is wrong?
Often yes. If a deliberately wrong guess tests four untested letters and separates your remaining candidates, it is usually better than guessing candidates one at a time and hoping.
How do I handle repeated letters?
Suspect them whenever you have tested five distinct letters and the clues will not resolve. Enter what you know into a Wordle solver and it will surface doubled-letter candidates that are hard to see unaided.