How to be less bad at Wurdle: a strategy guide that actually works

I've been playing Wordle-style games every morning for about three years and I've been building one (Wurdle) on this site for a few months, which means I've also been looking at the actual letter-frequency data instead of just guessing what works. Most of the advice you read online is folklore. Some of it's true; some of it's wrong. Here's what I've found actually moves your average down.

Pick an opener that maxes out vowels and common consonants

In English, the most common letters are E, A, R, I, O, T, N, S, L, C. Your first guess should hit as many of those as possible. The classic high-information openers are CRANE, SLATE, CRATE, STARE, and RAISE. I personally use SLATE because every letter is top-ten frequency and there are no repeats. Repeats waste a slot.

Notice what these words have in common: three vowel slots covered (well, S-L-A-T-E covers two vowels but A and E are the two most common), and the consonants are S/L/T/R/N — all extremely common. You will average roughly two green or yellow squares from this kind of opener, which sets up a very solvable board.

Use your second guess to clear the other common letters, not to commit

The most common mistake new players make is using their second guess to try to win. If your opener was SLATE and you got nothing back, your second guess should be another high-information word like CORNY or POUND, not a Hail-Mary like "GHOST" because you have a feeling. After two well-chosen guesses you've tested roughly half of all common English letters. Now you can commit.

The vowel rule

If after two guesses you still don't know any vowels, your third guess should be all vowels. Words like OUIJA, ADIEU, or AUDIO. This is the only situation where I recommend a low-frequency-consonant word. You can't solve the puzzle without knowing the vowels.

Yellow letters: position matters more than you think

When a letter is yellow, you know it's in the word but not in that position. Don't just shove it into another random slot. Look at where the letter actually fits in English. If you have a yellow R in position 1 in a 5-letter word, R is much more likely to be in position 2 or 5 than position 4. Letter-position frequency is real. There are letter-frequency-by-position tables online; I have one taped to my monitor.

Don't guess your own name. Don't guess made-up words.

I have personally watched my teenager type "JOSIE" as a guess. It will never be the answer. The dictionary of valid Wordle answers is curated; proper nouns are not in it, and neither are extremely obscure words. If you're uncertain whether a word is in, it probably isn't. Save your guesses.

Common letters often double up

About 12% of five-letter English words have a repeated letter, and the repeat is almost always a common vowel (E, O) or L. If you've used four guesses and have only filled three positions, ask yourself: is there a repeat? Words like "LEVEL", "MOOSE", "PILLS", "NIECE" — they look unusual but they're not.

For Associations: read all sixteen tiles before guessing

This one is for Associations, not Wurdle, but the same family. The trap is that the obvious group is usually the misdirection. The puzzle setter knows you're going to spot CAT, DOG, FISH, BIRD and submit them as "pets." But one of those is in a different category — maybe FISH belongs with CHIPS, NEWSPAPER, and FRYER. Read everything before you guess. The yellow group is usually the hardest, the purple is usually a pun or wordplay.

Track your guesses

The single best way to get better is to write down your average. I went from a 4.6 to a 3.8 over six months just by paying attention. Look at the days you scored a 2 — what did your opener give you? Look at the days you lost — was there a moment you should have guessed all-vowels and didn't? You get better at noticing your own bad habits.

If you want to practice without the daily limit, Wurdle on this site is unlimited. Burn through ten in a row and you'll feel the difference.

— Chris