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Read each Wordle row as a set of combined constraints: green letters stay in place, yellow letters must move to a different position, and gray feedback rules out only the letter occurrences the answer does not contain. Track all three together—especially when a guess repeats a letter—to shrink the answer list and choose a more useful next guess.
What Wordle’s colors mean
The official licensed Wordle tabletop rules describe a game in which the player has six guesses. Their color logic is the same basic pattern players use to read Wordle clues: green means the letter is in the answer and in that position; yellow means it is in the answer but in another position; a letter left without a tile is not assigned to an answer occurrence. The rules state, “Place a green tile over any letter that is in the word and in the correct spot.” Official Wordle: The Party Game rules
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- Green: Keep that letter fixed in the same slot.
- Yellow: Keep the letter in your list of required letters, but forbid it from the slot where it appeared.
- Gray or unmarked: Treat the uncolored occurrence as not represented in the answer. If the letter also received green or yellow feedback in the same guess, do not conclude that all copies are absent.
Turn a row into constraints
Before choosing another word, translate the full row into a compact record of what the answer can and cannot contain. A yellow tile creates two constraints at once: the answer must include that letter, and it cannot be in the guessed position. Greens fix positions; grays and duplicate feedback help establish which letters, or how many copies, are possible.
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- Record yellows with their forbidden slots. For each yellow letter, note that it must appear somewhere else and mark the position it cannot occupy.
- Eliminate grays carefully. Cross out a gray letter only if no copy of it in that row received green or yellow feedback. A gray copy alongside a colored copy is a duplicate-count clue, not proof that the letter is absent.
- Count colored copies. If a repeated letter appears more times in the guess than it does in the answer, the extra guessed copy can remain uncolored. The official rules illustrate that one answer occurrence can produce a green tile for a correctly placed copy and an uncovered tile for the other; if both guessed copies are misplaced, only one may be yellow.
- Check candidate words against the whole row. A possible answer must satisfy every fixed position, required letter, forbidden position, and supported letter count at once.
Why repeated letters need special care
Wordle feedback is not a simple yes-or-no check for each letter. A word can contain two copies of a letter while the answer contains only one. In that case, one guessed copy may be colored and the other gray or unmarked. The colored copy confirms the letter is present; the extra uncolored copy warns against assuming the answer contains as many copies as the guess.
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Use the number of colored copies to set a minimum count. When a repeated guess produces both a colored and an uncolored copy of the same letter, that pattern can also indicate that the answer has fewer copies than the guess. For example, one yellow and one gray copy establish that at least one occurrence belongs in the answer, while the gray duplicate is not another confirmed occurrence. Apply the position clues from any colored copies as well.
Choose the next guess: solve or probe
A guess can aim to win immediately or to learn enough to make the following guess decisive. The better choice depends on how many plausible answers remain and on the active mode.
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When many answers remain
Consider a probe word that tests several common letters you have not tried yet. This can help distinguish candidate answers, but do not sacrifice known constraints: any guess should preserve required greens and respect the rules of the mode you selected. If a probe violates revealed clues, it may not be a valid option in Hard Mode.
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Compare the candidates directly. A likely answer is a strong choice when it could solve now. If no candidate stands out, a word that tests letters on which the remaining candidates differ can reveal which answer fits. Prefer a probe whose possible feedback separates the list, rather than one that repeats information you already have.
How much to rely on opener advice
An independent NYT Game Solver strategy guide recommends opening with five distinct common letters and using a second guess to test new letters. That is a strategy, not an official NYT rule, and it should not override information already revealed by the board. The same guide describes Hard Mode as requiring players to use revealed hints in later guesses. NYT Game Solver strategy guide
There is no universal opener or guarantee of a win. Once colors appear, the useful question is whether a guess tests unresolved possibilities while obeying the clues—not whether it follows a fixed opening formula.
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What published solver numbers do—and do not—show
A 2022 paper by Chao-Lin Liu reports that its best-performing strategy averaged 3.674 guesses and left 0.65% of words unsolved in a simulation over a then-current 2,315-word answer set. The paper’s baseline simulator averaged 4.078 guesses and exceeded six trials for 1.77% of that set. These results compare strategies under the paper’s specified simulator and answer list; they are not a prediction or guarantee for current NYT Wordle or for ordinary players. Chao-Lin Liu’s 2022 study
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A compact routine for every guess
- Write the answer pattern with green letters fixed.
- List each yellow letter and the slot it cannot occupy.
- Remove fully gray letters, but retain a letter that also received colored feedback.
- Use repeated-letter feedback to track minimum or possible maximum counts.
- Choose an answer guess or a probe based on how many candidates remain and which distinctions matter.
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