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To solve Wordle in fewer guesses, make each guess do a job: start with several distinct, common letters, then use the color feedback to narrow the answer set while respecting every known position. There is no universally best opening word; the strongest choice depends on the answer list, whether you value average or worst-case results, and whether you play Hard Mode.
What is the best word to start Wordle?
There is no single word that is best for every player or every strategy. A useful opener tests several common letters without wasting slots on duplicates. Familiar choices include SLATE, CRANE, TRACE, STARE, and ADIEU, but none guarantees a lower score for everyone.
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The rankings change with the goal and the model. A word can be strong for reducing the expected number of guesses yet less attractive if you prioritize the chance of solving immediately, protection against the most difficult feedback pattern, or a word you can remember and use consistently.
For a precise example, Dimitris Bertsimas and Alex Paskov’s exact dynamic-programming analysis found SALET best for its modeled game. Starting with SALET, their solver averaged 3.421 guesses and solved every modeled hidden word in at most five guesses. These are results for that paper’s exact setup, not a guaranteed score in the current live New York Times game. Read the paper in Operations Research.
#1 Best Overall
Other recommendations reflect different methods. A September 2, 2026 Tom’s Guide snapshot ranks SOARE, ROATE, and RAISE highly under its letter-scoring analysis; it notes that ROATE was not in the answer set considered and presents RAISE as an option that can still be a possible answer. The same article reports WordleBot recommendations including SLATE, CRANE, and TRACE, and notes that those recommendations have changed over time. Its results are model- and date-specific, not official NYT rules. See the dated Tom’s Guide analysis.
When comparing openers, consider what you are optimizing rather than treating a ranking as universal:
Rank #2
- Average guesses: How many turns the method takes across the modeled answer set.
- Worst-case reliability: How well it handles the feedback pattern that leaves the most difficult remaining candidates.
- Information: How effectively a guess divides possible answers across different feedback patterns.
- Answer likelihood: Whether the method weights some possible answers as more likely than others.
- Answer eligibility: Whether the opening word itself can be the hidden answer.
- Mode and usability: Whether Hard Mode constraints apply, and whether you can comfortably remember and reuse the word.
How do I solve Wordle in fewer guesses?
The standard game asks you to find a five-letter daily word in six tries. Spend early guesses learning about the answer, but switch from broad testing to targeted solving as soon as the feedback makes the remaining candidates manageable. The New York Times’ 2022 report quoted player Chris Rand on the value of the second guess: “For me, Wordle is largely about how much information is collected on the second guess.” That is one player’s perspective, but it captures a useful strategic question.
1. Open with distinct, common letters
Pick a playable word that covers several common letters and avoids needless repetition. If you prefer a familiar opener such as SLATE or CRANE, sticking with it can make it easier to apply the same feedback-reading process every day. The 2026 Tom’s Guide analysis calculated E, A, R, O, and T as its five most frequent answer letters, with respective frequencies of 53.3%, 42.2%, 38.8%, 32.6%, and 31.6% in the answer set used for that analysis. Those are source-specific calculations, not official current NYT statistics.
2. Treat every color as a constraint
A green tile fixes a letter in that position. A yellow tile means the letter is in the answer but must go in a different position. Gray feedback can rule out a letter, but repeated-letter situations require care: do not assume a gray tile always proves that letter is absent if another copy of it appears in the same guess. Keep duplicate-letter candidates in consideration unless the clues rule them out.
3. Make the second guess earn its turn
Use the first row to decide whether you need more information or are ready to solve. If it reveals little, a complementary second word can test untried common letters and, where useful, missing vowels. Keep every confirmed green in place and move each yellow to a different position. In the easier mode, a probe that is unlikely to be the answer can still be useful if it separates many remaining possibilities; in Hard Mode, revealed clues constrain which guesses you can make.
Rank #4
Historical player behavior illustrates that many people value a consistent opener without proving that any one word is optimal. In data covering June 15 through August 22, 2022, the NYT reported that 28% of players who had played more than 10 games used the same opening word at least 90% of the time; ADIEU was used in 5% of games on average each day. The report drew on tens of millions of players, but it is a snapshot from 2022 rather than a current measure of play.
4. Stop probing once the candidates are narrow
When only a few plausible answers remain and they share a pattern, choose a guess that distinguishes among those answers. Another broad letter-coverage probe may waste a turn if it cannot help you identify which candidate is correct. The aim changes from learning about many possibilities to separating the specific possibilities left.
Best Value
5. Keep the mode and goal in view
Hard Mode changes the decision problem because clues you have revealed constrain later guesses. A probe that might be useful in easier mode may not be available if it fails to honor those clues. Comparisons should therefore identify the mode as well as the objective: minimizing average guesses, reducing the worst-case number of turns, maximizing quick-solve chances, or choosing a human-friendly routine are different goals.
A separate 2022 preprint by Chao-Lin Liu simulated a strategy on a 2,315-answer set. That specified strategy averaged 3.674 guesses and failed 0.65% of the time; its baseline averaged 4.078 guesses and needed more than six trials 1.77% of the time. These are simulator results on an older answer set, not current player outcomes or performance guarantees. Read the preprint.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why a strong opener cannot guarantee a low score
Wordle’s feedback determines what a guess teaches you, and different answers can produce very different amounts of information. Two words that rank closely in one analysis may lead to different outcomes on a particular puzzle. The objective matters too: the word that minimizes an average across a modeled answer list need not be the one that protects best against the toughest branch or feels easiest to play consistently.
That distinction is visible in the recommendations themselves. The exact model in the Bertsimas and Paskov paper identifies SALET for its setup, while WordleBot and other analyses have offered different words. In the NYT’s 2022 report, WordleBot co-creator Matthew Conlen said of CRANE and SLATE: “I think either makes for a great starting word. The difference between best and second-best is tiny.” His comment concerned those two choices at that time; it is not a current official ranking.
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