Providing free, online resources for learners, teachers, trainers and educators
Home | Anecdotes | Articles | Digital Products | Icebreakers | Programs | Quotations
Hints and Tips for Solving 'Wordle' Puzzles
For centuries, puzzles have provided entertainment and mental well-being. Wordle is one of the newest and most widely enjoyed word games.
Welsh software engineer Josh Wardle developed the game and released it to the public in 2021. The New York Times acquired the rights in 2022.
The game remained free and can be accessed either through the New York Times Games webpage or the New York Times Games app.
In the game, you have six attempts to guess a five-letter word. On each attempt, you:
- Enter a valid five-letter word. Letters can be reused.
- Click 'Enter'.
Wordle then provides feedback on your attempt by changing the tiles' colours.
- Green means the letter is correct and in the right spot.
- Yellow means the letter is in the word but in the wrong spot.
- Grey means the letter is not part of the word.
In the above example...
E and Y are part of the solution and are in the correct position; G is one of the solution's letters but isn't in the right position; H and D aren't part of the solution.
The keyboard's keys also change colour to match the feedback.
Wordle rereleases a new word at midnight local time.
Hints and tips
Many experts recommend that you start with a word that eliminates or verifies as many letters as possible.
I use high-score words when I start solving the puzzle to eliminate as many letters as possible.
A high-score word consists of letters that are frequently used in English words.
Below is a list of the top five letters:
| Rank | Letter |
|---|---|
| 1 | S |
| 2 | E |
| 3 | T |
| 4 | R |
| 5 | A |
The following are some of the words that can be made with these five letters:
ASTER
RATES
RESAT
STARE
TASER
TEARS
Many players recommend STARE, but you might want to use a word ending in S to check whether the word is plural or a third-person singular verb (e.g. she walks, he walks). Note that a word can still be plural even if it doesn't end in S.
It's also useful to have a backup word in case none of the letters in your first attempt are part of the solution.
Some people use a completely different word for their second attempt, even if some letters in the first attempt were part of the solution.
CLING is an example where every letter differs from STARE. This strategy increases your chances of solving the puzzle, but it reduces the probability of solving it in two, or possibly three, attempts.
Note: Other combinations are likely to be more efficient, and some valid words are not on the list of solution words.
A Python script that ranks all 26 letters of the alphabet is included in the Learning Pages GuessWord bundle.
You can download this bundle from the Programs section of Learning Pages Digital Products. Keep the scripts in the decompressed folder because all the bundle's scripts use data.py
I wouldn't recommend using duplicate letters on your first attempt, as it can hinder elimination.
If you get stuck, take a break and let your subconscious solve the puzzle.
Be careful with the words you enter because Wordle accepts some obscure words which are never the solution.
Please note that these hints and tips are based on my own limited experience and may not work for all solutions.