Wordle offers simplistic but often mind-boggling word puzzles for you to solve daily. If, like everyone else, you're addicted to the game, you might wonder how you can improve your Wordle strategy and score.
There are several Worldle strategies you can employ to get a better score and achieve a consistent run of successful puzzle-solving. Some might be more obvious than others, but use these hints and tips, and you'll be the reigning Wordle champ in no time...
1. Don't Try to Guess the Word on Your First Turn
To successfully solve a Wordle puzzle, you need to employ a strategy. Don't just go in all guns blazing without considering your options first. Logic should be your go-to when you play a game of Wordle.
There are thousands of potential solutions to Wordle, so the likelihood that you'll guess it in one go is slim to none. Instead, treat your first word as a sacrificial word; this is the first step in your strategy to beat Wordle with a better score, as you're not wasting your first turn. Narrow it down and make it easier to guess.
2. Your First Guess Should Contain "Popular" Letters
With the above in mind, the best option when selecting your first sacrificial word is to select one with popular letters or one with several vowels, such as TEARS, ADIEU, or AUDIO.
Since there are just five vowels in the English alphabet, starting your game with a word that contains as many vowels as possible is a Wordle strategy that eliminates or confirms five of the most popular letters in the English language. This represents an excellent strategy to beat a trial-and-error word game. If you want a high score on Wordle, get those more statistically likely letters out of the way.
3. Use the Same First Word for Every Wordle Game
Now that you know to not guess the first word randomly and to eliminate or confirm the statistically likely letters, you should always use that same first word on your first turn. Incidentally, you can learn the best Wordle starting words to preserve your streak to improve your chances of success even further.
It makes sense to do this for the reasons given above. Using a sacrificial word with more popular letters gives you the best chance to solve the Wordle puzzle every time and potentially in fewer turns.
4. Take Time With Your Turns
So you've got your first word sorted. What do you do after that? Nothing. At least not for a few minutes. Don't forget that you've got 24 hours to find a successful solution, so pause for thought while you consider your next strategic step.
Consider what letters you have remaining to guess. Are there any words that jump out to you straight away, using successfully guessed/placed letters, or are there any likely letters you're yet to eliminate?
Narrow your options down mentally before committing to your second turn; you have plenty of time to agonize over those letters!
5. Test Your Guesses on a Piece of Paper
If you are struggling to play it out in your mind, instead of wasting your limited Wordle guesses of the day, you can grab a pen and piece of paper to try and map out the possibilities. Chances are, you got at least one green tile on your first attempt. If you did, write the letter(s) in the corresponding boxes on the paper while leaving the other tiles blank.
It's easier to fill in the missing bits from here without wasting guesses. It also makes it easier to move the letters in the yellow tiles around to find their correct boxes. Once you come up with a potential word, you can input it into Wordle and see if you are right. If you aren't, you at least know which letters you can eliminate from future guesses. Repeat the process on the piece of paper to improve your Wordle strategy.
6. Don't Be Afraid to Use the Same Letter Twice
BANAL and ABBEY are both examples of Wordle solutions. As you can see, they contain an example of the same letter appearing twice. So, just because you have one green A in your solution doesn't mean there won't be another.
When going through potential solutions in your head, don't forget that your green (or yellow) letter tile may replicate elsewhere in the solution with the same letter, so factor this into your mental alphabet aerobics or on your piece of paper.
7. Don't Forget the Less Popular Letters
We talked about using statistically popular letters during your first turn (or the first couple of turns if you employ the same strategy for your second go), but don't forget the less statistically popular letters, either.
You know them, the likes of Q, Z, and X, which everyone groans about when they fish them out of a Scrabble tile bag. If you are running low on potential likely letter/word options, don't gloss over words containing these awkward letters. QUERY was a solution that used a less popular letter.
8. Use the Clues From Previous Words in the Puzzle
Paying attention to and learning from clues is one of the productivity lessons you can learn from playing Wordle. If you have guessed with TEARS and got a green T and A, then it goes without saying that you would use the T and A in the same place for your next guess.
But it isn't as cut and dry as you might think. If you can't think of a word beginning with T, with A as the third letter, then you might guess with a completely different word to score some extra letters. Always use the clues from your previous guesswork in that puzzle. You'll eliminate more potential solutions, and you'll do it faster.
9. Remember Wordle Uses US Spellings
To an American reader, this won't matter, but for those who don't use US English, remembering that Wordle uses US spellings could make the difference between a broken or continued streak of successful solving.
This bamboozled literally every British English speller across the globe when Wordle used FAVOR as a solution to one of its puzzles, wiping out continuous runs worldwide in one fell swoop.
10. Just Cheat
If you can't think of a word that suits your remaining letters, green tiles, and yellow tiles, and your perfect run is that important to you, then you could just... cheat!
That's right; nothing is stopping you from using a word-finder website to find potential words and letters to guess with. Nobody is going to know! Alternatively, if you are already on your fourth or fifth guess, and you aren't getting closer to the word of the day, you could use another device or account to play using the clues you already know.
However, the satisfaction of Wordle comes from using your own wits to beat a puzzle. So while it may be tempting to cheat, you should at least try to beat it yourself before resorting to cheating.
11. Use Common Consonants
After using popular words such as TEARS and trying out the other vowels such as U, I, and O, your next task should be to use common consonants.
Common consonants such as R, L, S, N, and M will ensure you maximize your chances with your guesses. While you certainly can find that your Wordle word has less common consonants such as Q and X, these are few and far between.
12. Practice With Other Word Games
As they say, practice makes perfect. Loads of alternatives to Wordle allow you to play as many games as you want. Plus, there are many other great word games to play on Android and iPhone out there that you can use to bolster your vocabulary.
Ok, so it might not help you guess quicker, at least not directly, but the more five-letter words you know, the more you have in your arsenal for crunching through potential solutions in your head. In addition to playing other Wordle copycats, you also want to ensure you play Wordle every day. The more you play, the easier it is to come up with five-letter words or develop your own Wordle tips and tricks to help improve your score.
13. Check Your Statistics
You can check your Wordle statistics to see your score and guess statistics. Whether you start your guesses with the same word or mix it up every time, your guess statistics will inform how well your strategy is going for you and help you improve.
Your statistics can easily be found on your account and updated in real-time, meaning you can inform your strategy based on your statistics with no delay.
Now You Can Hopefully Get a Better Score on Wordle
The trick is accepting you're not going to guess the first word outright and then going from there. Word games are supposed to be challenging, but you can always cheat a little if you're struggling.
You'll find that the more you play, the more naturally words come to you. So, keep Wordling, and check out other Wordle-style games for that all-important practice!
