Wordle strategy that actually works

The opener: coverage beats cleverness

Across all 8,636 valid five-letter words, the letters that appear in the largest share of words are S (46%), E (45%), A (40%), R (31%), O (29%), I (28%), L (25%), T (24%). A strong opener simply samples five of these at once: ARISE, RAISE, SLATE, CRANE and STARE all do the job. Pick one and stick with it; consistency makes your second-guess instincts sharper.

The second guess: probe, do not solve

The most common mistake is trying to win on guess two. Unless your opener lit up three or more tiles, use guess two to test five fresh letters. After RAISE, something like CLOUT or DONUT covers new ground. Two guesses of pure information nearly always beat one lucky stab plus three confused ones.

The endgame trap

The pattern that ends streaks is a solved back half with too many candidate first letters: _ATCH could be batch, catch, hatch, latch, match, patch or watch. With three guesses left, do not test them one at a time. Spend one guess on a word made of the candidate FIRST letters, like BLimp-style probes: CLAMP tests C, L and M at once. This is the one situation where guessing a word you know is wrong is the right play.

Duplicate letters are legal

Wordle uses doubles constantly (LEVEL, ROBOT, SASSY). If four letters are locked and nothing fits, ask whether a letter you already confirmed appears twice.

Tools when you want them

• The Wordle solver turns your clues into a ranked candidate list.
• Pattern lists like 5-letter words with A in the middle are useful when you would rather browse than be told.
• The full 5-letter word list settles any "is that a word" argument.