STARTING WORDS
Solving guide
Best Wordle starting words, ranked from our word list
Ten opening guesses that test the most common letters, ranked by how many words in our reference list share each letter.
A good first guess does one job: it tests letters that appear in as many possible answers as possible. We ranked every five-letter word in our reference list that uses five different letters by how often its letters occur across the whole list.
The most frequent letters in our reference list, by share of words that contain them:
S 44% · E 42.8% · A 42.1% · O 30.7% · R 29.9% · I 28% · L 23.4% · T 22.9%
- aeros37.9% letter coverage
- arose37.9% letter coverage
- soare37.9% letter coverage
- aesir37.4% letter coverage
- arise37.4% letter coverage
- raise37.4% letter coverage
- reais37.4% letter coverage
- serai37.4% letter coverage
- seria37.4% letter coverage
- aloes36.6% letter coverage
How to read this ranking
The score is a letter-coverage heuristic, not a proven optimum, and it is built from a broad reference dictionary rather than the game's official answer list. Treat it as a sensible default for guess one, not a guarantee.
After your first guess, enter the colors into the solver. It combines every row you have played and shows only the words that still fit.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Wordle strategy FAQs
What is the main takeaway from this Wordle guide?
Ten opening guesses that test the most common letters, ranked by how many words in our reference list share each letter.
Can I apply this technique to my own puzzle?
Yes. Enter the guesses you have already played and match each tile to its green, yellow or gray result in the Wordle Solver. The tool combines your feedback and shows five-letter candidates that satisfy the constraints.
How does the solver handle duplicate letters?
It evaluates exact green matches first, then counts remaining copies before assigning yellow matches. A gray duplicate can set an upper limit on how many times a letter may appear.
Where can I find today's hints and answer?
The daily Wordle newsroom publishes date-matched hints and a spoiler-controlled answer separately from evergreen strategy guides.