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15 best Wordle starting words, according to math and science

Never see X/6 again.

by Robin Bea
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
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If you’ve been anywhere near the internet lately, you’ve seen plenty of Wordle. There are lots of competing theories on how to start your game right, the best of which use the power of science to get you a good score.

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According to experts, here are the 15 best opening words to use in Wordle.

15. Lance
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There’s a contradictory logic to Wordle guesses. You want common letter combinations, but if they’re too common, they won’t narrow down your options. The letters in LANCE are all frequently used, but in a rare enough combination to give you useful info.

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14. Soare
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Soare (an archaic word for “young hawk”) tops a lot of Wordle lists, due to lots of useful letter combinations. It’s ranked low here because it’s not on the official answer list, so you’ll never get that oh-so-satisfying 1/6 score.

Bites

#13

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BITES is one of our favorite Wordle guesses with... potentially spicy connotations. Like SOARE, it’s not an official answer, but it mixes common combinations with the less common B, which can point you toward rarer answers.

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12. Mount

Another spicy word that actually appears as a Wordle answer. MOUNT is helpful because of OU and NT, which appear in those combinations a lot, and are likely even in other spots.

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11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint
11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint
11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint 11. Saint
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Diversifying your guesses is important. While it’s missing more common letters like E, SAINT has frequently used letter combinations and works as a good followup to more likely guesses.

10. Crate
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The key to finding the best Wordle starting word is knowing that some letters are used much more than others in English. Every letter in CRATE is frequently used.

9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane
9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane
9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane 9. Crane
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Math YouTuber 3Brown1Blue proposed CRANE as the best starting word, before revealing the algorithm used to determine that was bugged. Even after fixing it, CRANE remained a top 10 word.

Sauce

#8

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You may be noticing another pattern here. Nearly every top Wordle starting word contains an E, the most used letter in the English language.

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7. Slate

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It’s not just individual letters you should look for, but also letter combinations. Combinations like SL, CR, and EA are pretty common.

6. Slice
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Letter placement is just as important as letter selection. Words ending in E are extremely common, so using one as your first word will either score you one correct letter or eliminate a huge number of possible answers.

5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert
5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert
5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert 5. Alert
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ALERT was chosen by an algorithm that picks words based on letter frequency. It combines some very common letter combinations with less frequent placements, making it good at getting correct letters and landing longshot placements.

4. Irate
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Irate is a linguist-approved word to start your Wordle game. It includes the top three vowels and the top two consonants, though it may take some work to get them into the right position.

3. Later
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Fewer words end with ER than with E, but it’s still a common enough combination to be worth a guess, and if it’s correct, it’ll greatly narrow down your possible solutions.

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2. Tears

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TEARS has lots of common letters in slightly less common positions. That means the chances of hitting letters in their proper positions is lower, but correct letters give lots of information about the answer.

Raise

#1

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RAISE contains some of the most used letters in English in a common configuration. It shows up on nearly every math and science-based Wordle breakdown, making it a very smart first pick.

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