This Is the Best First Word to Guess Every Day in Wordle
Published Jan. 10 2022, 4:15 p.m. ET
What started as a game for one man's partner has now become a widely popular daily word guessing game for many. Wordle gives the player six tries to guess a five-letter word once a day. There are no redos or second chances, just the opportunity once a day for word lovers to test their abilities.
Once you type your guess into Wordle, each letter will become one of three corresponding colors: gray meaning it's not included in the word, yellow indicating the letter is in the word but not in the correct spot, and green confirming the right letter is the in right place in the word.
Like we said, once your six guesses are up, the game is done for the day. So what's the best first word to guess to maximize your chance at getting it right?
Many players have found "adieu" is the best first word for the game.
With only six guesses to get the five-letter word of the day correct, every entry you make needs to be a strategical one. There's nothing more frustrating for a Wordle player than making your first guess and realizing none of the letters used in it are even in the word of the day.
This is why a lot of players have been trying to strategize their opening guess — avoiding repeating letters and testing as many vowels at once as possible.
Many players have discovered that "adieu" tends to be the best word to open the game with, as it uses four of the five vowels and helps quickly eliminate some of the commonly used letters.
Of course, you're not required to start the game off with this guess, and if you'd prefer to choose a different opening word, there are more than 12,000 five-letter words in the English language to pick from. But it is best to start with a vowel-heavy word.
From there, it's best to eliminate any of the most common consonants.
Another great strategy to implement is to work through some of the most commonly used consonants next, if you don't already have a good idea as to what the word may be (or it wasn't miraculously "adieu"). The top three most common consonants in the English language are R, S, and T. Depending on what letters from your first guess can carry over, you can really start narrowing down your inputs from here.
Once you've eliminated common words, you can begin to sift through some of the other, less common options you may consider. Since creator Josh Wardle said that there are only about 2,500 words in total being used in the game (and they aren't being repeated), you can also keep track of your previous answers (or look up previous answers online) and eliminate them from your daily guesses.
When in doubt (or when you only have one guess left with no idea what it could be), there are sites like WordTips that let you look up five-letter words with the letters you have. I wouldn't call it "cheating" — I would call it working smarter, not harder.
