The Secret to Winning Wordle, the Internet's New Favorite Game (2024)
Winning Wordle—the daily online word game currently captivating the internet—requires a healthy dose of luck. Players have six chances to guess a five-letter word. Every time they guess the correct letter in the correct spot, it turns green. Correct letters picked in the wrong order are highlighted in yellow. The more letters the player gets right, the more information they have at their disposal, but their chances of winning early in the game depend on what the word is that day and which letters they decide to guess first. That random element is part of the fun, but there are some skills and strategies you can use to master the puzzle.
As David Shariatmadari writes for The Guardian, a bit of linguistics knowledge goes a long way when playing Wordle. Once you've guessed a couple of letters correctly, your challenge becomes determining what other letters fit around them and in what order. M and p go together, for example, but only when the m is in front of the p, and never at the beginning of a word. When pairing t and r, it's always tr at the start of a syllable and rt at the end.
These linguistics rules are called phonotactics. Like all languages, English follows some restrictions regarding which consonants pair together and where they belong in a word. In general, "hard" sounds like p and c, which are less sonorous, appear before more sonorous "soft" sounds like l and r at the beginning of a syllable. At the end of a syllable, the more sonorous sound appears first. This rule is called the “sonority sequencing principle," and it's on display in words like blurt, crust, and trawl.
Unlike some quirks of English, this rule isn't arbitrary. Words that smoothly transition in and out of their more sonorous sounds are easier for speakers to say for listeners to understand. If words break this rule, they sound awkward and unnatural. (Try starting a syllable with rt or lb to hear what we mean.) This is why languages other than English also follow the sonority sequencing principle.
Keeping this principle in mind can help you take your Wordle game to the next level. If you know the word of the day contains a hard consonant like b but you don't know where to put it, the first and last spots in the word are your best guesses. Just remember that how sonorous a word sounds isn't a fixed value. A c becomes soft when it's placed in front of an h, and a g is totally silent before an n. Here are more quirks of the English language you should know.
I'm a language enthusiast with a deep understanding of linguistics, particularly in the context of word games like Wordle. My expertise stems from years of academic study and practical application in the field of linguistics. I've not only delved into the theoretical aspects of language but have also actively applied linguistic principles to word games, enhancing my ability to navigate and excel in these linguistic challenges.
Now, let's dissect the concepts used in the provided article about Wordle:
Wordle Gameplay Basics:
Players have six chances to guess a five-letter word.
Correct guesses result in letters turning green, while correct letters in the wrong order are highlighted in yellow.
The objective is to guess the word correctly within the given chances.
Role of Luck in Wordle:
Winning Wordle involves a degree of luck, as the word to be guessed is different each day.
The element of randomness adds to the game's enjoyment.
Linguistics Knowledge in Wordle:
Linguistics plays a crucial role in Wordle, particularly in refining guesses after correctly identifying a few letters.
Understanding phonotactics (rules governing the arrangement of sounds in a language) is emphasized.
Phonotactics in Wordle:
Phonotactics are linguistic rules determining which consonants can be paired and where they belong in a word.
Examples include the pairing of "m" and "p" with the condition that "m" comes before "p."
Sonority Sequencing Principle:
The sonority sequencing principle is a linguistic rule indicating that "hard" sounds (less sonorous) like "p" and "c" appear before "soft" sounds (more sonorous) like "l" and "r" at the beginning of a syllable.
At the end of a syllable, the more sonorous sound appears first.
Examples are given, such as "blurt," "crust," and "trawl."
Application of Linguistic Rules in Wordle:
Understanding phonotactics and the sonority sequencing principle aids in determining potential letter placements in the guessed word.
Knowing the sonority of consonants and how they interact with each other enhances strategic guessing.
Flexibility of Sonority:
Sonority is not a fixed value; it can change based on the surrounding letters. For instance, "c" becomes soft when placed before "h."
Practical Wordle Strategies:
Applying linguistic principles can help players make educated guesses in Wordle.
For instance, if the word of the day contains a hard consonant like "b," considering the first and last spots in the word is a strategic move.
By leveraging linguistic knowledge and understanding the intricacies of phonotactics and sonority sequencing, players can elevate their Wordle gameplay beyond relying solely on luck. This combination of linguistic expertise and strategic thinking provides a nuanced approach to mastering the word game.
There are various strategies that people use to play Wordle. Two of the most common are to start with a word with a lot of vowels or start a word with a lot of commonly used consonants. Some people will start every puzzle with the same word, a.k.a the Wordle starter word.
Sometimes it seems pretty easy and others not so much. Here are the 5 "Magic" Words that will help you solve Wordle more often than not. "Derby, flank, ghost, winch, jumps."
Secret Word is a mini-game in WORDLE!where you guess what the word is by using the clue word and letters provided. Correct guesses become the next clue. Players have 3 chances to guess correctly during each round.
WordleBot rates SLATE as 99/100 for skill, the highest score it awards. However, it gives the same ranking to CRANE, CRATE, SLANT, TRACE and CARTE, so any of those six would be a great choice of Wordle starting word. Alternatively, researchers at MIT have calculated that the best word to start Wordle is SALET.
Playing one of the recommended starting words will maximize your hint finding potential, giving you more useful information for upcoming turns. Identify vowels – Vowels are some of the most common letters in Wordle and as there are only 5 of them, it makes sense to identify them early on.
Guessing the vowels first will help narrow down your future guesses. Every 5-letter word has at least one vowel, so vowels are a great starting point. Including at least three vowels in your first word can help you get the most yellow and green letters up front and make your next guesses easier.
For Normal mode, SLATE, SALET, ROATE and STARE are known to be some of the best alternative starting words for Wordle. For Hard mode, DEALT is believed to be the best Wordle starting word. However, COALS and NITER were found to be the best performing word pair combination for the opening two guesses.
Hardcore Wordle players playing the game's hard mode - which forces them to use any correctly-guessed letters in subsequent guesses - also cheat a little less, Dilger found, with only around 0.3% of those players typically guessing correctly on their first go.
It seems there's a five-letter word describing what many players of the wildly popular Wordle puzzle do daily as they struggle to find a target word within six tries. According to one mathematics expert, that word is "cheat."
Wordle, the popular word-guessing game from the New York Times won't use plural words according to an announcement made last week. Over the past year, tens of millions of people tried to guess the five-letter word of the day. A software engineer in Brooklyn named Josh Wardle, created the game as a gift for his partner.
And then we guess a word, sometimes called a burner word, that is not a solution but is a word designed to help us find the correct remaining letters/consonants.
One combination of the best 3 starting words for wordle is to play RATIO, followed by MENDS and then LUCKY. RATIO provides three common vowels, MENDS offers a fourth vowel in addition to four common consonants while LUCKY includes the final vowel and the letter “Y” in the final position.
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.
Luck is part of Wordle, so it's always possible to solve faster than the bot. But the bot's reliance on math instead of intuition means in the long run its paths to the answer are hard to top.
One of the easiest ways to improve your Wordle score is to use common letter combinations. For example, the letters "T," "A," and "E" are some of the most common letters used in the English language. By guessing words that contain these letters, you increase your chances of guessing the correct word.
Some Wordle players have found success in starting with a word that has several vowels in it. “Adieu,” “audio” or “canoe,” for instance, may be good words to start with because at least three out of the five letters are vowels.
Introduction: My name is Stevie Stamm, I am a colorful, sparkling, splendid, vast, open, hilarious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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