In my opinion the best start word for Wordle is SLATE. However, if you are going to use SLATE, then it is worth understanding why, and what you should do based upon the feedback Wordle gives you after you’ve pressed <enter>.
To this end, you may wish to watch my video, for which I’ve included a link to below, or simply carry on reading.
To inform this post, I applied business analytics techniques to the dictionary of valid Wordle solutions to better understand the best start word for Wordle. Key learning points include:
- S is by far the most frequent start letter
- E is the most frequent end letter, followed by Y
- A is the most frequent 2nd and 3rd letter and E the 4th
The video also explores the next most frequent letters and pairings of letters that appear consecutively such as ST, SH, CL etc.
The ability to analyse data is a reasonably common skill. Less common is the ability to present conclusions and the underpinning analysis in a way that gets the message across (Insight) and to then understand how these conclusions can be used to drive better decisions (acumen). The insight with acumen here is what to do depending on what Wordle tells you after you have entered SLATE. For example,
- If S is green and T is in the wrong place, clearly ST would be a strong possibility on the 2nd attempt
- If S is yellow, then position 4 is the next most common place for S to provide, so try that if possible
- If if E is in the word but not last, try 4th spot and add R, as R is a frequently used letter and ER a common pairing at the end of words
- If E is not in the word, then try Y at the end, as over 34% of all words end in E or Y
- SLATE is slightly better than STALE as T is very unlikely to be the 2nd letter unless it is after S, and L quite often occurs after C, B or P which are common first letters
Before using this strategy, I was averaging a shade over 4 attempts to guess the Wordle solution. Since applying this “insight with acumen” I’ve not taken more than 4 attempts.
Good luck – let me know if it works for you!
Hi
Well today’s word was PARTY. How did SLATE help? Well I only got one letter in the right place (T) and one in the wrong place (A). Knowing that E wasn’t in the solution, I thought I would try Y as the last letter, giving me a plausible TY ending. Then I thought A is the most common 2nd letter so that gave me *A*TY. R is a very common letter, and P is the 5th most common first letter. So PARTY was strategically a good fit – and turned out to be the correct answer.
Wordle solution in 2 attempts despite only 1 green and 1 yellow from the first attempt. Insights with Acumen does work!!!