If you spend your days thinking about different five-letter words, you might be a little addicted to the internet's favorite game. Wordle arrived on the scene in late 2021, and it quickly became a global sensation. In fact, many of us have been playing the popular word game daily since then. But whether you're a loyal player or you're just getting started, you can always work on improving your Wordle strategy. Read on for seven Wordle tips and tricks that will help you win every time.
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1 | Test your guesses on a piece of paper.
iStockWhen you're staring at the screen trying to figure out where everything goes, Wordle can end up looking like nothing more than a jumble of random letters. To solve this, pull out some paper! There are no rules against it, and it's an easy way to work things out without using up your guesses, says Troy Portillo, director of operations for the online learning platform Studypool.
"Writing down your guesses on a sheet of paper will help you get much farther in the game without wasting all your guesses—especially if you're new to the game," Portillo says.
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2 | Use the letter X as a placeholder.
iStockIf taking tries off-screen feels a little like cheating to you, there are Wordle tips that can help you visualize things better without the use of paper. For instance, Niklas Göke, lifestyle coach, writer, and founder of Four Minute Books, recommends using the letter X as a placeholder in the missing letter gaps.
"This simple trick helps you see more clearly the letters that you have in a clearer format," he explains. "It's a bit like setting a bookmark in the middle of a mystery novel, helping you keep track of your guesses and potential words."
3 | Start with a word that has a lot of vowels.
ShutterstockMaking the first guess count is super important in Wordle. But how do you do that? Keep your attention on the A-E-I-O-U (and sometimes Y) of it all, and start with a word that has a lot of vowels, according to Göke.
"The English language has more words with at least one vowel than without, so a focus on vowels can be, quite literally, a game changer," he notes.
Lucas Wyland, a game developer and founder of the game analysts platform Seambase, says the most used vowel is E, followed by A.
"And usually, most words have a vowel in the second or third place," he adds.
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4 | Use common consonants.
iStockOf course, it's not all about the vowels. After all, you're more likely to find a five-letter word with no vowels than you are to find a five-letter word with no consonants. But because there are so many more non-vowel letters out there, it's important to focus on the most common consonants first, according to John Adams, a language expert and content strategist at Word Finder.
"R, L, S, N, and M are all prevalent consonants that will guarantee you have the best chance possible with your guesses," Adams says. "Though consonants like Q and X are possible to locate in the Wordle phrase, they are uncommon."
5 | Start with the same word every time.
ShutterstockMany of us choose a new five-letter word to start out with daily, but there's no rule that says you can't use the same first word for every Wordle game. Even though it may sound counterintuitive, it could actually help you get better over time, according to Göke.
"Starting the game with the same word gives you consistency intel—like which letters often appear and where," he explains. "So you can certainly up your chances with this trick."
6 | Make your first two guesses very different.
ShutterstockOnce some of the tiles turn green or yellow with the first Wordle guess, most of us naturally try to figure out how to incorporate those letters into our second guess. But what if you tried doing the opposite? Picking two very different words for the first two lines is actually a Wordle tip The New York Times (which owns the popular internet game) recommends on its website.
While this will ensure that you won't get the word right in just two tries, it may increase your chances of getting it right before your six guesses are up. That's because following your first guess with a word that contains all different letters helps with the process of elimination.
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7 | Don't be afraid to use the same letter twice.
ShutterstockIf you were one of the millions who got bested when the Wordle answer was "KNOLL," this tip might save your game.
"You can use the same letter multiple times, because the word may use it several times," Wyland explains. So don't ignore the tiles that have turned green, and remember to watch out for letters that might show up more than once.
