Best starting words and tips to win word games

The best starting words

A great opener uses five different, frequent letters and splits the possible answers into as many different color patterns as possible — so whatever the tiles show, you've learned a lot. We scored common English words against all 671 answers of our daily puzzles; these came out on top:

1. TRACE — covers letters found in 95% of answers
2. SLATE — covers letters found in 93% of answers
3. ALERT — covers letters found in 96% of answers
4. CRANE — covers letters found in 93% of answers
5. HEART — covers letters found in 93% of answers
6. SHARE — covers letters found in 92% of answers
7. STARE — covers letters found in 94% of answers
8. SPARE — covers letters found in 90% of answers

The differences between the top openers are small. Pick one or two you like and use them consistently — knowing what each pattern means for your opener is worth more than a tiny statistical edge.

Letter frequency in 5-letter answers

How often each letter appears in our daily answers, and where it most likely sits. Use it when you have to choose between two candidate words: go for the one with the more common untested letters.

Ten tips that actually win games

1. Never repeat a gray letter. It sounds obvious, but under time pressure it's the most common mistake.
2. Move yellows. A yellow letter is in the word but not in that spot — try it somewhere new every guess.
3. Remember the common endings: -ER, -ED, -LY, -CH, -SH, -TH, -ST, -NT, -GHT. Many words share them.
4. Look out for doubled letters once the common letters run out: SPEED, APPLE, HAPPY, FLOOR.
5. Beware the "trap" families. _IGHT, _OUND, _ATCH or _ILL each have many answers. If you're stuck with four greens, spend a guess testing several first letters at once (e.g. FLASH to test F, L and S) instead of guessing them one by one.
6. Use the theme. In duels the theme stays on screen. "Food" + _ _ _ _ E narrows things down fast.
7. Word length changes strategy. With 4 letters there are many similar words, so prefer probing guesses. With 6–7 letters, look for prefixes and suffixes.
8. In duels, speed breaks ties. If you're sure, type fast. If you're not, the extra guess costs more than ten seconds of thinking.
9. In Hearts, protect your hearts. With only 3 tries per word, read the clue twice and avoid wild guesses.
10. Save hints for the hard ones. A revealed letter is most valuable on long words and on the last word of a Hearts match.

Duel tactics

In a 1v1 word duel you're not just solving — you're racing. You can see how your rival's board colors up, so use it:

• If your rival has four greens on guess two, a quick probing guess won't save you — go for the most likely word.
• If your rival is struggling, play safe; solving in one more guess than them still loses, but solving at all may win.
• In Open Book, watch what they type. A word they played is locked for you, but their yellows are your yellows too.

Practice makes perfect

The fastest way to improve is daily practice: solve the Word of the Day, challenge yourself with the Word of the Week, and play a few duels to test your speed.

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