Looking for Some Wordle Help? Try These Tips

Wordle has taken the world by storm. But succeeding at this online game is harder than you might think. If you’re feeling fed up after repeatedly not guessing the right word, we can help. 

Understand the Basics

Wordle players only have six tries to enter the correct five-letter word. That limited window for success makes it necessary to understand the rules before trying to play. Winning Wordle requires guessing the word in six tries or less. 

However, the game uses a color-coded system to tell you if some letters in an incorrectly guessed word are in the winning one. 

If the letters turn green as they fill the boxes with your guessed word, that’s the best outcome besides a win. It means the letters you typed are in the word, and in the same position. Perhaps you inputted the word “house,” but the day’s winning word is “hours.” In that example, the first three letters would turn green, telling you that the correct word begins with “hou.”

The S in your guessed word would also turn yellow. It means that letter is in the correct word but in a different position than the word you tried. Finally, the E in your guessed word would turn red, telling you the winning word doesn’t contain it. 

Those different colors help you narrow down the possibilities with each guess made. That way, you’re not randomly trying options while running out of attempts. 

You can only play Wordle once per day. That means you must use those six provided attempts wisely! 

Be Strategic With Your First Guess

The first Wordle guess is important because it can provide you with an informational framework for future attempts. However, people have different approaches to choosing their first Wordle words. 

For example, Bill Gates likes going with a word that has lots of vowels. That makes sense since the winning guess must have at least one vowel. Elsewhere, MIT researchers determined that “salet” was the best starting word to use. It’s a small room for visiting with guests, or an alternative spelling of a helmet used in Europe during the 15th century. 

The researchers even said that by playing “salet” as your first word and being strategic during the rest of the game, you have a good chance of winning the game within five guesses. That’s pretty impressive if you don’t even need to use the final attempt. 

Consider Getting Wordle Help With Small Hints

Many media outlets publish Wordle hints each day as the word changes. For example, the hints might tell you the starting letter or give you a crossword-type clue about the entire word.

However, try not to get too tempted by that kind of Wordle help unless you get frustrated to the point of no longer having fun. After all, the goal of the game is to exercise your brain in an enjoyable way and encourage you to think harder about the possibilities than you otherwise might.

Another option is to make guesses yourself first, then enter relevant prompts into Google. For example, you might type “5-letter words ending with oy.” Doing that could give you ideas of words you hadn’t considered. 

We live in a society where people love near-instant gratification. Using Wordle hints could help you get past a stumbling block. However, you should avoid using them as a crutch that lets you avoid having to use your thinking skills. 

Use the WordleBot

A software engineer named Josh Wardle created Wordle because his partner loves word games, and he wanted to make a new one for her. However, he eventually sold the game to The New York Times, its current owner. 

You don’t need a subscription to the newspaper to play the game. However, the newspaper’s CEO credited Wordle for generating tens of millions of new subscribers. That was partially because people got interested in Wordle, but then decided to check out the newspaper’s other digital games. 

Employees of The New York Times capitalized on the game’s success and people’s interest in it by creating the WordleBot tool. It knows all the 2,309 possible Wordle words. The tool can also analyze your completed Wordle puzzles and advise you on each guess. 

The WordleBot is a browser-based tool, making it easy to use. You can also upload screenshots of your Wordle attempts. That’s a great way to see if your skills have improved over time. The default setting for the WordleBot will only give you Wordle help for the most recent attempts at your six guesses. However, if you upload a screenshot of earlier efforts, it can assist with those, too. 

Don’t Reuse Words

Maybe you’ve kept a list of all the winning words so far. In that case, you probably shouldn’t try entering one of them again. That’s because Wordle has not used words twice. That could change, but for now, it’s best practice to input something that has not yet been a winning word. 

Some people have tried to increase their chances of success by memorizing lists of previously used words. However, since there have been hundreds, that’s probably not the best use of your time. 

However, the English language has a finite number of five-letter words. That means the people overseeing Wordle may change how it works if they want to keep it running longer. For now, though, the best practice is not to use words you know have previously been the winning ones. 

Test Your Guesses on Paper First 

Using your phone to play games is convenient, but it has a downside. You might enter a word and accidentally submit it, wasting one of your guesses. That’s why another best practice for Wordle help is to jot your guesses on paper first. Analyze them there first before typing them into the game. 

That’s also an easy way to narrow down your options if you’re having trouble deciding which one of multiple words to enter. Relatedly, now is a great time to remind you that Wordle games are not races. You might feel tempted to enter each of your six guesses within a couple of minutes. However, there’s no need to push yourself to be speedy. In fact, you may find yourself less in need of additional Wordle help by merely taking your time.

Play Wordle Every Day

The tips you’ve just learned should give you enough Wordle help to feel confident about choosing specific words rather than randomly entering your guesses. The final thing to strongly consider doing is playing Wordle daily. 

Don’t become too concerned about when you can’t guess the word in six attempts. You should find your success rate going up with practice, which should be ample encouragement to get you to keep going.