How a Strong Wordle Solve Unfolds, Turn by Turn
Do not chase the answer too early. When several words still fit, a guess that tests their distinguishing letters can be more valuable than a low-probability attempt to win immediately.
That field-splitting guess is sometimes called a burner or probe. It may not be a possible answer at all; its job is to test fresh, common letters and leave a much smaller shortlist for the next turn.
The openers guide compares first words. Here, the useful lesson is what happens after the opener.
How we tested this
We applied the same solver setup to 2,358 answers. It opens with ROATE, considers a limited Wordle guess list, then chooses the word expected to leave the fewest answers. These are examples from that strategy, not proof of the shortest possible route to every answer.
How the solver lines run
The current examples are listed turn by turn below. For ABATE, the route is ROATE → CLASP → ABATE. The guesses between the opener and answer test the letters that separate the remaining words.
The results are tight: 60 answers finish in two guesses, 1,095 in three, 1,127 in four, and 76 in five. The longest route is 5 guesses and the average is 3.52; 49.0% finish by turn three and 96.8% by turn four.
Many of the 76 five-turn games belong to trap families: groups such as _ATCH whose members share four letters. Those routes are difficult because several plausible answers differ in only one position.
| Answer | Guesses | Solver line |
|---|---|---|
| ABATE | 3 | ROATE → CLASP → ABATE |
| CRANE | 4 | ROATE → CRISP → ANVIL → CRANE |
| MUMMY | 4 | ROATE → SLIMY → BUDGE → MUMMY |
| WATCH | 5 | ROATE → CLINT → HUMPH → BATCH → WATCH |
| JAUNT | 5 | ROATE → CLINT → DOUGH → JETTY → JAUNT |
What to copy from it
List the plausible answers, identify the letters that separate them, then see whether one legal guess can test several at once. If only one or two answers remain, a direct attempt usually makes sense. If three or more near-matches remain and you can spare a row, compare them with a probe.
For example, if WATCH, BATCH and LATCH all fit, trying them one by one tests only one initial letter per turn. A word covering W, B and L can settle the choice at once. Some branches still took this solver five turns, but a fifth row on its own does not show that you played badly.
Compare candidate answers with field-splitting guesses.
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