How to Choose Your Second Wordle Guess

There is no second guess that works after every Wordle opener. If your first row is mostly gray, test useful new letters. If it gives you green or yellow tiles, a strong follow-up may need to reuse those confirmed letters. The surviving words should decide the move.

The words that still obey every clue form your shortlist. A good information guess divides that shortlist into smaller groups, so the next feedback leaves fewer answers to consider.

These five branches after CRANE show why the same memorized follow-up cannot fit every result.

How we tested this

We analysed five representative CRANE results from the 243 theoretical colour patterns. For each result, the solver counted the possible answers and compared every word in the site's Wordle guess list. It chose the follow-up with the lowest average number of answers left after the next feedback.

Worked example: CRANE is all gray

1. Apply the clue. C, R, A, N and E do not appear in the answer.
2. Count what remains. In this fixed pool, 273 possible answers still fit.
3. Compare legal guesses. The solver checks how well each guess separates those 273 words.
4. Choose the best separator. SMOLT leaves the lowest average shortlist after the next feedback. It is picked for information, not because it is the most likely turn-two answer.

The five tested branches

A follow-up may keep a confirmed letter, test five fresh letters or do both. The right choice changes with the exact feedback.

Use this process after any opener

1. Carry every clue forward. Keep greens in place, move yellows and remove letters proved absent.
2. Look at the shortlist. If many unrelated words remain, cover common fresh letters. If the words share a pattern, test the letters that separate them.
3. Decide whether you are solving or learning. A possible answer can win now. A splitter may give up that chance in exchange for a much clearer third turn.
4. Do not follow a habit blindly. Reusing a letter can be smart when the clue confirms it. Dropping it can be smart when you are free to test more new letters.

Best Move in Word Tactics gives you a fresh middle-game position for practising the same decision.