Opener Lab

AROSE vs SLART

See which word leaves you with the easier game.

SLART leads in the previous complete six-turn benchmark

These game-length figures come from the previous complete opener benchmark against its 2,354-answer snapshot, ranked by average guesses among games solved within six. Its answer snapshot and continuation policy are separate from today's solver recommendations.

The same solver played from both openers. SLART has the lower average in games solved within six: 3.55 guesses to 3.61 for AROSE.

Looking only at the opening row, AROSE has higher entropy (5.77 bits versus 5.63). That describes first-guess separation, not the full solve on its own.

One thing AROSE does better is damage control. Its worst feedback pattern leaves 187 possible answers, while SLART can be left staring at 252.

MetricAROSESLART
Elimination97.1%96.3%
Information5.77 bits5.63 bits
Avg remaining67 words88 words
Avg turns3.613.55
Win rate100.0%100.0%
TierAA

What to expect from the first guess

OutcomeAROSESLART
First-turn solve* 0.04% 0%
At least one green 39.4% 40.8%
Any green or yellow 92.1% 89.3%
Whole row gray 7.9% 10.7%
Worst case answers left 187 252

*Treating every word in the possible-answer list as equally likely.

A fully gray row is rarer with AROSE: it happens 7.9% of the time, against 10.7% for SLART.

SLART is not on the possible-answer list, so it cannot solve the game on turn one here. It can still be a useful guess.

How these two openers fit together

AROSE and SLART share 3 letters (A, R, S). Played as a pair they cover 7 distinct letters, which still gives the second word room to do useful work.

Played back to back, AROSE then SLART earns 8.04 bits of information in total, 2.28 bits more than the better word manages alone.

Past Wordle answers

  • AROSE: Has not been a past Wordle answer in this site's history.
  • SLART: Has not been a past Wordle answer in this site's history.