Opener Lab
CARLE vs SNARE
See which word leaves you with the easier game.
Both words are in the current screen of 182 openers, tested against 2,358 answers. Exact misses rank first; average guesses among wins break ties.
The same solver played from both openers. CARLE has the lower average in games solved within six: 3.46 guesses to 3.48 for SNARE.
One thing SNARE does better is damage control. Its worst feedback pattern leaves 228 possible answers, while CARLE can be left staring at 258.
| Metric | CARLE | SNARE |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination | 96.7% | 96.9% |
| Information | 5.76 bits | 5.77 bits |
| Avg remaining | 77 words | 73 words |
| Avg turns | 3.46 | 3.48 |
| Missed in six | 0 | 0 |
| Win rate | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Tier | A | A |
What to expect from the first guess
| Outcome | CARLE | SNARE |
|---|---|---|
| First-turn solve* | 0% | 0.04% |
| At least one green | 43.9% | 43.1% |
| Any green or yellow | 89.1% | 90.3% |
| Whole row gray | 10.9% | 9.7% |
| Worst case answers left | 258 | 228 |
*Treating every word in the possible-answer list as equally likely.
A fully gray row is rarer with SNARE: it happens 9.7% of the time, against 10.9% for CARLE.
CARLE 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
CARLE and SNARE share 3 letters (A, E, R). Played as a pair they cover 7 distinct letters, which still gives the second word room to do useful work.
Played back to back, CARLE then SNARE earns 7.79 bits of information in total, 2.02 bits more than the better word manages alone.
Past Wordle answers
- CARLE: Has not been a past Wordle answer in this site's history.
- SNARE: Answer to the puzzle on September 20, 2023.