Opener Lab
Compare DOWLY
Pick a word to compare against.
How DOWLY performs
Played first, DOWLY removes about 87.5% of the possible-answer list on average and scores 4.13 bits of information. It is not on the possible-answer list, but it can still be useful because of the feedback groups it creates.
Tried against 1,859 past Wordle answers, DOWLY left an average of 298 possible answers standing after the first guess. Its largest group in that replay came on July 19, 2026, when the answer was CHURN and 704 candidates survived.
First-guess odds
| Outcome | DOWLY |
|---|---|
| First-turn solve* | 0% |
| At least one green | 32.3% |
| Any green or yellow | 70.2% |
| Whole row gray | 29.8% |
| Worst case answers left | 704 |
*Treating every word in the possible-answer list as equally likely.