Opener Lab
Compare HOTCH
Pick a word to compare against.
How HOTCH performs
Played first, HOTCH removes about 84.9% of the possible-answer list on average and scores 3.85 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, HOTCH left an average of 348 possible answers standing after the first guess. Its largest group in that replay came on July 20, 2026, when the answer was DIVER and 803 candidates survived.
First-guess odds
| Outcome | HOTCH |
|---|---|
| First-turn solve* | 0% |
| At least one green | 26.2% |
| Any green or yellow | 66.0% |
| Whole row gray | 34.0% |
| Worst case answers left | 803 |
*Treating every word in the possible-answer list as equally likely.