Opener Lab
HOVEA vs SLANT
See which word leaves you with the easier game.
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. SLANT has the lower average in games solved within six: 3.51 guesses to 3.78 for HOVEA.
Looking only at the opening row, SLANT has higher entropy (5.49 bits versus 4.60). That describes first-guess separation, not the full solve on its own.
HOVEA does keep one card: in full solver playouts it finishes inside six guesses 100.0% of the time, a shade ahead of SLANT at 99.9%.
| Metric | HOVEA | SLANT |
|---|---|---|
| Elimination | 93.3% | 95.7% |
| Information | 4.60 bits | 5.49 bits |
| Avg remaining | 158 words | 101 words |
| Avg turns | 3.78 | 3.51 |
| Win rate | 100.0% | 99.9% |
| Tier | C | A |
What to expect from the first guess
| Outcome | HOVEA | SLANT |
|---|---|---|
| First-turn solve* | 0% | 0.04% |
| At least one green | 28.5% | 41.4% |
| Any green or yellow | 88.1% | 86.2% |
| Whole row gray | 11.9% | 13.8% |
| Worst case answers left | 300 | 326 |
*Treating every word in the possible-answer list as equally likely.
A fully gray row is rarer with HOVEA: it happens 11.9% of the time, against 13.8% for SLANT.
HOVEA 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
HOVEA and SLANT overlap on a single letter (A), so the pair tests 9 different letters between them.
Played back to back, HOVEA then SLANT earns 8.49 bits of information in total, 3.00 bits more than the better word manages alone.
Past Wordle answers
- HOVEA: Has not been a past Wordle answer in this site's history.
- SLANT: Has not been a past Wordle answer in this site's history.