Opener Lab

SLART vs TENIA

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 TENIA.

Looking only at the opening row, SLART has higher entropy (5.63 bits versus 5.42). That describes first-guess separation, not the full solve on its own.

One thing TENIA does better is damage control. Its worst feedback pattern leaves 221 possible answers, while SLART can be left staring at 252.

MetricSLARTTENIA
Elimination96.3%96.0%
Information5.63 bits5.42 bits
Avg remaining88 words94 words
Avg turns3.553.61
Win rate100.0%99.8%
TierAA

What to expect from the first guess

OutcomeSLARTTENIA
First-turn solve* 0% 0%
At least one green 40.8% 28.3%
Any green or yellow 89.3% 90.6%
Whole row gray 10.7% 9.4%
Worst case answers left 252 221

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

A fully gray row is rarer with TENIA: it happens 9.4% of the time, against 10.7% for SLART.

Neither word is on the possible-answer list, so neither can solve the game on turn one here. Both can still be useful guesses.

How these two openers fit together

SLART and TENIA share 2 letters (A, T). Played as a pair they cover 8 distinct letters, which still gives the second word room to do useful work.

Played back to back, SLART then TENIA earns 8.59 bits of information in total, 2.96 bits more than the better word manages alone.

Past Wordle answers

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