5 FiveLetterWords
Very unlikely Past Wordle answer Accepted guess C tier for first-turn info

ALARM

Yes, ALARM was the Wordle answer on May 21, 2025 (Wordle #1432).

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /əˈlɑːm//əˈlɑɹm//əˈlɑ(rə)m/

Noun

A summons to arms, as on the approach of an enemy.

Noun

Any sound or information intended to give notice of approaching danger; a warning sound to arouse attention; a warning of danger.

Verb

To call to arms for defense.

Verb

To give (someone) notice of approaching danger or necessary action; to rouse to vigilance; to put on the alert.

“The sudden drop in temperature should alarm you into taking precautions.”

Alternative forms: alarum

Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.

Etymology

From Middle English alarme, alarom, borrowed from Middle French alarme, itself from Old Italian all'arme! (“to arms!, to the weapons!”), ultimately from Latin arma (“arms, weapons”).

Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)

How it sounds

Two syllables, stress on the second syllable Say it UHLAHRM.

Rhymes with CHARM REARM UNARM

Related meanings by dictionary sense

noun

fear resulting from the awareness of danger

Synonyms for this sense: dismay.

noun

a device that signals the occurrence of some undesirable event

noun

an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger

Synonyms for this sense: alert.

noun

a clock that wakes a sleeper at some preset time

verb

fill with apprehension or alarm; cause to be unpleasantly surprised

Synonyms for this sense: dismay.

verb

warn or arouse to a sense of danger or call to a state of preparedness

Synonyms for this sense: alert.

Open English WordNet, 2025 edition, CC BY 4.0. Source dictionary. Senses are kept separate; no puzzle appearance is assigned to a meaning without evidence.

In a sentence

What was that alarm for?
© tatoeba.org contributor sharptoothed (CC BY 2.0 FR)
I don't want to alarm you.
© tatoeba.org contributor CM (CC BY 2.0 FR)

Use ALARM in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 91.0% of possible answers.

Open Solver with ALARM Open Word Finder

Wordle status

Answer chance: very unlikely. Roughly 0.21% within a year (about 1 in 476), under the model through 2026-11-05. This is an estimate, not a publisher forecast. How this is calculated.

Playable guess

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Earlier benchmark pool

Yes

Membership in the preserved uniform benchmark; it is not a future eligibility rule.

Past Wordle answer

Used once

Past Wordle answer: May 21, 2025 (#1432).

See the full page for that puzzle: May 21, 2025 (#1432).

The possible-answer list is the solver's current list and may change when Wordle adds new answers.

Reported player results

Voluntary self-reported sample, not representative of all players. Solver scores do not measure human difficulty. Small or complementary cells stay private.

Wordle #1432 · May 21, 2025

Not enough publishable evidence yet. The minimum is 10 reports per protected group; complementary suppression can also withhold a larger group.

Methods, privacy rules and public data. You can optionally contribute a finished result below.

Wordle Observatory · optional

Played this Wordle?

Add your result to the public totals · about 20 seconds

Add your result and a quick difficulty rating to help explain how this puzzle played.

See the public data

The Observatory retains the selected puzzle, result, rating, optional Hard Mode answer and a random one-puzzle receipt. It stores no answer word, grid, guesses, account, email, IP-derived ID or reusable player identifier.

How verification and withdrawal work

The answer word and timezone are used transiently to verify this page, then discarded. The receipt prevents duplicate submissions and lets this browser withdraw later; anyone with that token can withdraw, so keep browser-data exports private. Read the full privacy details.

ALARM in Connections

7 recorded appearances in completed main-edition puzzles through . Showing the 5 most recent. A category label alone does not establish a word's meaning.

How ALARM performs as a guess

ALARM is a possible answer, so it would solve about one game in 2,392 when every answer is treated as equally likely.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 78.3% of games, misses completely in 21.7%, and leaves about 215 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #7,970 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.72 guesses in games solved within six turns.

Try your feedback pattern

Tap the tiles to match your feedback, then see the ranked follow-up guesses.

All gray? Tap a tile to cycle gray → yellow → green.
See strategy patterns

Useful pattern pages

If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.

A___M A in the 1st position and M in the 5th position A__R_ A in the 1st position and R in the 4th position _L__M L in the 2nd position and M in the 5th position

Explore lists that match the beginning, ending or letters in ALARM.

First-turn measures

All four describe ALARM used as an opening guess. Entropy is the same idea as “avg ruled out” on a log scale: a higher number means the guess splits the possible answers into more, smaller groups.

4.46 Entropy (bits)
215 Avg remaining
0.04% Exact match
91.0% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How ALARM performed in the previous complete opener benchmark, against its captured answer snapshot. These research figures are separate from today's solver recommendations. See the data page for the method.

3.72 Avg guesses
99.92% Solved within six
0.73 Spread of game lengths
#7,970 Rank among openers
Opening with ALARM left 2 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.73 means those games clustered within about 0.73 of a guess of the 3.72 average. It ranks #7,970 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
1
2 guesses
56
3 guesses
852
4 guesses
1,152
5 guesses
273
6 guesses
18

Composition

4/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ALR

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
78%
Green tile
29%
All gray
22%

When ALARM is useful later

ALARM tied for the smallest expected survivor count in 2 of 55 sampled positions where it was legal. This designed sample is not a measure of how often real players should use it.

After AUDIO: 3 candidates, normal mode

AUDIO: 11200 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: LADDU, SADHU, UNDAM.

With a budget of 5 more guesses, ALARM is an information probe, outside this survivor list. It leaves 1.00 candidates on average under the model. Every feedback identifies a single candidate; another turn may be needed to submit it.

Try this position in the Solver
After SALET: 3 candidates, normal mode

SALET: 01000 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

BORAK: 00010 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

ADUNC: 22010 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: ADAWN, ADDIN, ADMIN.

With a budget of 3 more guesses, ALARM is an information probe, outside this survivor list. It leaves 1.00 candidates on average under the model. Every feedback identifies a single candidate; another turn may be needed to submit it.

Try this position in the Solver
Sample and method

Every saved board is reachable within a six-turn game. Remaining turns equal six minus the saved history length. The sampling policy is independent of the expected-survivor metric. Two states at each of three depths per opener were selected by a fixed hash from an independent candidate-only sampling policy. Every accepted guess was evaluated. Model answer-model-2026-11-05-9183a914c959, data through 2026-11-05. The score measures expected survivors, not proved solve length or human difficulty.

How this is calculated.

How the solver finds ALARM

The strategy receives only earlier guesses and their feedback. It does not know the answer before choosing a move. Guessing the answer itself on turn one is a lucky one-turn result, not a recommended general strategy.

Normal mode

Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    14,855 before → 287 after. This feedback leaves 287 candidates.

    All 287 surviving candidates

    ABHOR, ABORD, ABORN, ABURA, ABURN, ACARA, ACARI, ACCRA, ACHAR, ACORN, ADDRA, ADORB, ADORN, AFARA, AGGRI, AGGRO, AGGRY, AGORA, AHURU, AKARA, ALARM, ALARY, ALGOR, ALURK, ALVAR, AMARI, AMARO, AMBRY, AMOUR, ANDRO, ANGRY, ANURA, APGAR, APPRO, ARABA, ARBAH, ARBOR, ARCHI, ARDOR, ARDRI, ARGAL, ARGAN, ARGIL, ARGOL, ARGON, ARIKI, ARMIL, ARMOR, AROBA, AROHA, AROID, AROMA, ARVAL, AUGUR, AWARD, AWARI, AWARN, AWMRY, AWORK, AZURN, AZURY, BOARD, BOLAR, BOYAR, BRAAI, BRACH, BRACK, BRAID, BRAIL, BRAIN, BRAKY, BRAND, BRANK, BRAVA, BRAVI, BRAVO, BRAWL, BRAWN, BRAXY, BRAZA, BRIAR, BROAD, BRUJA, CHAIR, CHARA, CHARD, CHARK, CHARM, CHARR, CHARY, CIGAR, CIMAR, CLAIR, CLARO, CLARY, COARB, COBRA, COPRA, CRAAL, CRACK, CRAIC, CRAIG, CRAMP, CRANK, CRAPY, CRAWL, CRAZY, CROAK, CRURA, CYMAR, DIARY, DINAR, DOBRA, DOUAR, DOURA, DOWAR, DRACK, DRACO, DRAFF, DRAIL, DRAIN, DRAMA, DRANK, DRAPY, DRAWL, DRAWN, DRYAD, DWARF, FILAR, FLAIR, FLARY, FLORA, FNARR, FRACK, FRAIL, FRAIM, FRANC, FRANK, FRAUD, FRIAR, FUBAR, GLAIR, GLARY, GLAUR, GNARL, GNARR, GOARY, GOBAR, GOURA, GRAAL, GRAFF, GRAIL, GRAIN, GRAIP, GRAMA, GRAMP, GRANA, GRAND, GRANO, GRAPH, GRAPY, GRAVY, GROAN, GROMA, GUARD, GULAR, HIJRA, HILAR, HOARD, HOARY, HYDRA, IMARI, IMBAR, INARM, INFRA, INVAR, IXORA, IZARD, JOWAR, JUMAR, KNARL, KNAUR, KOKRA, KOURA, KRAAL, KRANG, KRANZ, KRONA, LIARD, LIBRA, LIDAR, LOBAR, LUBRA, LUNAR, LYARD, LYCRA, MBARI, MBIRA, MICRA, MIKRA, MINAR, MOGAR, MOGRA, MOHAR, MOIRA, MOLAR, MOWRA, MUDAR, MUDRA, MYLAR, ORACH, ORACY, ORANG, ORGAN, ORGIA, ORIXA, ORVAL, OVARY, OWARI, PHARM, PICRA, PILAR, PLAUR, POLAR, PRAAM, PRAHU, PRANA, PRANG, PRANK, PRAWN, PRIAL, PRIAN, PRIMA, PROAL, PRORA, PRYAN, QUAIR, QUARK, QUARL, RHABD, RIKKA, RIKWA, RIOJA, RIVAL, RIYAL, ROACH, ROADY, ROAKY, ROANY, ROARY, ROGAN, ROHAN, ROJAK, ROLAG, ROMAL, ROMAN, ROWAN, ROYAL, RUACH, RUANA, RUBAI, RUBAN, RUGAL, RUMAL, RUMBA, RUPIA, ULNAR, UMBRA, UNARM, UNARY, UNBAR, URALI, URARI, URBAN, URBIA, URIAL, URMAN, URNAL, URUPA, VICAR, VOLAR, VRAIC, WHARF, WHAUR, WRACK, WRANG, WRAWL

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test CRAAL against the 287 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    287 before → 2 after. This feedback leaves 2 candidates.

    All 2 surviving candidates

    ALARM, ALARY

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 15.757. Information: 3.931 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test ALARM against the 2 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    2 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    ALARM

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 0.688 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.

Continue this board in the Solver

Hard Mode

Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    14,855 before → 287 after. This feedback leaves 287 candidates.

    All 287 surviving candidates

    ABHOR, ABORD, ABORN, ABURA, ABURN, ACARA, ACARI, ACCRA, ACHAR, ACORN, ADDRA, ADORB, ADORN, AFARA, AGGRI, AGGRO, AGGRY, AGORA, AHURU, AKARA, ALARM, ALARY, ALGOR, ALURK, ALVAR, AMARI, AMARO, AMBRY, AMOUR, ANDRO, ANGRY, ANURA, APGAR, APPRO, ARABA, ARBAH, ARBOR, ARCHI, ARDOR, ARDRI, ARGAL, ARGAN, ARGIL, ARGOL, ARGON, ARIKI, ARMIL, ARMOR, AROBA, AROHA, AROID, AROMA, ARVAL, AUGUR, AWARD, AWARI, AWARN, AWMRY, AWORK, AZURN, AZURY, BOARD, BOLAR, BOYAR, BRAAI, BRACH, BRACK, BRAID, BRAIL, BRAIN, BRAKY, BRAND, BRANK, BRAVA, BRAVI, BRAVO, BRAWL, BRAWN, BRAXY, BRAZA, BRIAR, BROAD, BRUJA, CHAIR, CHARA, CHARD, CHARK, CHARM, CHARR, CHARY, CIGAR, CIMAR, CLAIR, CLARO, CLARY, COARB, COBRA, COPRA, CRAAL, CRACK, CRAIC, CRAIG, CRAMP, CRANK, CRAPY, CRAWL, CRAZY, CROAK, CRURA, CYMAR, DIARY, DINAR, DOBRA, DOUAR, DOURA, DOWAR, DRACK, DRACO, DRAFF, DRAIL, DRAIN, DRAMA, DRANK, DRAPY, DRAWL, DRAWN, DRYAD, DWARF, FILAR, FLAIR, FLARY, FLORA, FNARR, FRACK, FRAIL, FRAIM, FRANC, FRANK, FRAUD, FRIAR, FUBAR, GLAIR, GLARY, GLAUR, GNARL, GNARR, GOARY, GOBAR, GOURA, GRAAL, GRAFF, GRAIL, GRAIN, GRAIP, GRAMA, GRAMP, GRANA, GRAND, GRANO, GRAPH, GRAPY, GRAVY, GROAN, GROMA, GUARD, GULAR, HIJRA, HILAR, HOARD, HOARY, HYDRA, IMARI, IMBAR, INARM, INFRA, INVAR, IXORA, IZARD, JOWAR, JUMAR, KNARL, KNAUR, KOKRA, KOURA, KRAAL, KRANG, KRANZ, KRONA, LIARD, LIBRA, LIDAR, LOBAR, LUBRA, LUNAR, LYARD, LYCRA, MBARI, MBIRA, MICRA, MIKRA, MINAR, MOGAR, MOGRA, MOHAR, MOIRA, MOLAR, MOWRA, MUDAR, MUDRA, MYLAR, ORACH, ORACY, ORANG, ORGAN, ORGIA, ORIXA, ORVAL, OVARY, OWARI, PHARM, PICRA, PILAR, PLAUR, POLAR, PRAAM, PRAHU, PRANA, PRANG, PRANK, PRAWN, PRIAL, PRIAN, PRIMA, PROAL, PRORA, PRYAN, QUAIR, QUARK, QUARL, RHABD, RIKKA, RIKWA, RIOJA, RIVAL, RIYAL, ROACH, ROADY, ROAKY, ROANY, ROARY, ROGAN, ROHAN, ROJAK, ROLAG, ROMAL, ROMAN, ROWAN, ROYAL, RUACH, RUANA, RUBAI, RUBAN, RUGAL, RUMAL, RUMBA, RUPIA, ULNAR, UMBRA, UNARM, UNARY, UNBAR, URALI, URARI, URBAN, URBIA, URIAL, URMAN, URNAL, URUPA, VICAR, VOLAR, VRAIC, WHARF, WHAUR, WRACK, WRANG, WRAWL

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test CRAAL against the 287 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    287 before → 2 after. This feedback leaves 2 candidates.

    All 2 surviving candidates

    ALARM, ALARY

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 15.757. Information: 3.931 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test ALARM against the 2 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    2 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    ALARM

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 0.688 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.

Continue this board in the Solver
Historical proven-optimal benchmark: July 2023

Alex Selby’s strategy minimises the mean over its complete 3,158-answer snapshot. A route for one answer is not proof of the shortest possible route for that answer, and is separate from the current weighted model.

Normal mode

Selby’s proven-optimal strategy. July 2023 snapshot: 3,158 equally likely answers; minimum mean guesses.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    3,158 before → 84 after. This feedback leaves 84 candidates.

    All 84 surviving candidates

    ABHOR, ACORN, ADORN, AGORA, ALARM, AMARO, AMOUR, ANGRY, ARBOR, ARDOR, ARGON, ARMOR, AROMA, AUGUR, AWARD, BOARD, BRAID, BRAIN, BRAND, BRAVA, BRAVO, BRAWL, BRAWN, BRIAR, BROAD, CHAIR, CHARD, CHARM, CHARY, CIGAR, COBRA, CRACK, CRAMP, CRANK, CRAWL, CRAZY, CROAK, DIARY, DRAIN, DRAMA, DRANK, DRAWL, DRAWN, DWARF, FLAIR, FLORA, FRACK, FRAIL, FRANK, FRAUD, FRIAR, FUBAR, GNARL, GRAIL, GRAIN, GRAND, GRAPH, GRAVY, GROAN, GUARD, HOARD, HOARY, HYDRA, LUNAR, MOLAR, ORGAN, OVARY, POLAR, PRANK, PRAWN, PRIMA, QUARK, RIVAL, ROACH, ROMAN, ROYAL, RUMBA, ULNAR, UMBRA, UNARM, URBAN, VICAR, WHARF, WRACK

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 100.074. Information: 5.888 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test BLOND against the 84 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    84 before → 2 after. This feedback leaves 2 candidates.

    All 2 surviving candidates

    ALARM, FLAIR

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 5.69. Information: 4.525 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test ALARM against the 2 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    2 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    ALARM

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 1.0 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.

Continue this board in the Solver

Hard Mode

Selby’s proven-optimal strategy. July 2023 snapshot: 3,158 equally likely answers; minimum mean guesses.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    3,158 before → 84 after. This feedback leaves 84 candidates.

    All 84 surviving candidates

    ABHOR, ACORN, ADORN, AGORA, ALARM, AMARO, AMOUR, ANGRY, ARBOR, ARDOR, ARGON, ARMOR, AROMA, AUGUR, AWARD, BOARD, BRAID, BRAIN, BRAND, BRAVA, BRAVO, BRAWL, BRAWN, BRIAR, BROAD, CHAIR, CHARD, CHARM, CHARY, CIGAR, COBRA, CRACK, CRAMP, CRANK, CRAWL, CRAZY, CROAK, DIARY, DRAIN, DRAMA, DRANK, DRAWL, DRAWN, DWARF, FLAIR, FLORA, FRACK, FRAIL, FRANK, FRAUD, FRIAR, FUBAR, GNARL, GRAIL, GRAIN, GRAND, GRAPH, GRAVY, GROAN, GUARD, HOARD, HOARY, HYDRA, LUNAR, MOLAR, ORGAN, OVARY, POLAR, PRANK, PRAWN, PRIMA, QUARK, RIVAL, ROACH, ROMAN, ROYAL, RUMBA, ULNAR, UMBRA, UNARM, URBAN, VICAR, WHARF, WRACK

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 100.074. Information: 5.888 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test GRAND against the 84 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    84 before → 11 after. This feedback leaves 11 candidates.

    All 11 surviving candidates

    ALARM, AMARO, CHAIR, CHARM, CHARY, FLAIR, HOARY, OVARY, QUARK, ROACH, WHARF

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 6.143. Information: 4.262 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test CHARM against the 11 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    11 before → 1 after. This feedback leaves 1 candidate.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    ALARM

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.182. Information: 3.278 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Submit the only remaining candidate.

    1 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    ALARM

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 0.0 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

Solved in 4 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.

Continue this board in the Solver

Source: Alex Selby’s Wordle analysis, MIT. Licence and attribution.

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE01100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)28733
CRANE01200 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)10633
SLATE02200 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)6644
ADIEU20000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)25744
STARE00220 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)5143
AUDIO20000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)32444
RAISE11000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)35055
ROATE10200 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)21044
SALET01100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)29144
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 2 · 4 guesses: 6 · 5 guesses: 1 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 3 · 4 guesses: 5 · 5 guesses: 1 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 3–5 guesses among successes; 0 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

97 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include ALBUM, ALERT, LAURA, REALM, ALTER, ALTAR, MADAM, CLAMP, HARAM, ASSAM. After their feedback, this answer is among the most likely survivors with at least half the model probability. This is an opportunity, not a guarantee. An opener that immediately solves is excluded.

Why this answer can be difficult

The answer contains 2 copies of A. Feedback allocates exact matches before misplaced copies; a grey duplicate does not erase another coloured copy.

The worked board still allows 2 different answers at one later decision: ALARM, ALARY. These are mechanical alternatives, not a judgement of vocabulary difficulty.

Vocabulary evidence and voluntary player results are reported separately from these solver observations.

Closest competing answers in this board

These words all fit the earlier feedback, rather than merely sharing similar spelling: ALARM, ALARY.

A lesson from this route

Before ALARM, 2 words still fit. Its feedback left 1; check the full survivor list before choosing the next answer.

Try another opener or a different move

How this is calculated

The current policy checks all remaining candidates and up to 128 fixed probes. At six or fewer candidates it uses bounded lookahead, preferring modelled six-turn success, then speed among successes. Larger states use expected survivors as a heuristic. These are recommendations, not proofs of optimal play. Hard Mode retains green positions and revealed letter counts; it allows grey letters and a yellow in the same position. Candidate-only play is stricter.

Methods and limitations

Feedback distribution

ALARM can come back 92 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

519 answers
356 answers
183 answers
159 answers
98 answers
88 answers
87 answers
86 answers
84 answers
63 answers
61 answers
43 answers
39 answers
38 answers
37 answers
31 answers
30 answers
27 answers
27 answers
22 answers
18 answers
16 answers
14 answers
13 answers
12 answers
12 answers
12 answers
11 answers
11 answers
10 answers

Letter-value totals

Base letter-value totals for ALARM; these do not show whether either game accepts the word.

Scrabble

A1L1A1R1M3
Total: 7 points

Words With Friends

Total: 9 points

Scores shown are base values without double/triple letter or word bonuses.

Try next

SIENT TOISE TOILE CONTE TAPER SOUCE

Strategy after playing ALARM

What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to ALARM.

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing ALARM:

22% chance
Suggested:
SIENT
15% chance
Suggested:
TOISE
8% chance
Suggested:
TOILE

Follow-ups for common patterns

Ranked follow-up guesses for the 10 most common feedback patterns.

21.7% →
SIENT 6.24 bits
14.9% →
TOISE 5.52 bits
7.7% →
TOILE 5.12 bits
6.6% →
CONTE 5.10 bits
4.1% →
TAPER 4.54 bits
3.7% →
SOUCE 4.78 bits
3.6% →
SALLE 4.61 bits
3.6% →
HOISE 4.90 bits
3.5% →
SHITE 5.00 bits
2.6% →
CONTE 3.97 bits

Research on ALARM

Game-tree analysis and word research for ALARM, with an explanation for each figure.

Optimal play

Opening with ALARM, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.76 guesses and ranks #8,777 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.88 guesses at best and is rank #3,651 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.72, at or below the proven-optimal 3.76, because the two figures score different answer lists.

These figures come from exhaustive game-tree search and are exact for the NYT lists of July 2023 (3,158 answers). They do not use the site's working answer pool.

Familiarity and learning

Frequency
ALARM sits in the common band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 19 times per million words in the source corpus. Corpus frequency does not measure every reader’s familiarity.
Learner level
Appears in beginner learner vocabulary (CEFR-J level A2); among the first words English learners study.
Dominant sense
Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with sound (4.1 of 5).

Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Pronunciation: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (BSD); Word frequency: wordfreq (data CC BY-SA 4.0); Learner levels: CEFR-J Wordlist ver 1.5, Tono Laboratory, TUFS; Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).