Accepted guess Not a possible answer C tier for first-turn info

BOLKS

BOLKS is accepted as a guess but is not on the solver's possible-answer list.

No dictionary definition for BOLKS is recorded in our sourced data.

As an opener, it rules out about 88.6% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

We do not have a sourced definition for this word yet.

Check BOLKS on Wiktionary or report a missing entry.

Wordle status

A word can be a playable guess without being a possible answer.

Playable guess

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Possible answer

No

The solver does not currently treat this as a possible answer.

Past Wordle answer

Not used yet

No past answer date found.

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

How BOLKS performs as a guess

Wordle accepts BOLKS as a guess, but the solver does not list it as a possible answer.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 72.8% of games, misses completely in 27.2%, and leaves about 272 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #7,464 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.71 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.

First-turn measures

All four describe BOLKS 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.

4.17 Entropy (bits)
272 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
88.6% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 31% of evaluated openers
1.77 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How BOLKS 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.

3.71 Avg guesses
99.96% Solved within six
0.69 Spread of game lengths
#7,464 Rank among openers
Opening with BOLKS left 1 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.69 means those games clustered within about 0.69 of a guess of the 3.71 average. It ranks #7,464 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
47
3 guesses
844
4 guesses
1,215
5 guesses
236
6 guesses
11
Top-ranked in the current bounded policy screen: SLANT. The policy minimizes misses within six first, then average guesses among wins (3.46 for the leader). Compare the ranking measures

Composition

5/5 unique
1 vowels
Common:
LOS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
73%
Green tile
25%
All gray
27%

Feedback distribution

BOLKS can come back 80 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

645 answers
287 answers
252 answers
181 answers
143 answers
71 answers
64 answers
57 answers
49 answers
48 answers
44 answers
40 answers
40 answers
38 answers
33 answers
29 answers
23 answers
19 answers
19 answers
16 answers
15 answers
15 answers
14 answers
14 answers
13 answers
13 answers
13 answers
12 answers
11 answers
10 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

B3O1L1K5S1
Total: 11 points

Words With Friends

Total: 13 points

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

Strategy after playing BOLKS

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing BOLKS:

27% chance
Suggested:
TIARE
12% chance
Suggested:
TIARE
11% chance
Suggested:
RAILE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

27.2%
TIARE 6.28 bits
12.1%
TIARE 5.74 bits
10.6%
RAILE 5.41 bits
7.6%
TRINE 5.40 bits
6.0%
RANCE 4.69 bits
3.0%
THALE 4.89 bits
2.7%
SNORT 4.51 bits
2.4%
IRATE 5.10 bits
2.1%
RAILE 4.53 bits
2.0%
CRATE 4.91 bits

Research on BOLKS

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

Optimal play

Opening with BOLKS, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.73 guesses and ranks #6,803 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.85 guesses at best and is rank #2,878 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.71, at or below the proven-optimal 3.73, 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.

How it sounds

One syllable Say it BOHLKS. Estimated pronunciation

This pronunciation is machine-estimated, not taken from a pronunciation dictionary.

Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Pronunciation: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (BSD), with machine estimates from the g2p_en model.