Past Wordle answer Possible answer Accepted guess C tier opener

CAULK

Yes, CAULK was the Wordle answer on February 16, 2022 (Wordle #242).

As an opener, it rules out about 90.7% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /kɔːk//kɔk//kɑk/

Noun

Caulking.

Noun

A composition of vehicle and pigment used at ambient temperatures for filling/sealing joints or junctures, that remains elastic for an extended period of time after application.

Verb

To drive oakum into the seams of a ship's wooden deck or hull to make it watertight.

Verb

To apply caulking to joints, cracks, or a juncture of different materials.

Alternative forms: calk

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

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

Yes

Included among the answers considered by the solver.

Past Wordle answer

Used once

Past Wordle answer: February 16, 2022 (#242).

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

Wordle Observatory

How did this puzzle feel?

About the project

Add an anonymous result and difficulty rating to the public, aggregate research dataset.

We send only this answer word for puzzle verification, the puzzle number, result, difficulty vote, Hard Mode flag, timezone and a random one-puzzle receipt token. The Observatory stores no answer word, grid, guesses, account, email, IP-derived ID or reusable player identifier. The puzzle-specific receipt prevents duplicate submissions and permits withdrawal; anyone with that token can withdraw, so keep browser-data exports private. See the privacy details.

How CAULK performs as a guess

CAULK is a possible answer, so it would solve about one game in 2,358 when every answer is treated as equally likely.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 75.4% of games, misses completely in 24.6%, and leaves about 218 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete v5 benchmark, it ranks #5,603 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.68 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

4.57 Entropy (bits)
218 Avg remaining
0.04% Exact match
90.7% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 57% of evaluated openers
1.38 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opener: v5 benchmark

How CAULK 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.

3.68 Avg guesses
99.9% Win rate
0.71 Volatility
#5,603 v5 opener rank
In the complete v5 snapshot, CAULK ranks #5,603 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
1
2 guesses
57
3 guesses
901
4 guesses
1,144
5 guesses
234
6 guesses
15
Top-ranked in the current bounded policy screen: SLANT. The policy minimizes misses within six first, then average guesses among wins (3.45 for the leader). Compare the ranking measures

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ALU

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
75%
Green tile
34%
All gray
25%

Example solver route

R O A T E
N A S A L
D I M L Y
C A U L K

One example route used by the solver.

This solver benchmark reaches CAULK in 4 guesses.

Feedback distribution

102 possible patterns. Top outcomes:

580
254
155
151
149
124
76
65
63
49
48
34
34
29
27
26
24
24
24
23
19
18
17
17
16
16
15
13
13
12

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing CAULK:

25% chance
Suggested:
TRONE
11% chance
Suggested:
STORE
7% chance
Suggested:
SURGE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

24.6%
TRONE 6.20 bits
10.8%
STORE 5.59 bits
6.6%
SURGE 5.20 bits
6.4%
GOIER 5.03 bits
6.3%
RONTE 4.84 bits
5.3%
TIARE 4.65 bits
3.2%
TRICE 5.01 bits
2.8%
SWIRE 4.42 bits
2.7%
TRONE 4.69 bits
2.1%
IRONE 4.82 bits

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

C3A1U1L1K5
Total: 11 points

Words With Friends

Total: 14 points

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