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

CROWL

CROWL is an accepted guess. Its modelled answer likelihood is very unlikely; no globally completed appearance is recorded here.

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /kɹaʊl/

Noun

A small person or creature; a dwarf or runt.

Verb

To make a growling noise, as the stomach.

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

How it sounds

One syllable Say it KROWL.

Rhymes with GROWL PROWL AFOUL SCOWL

Use CROWL in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 92.3% of possible answers.

Open Solver with CROWL Open Word Finder

Wordle status

Answer chance: very unlikely. Roughly 0.05% within a year (about 1 in 2,113), 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

No

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

Past Wordle answer

No completed appearance

No appearance in our globally completed history. A recent puzzle may still be live elsewhere.

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

How CROWL performs as a guess

Wordle accepts CROWL as a guess. It is outside this preserved uniform benchmark’s answer pool; that is not a claim about future eligibility.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 80.3% of games, misses completely in 19.7%, and leaves about 184 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #3,449 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.64 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.

C___L C in the 1st position and L in the 5th position C__W_ C in the 1st position and W in the 4th position _R__L R in the 2nd position and L in the 5th position CR_WL C in the 1st position, R in the 2nd position, W in the 4th position, and L in the 5th position

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

First-turn measures

All four describe CROWL 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.

4.65 Entropy (bits)
184 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
92.3% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How CROWL 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.

3.64 Avg guesses
99.96% Solved within six
0.68 Spread of game lengths
#3,449 Rank among openers
Opening with CROWL left 1 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.68 means those games clustered within about 0.68 of a guess of the 3.64 average. It ranks #3,449 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
44
3 guesses
965
4 guesses
1,144
5 guesses
184
6 guesses
16

Composition

5/5 unique
1 vowels
Common:
LOR

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
80%
Green tile
30%
All gray
20%

When CROWL is useful later

CROWL tied for the smallest expected survivor count in 1 of 54 sampled positions where it was legal. This designed sample is not a measure of how often real players should use it.

After ROATE: 3 candidates, normal mode

ROATE: 10101 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

AWNER: 10011 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

ZEBRA: 01012 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: CREMA, ERICA, PRESA.

With a budget of 3 more guesses, CROWL 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 CROWL

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 → 322 after. This feedback leaves 322 candidates.

    All 322 surviving candidates

    BIDRI, BLURB, BOMOR, BOORD, BOURD, BOURG, BOURN, BRICK, BRIKI, BRILL, BRING, BRINK, BRINY, BROCH, BROCK, BROGH, BROIL, BROMO, BRONC, BROND, BROOD, BROOK, BROOL, BROOM, BROWN, BRUCK, BRUGH, BRUIN, BRUJO, BRUNG, CHIRK, CHIRL, CHIRM, CHIRO, CHIRP, CHIRR, CHIRU, CHOIR, CHORD, CHURL, CHURN, CHURR, CLOUR, COLOR, COURB, COURD, COWRY, CRIBO, CRICK, CRIMP, CRINK, CROCI, CROCK, CROMB, CRONK, CRONY, CROOK, CROOL, CROON, CROUP, CROWD, CROWL, CROWN, CRUCK, CRUDO, CRUDY, CRUMB, CRUMP, CRUNK, CRUOR, CUPRO, DHIKR, DOBRO, DOLOR, DONOR, DOORN, DOWRY, DRILL, DRILY, DRINK, DROCK, DROID, DROIL, DROLL, DRONY, DROOB, DROOG, DROOK, DROOL, DROOP, DROUK, DROWN, DRUID, DRUNK, DRUXY, DRYLY, FIBRO, FIORD, FJORD, FLOOR, FLORY, FLOUR, FLUOR, FLURR, FRILL, FRIZZ, FROCK, FROMM, FROND, FROOM, FRORN, FRORY, FROWN, FROWY, FROYO, FRUMP, GLORY, GOORY, GOURD, GRIFF, GRILL, GRIMY, GRIND, GRIPY, GRODY, GROIN, GROOF, GROOM, GROUF, GROUP, GROVY, GROWL, GROWN, GRUFF, GRUMP, GRUND, GUIRO, HONOR, HOORD, HOURI, HUMOR, HYDRO, ICHOR, IMPRO, INCUR, INDRI, INORB, INURN, IRING, IROKO, IRONY, IVORY, KNURL, KNURR, KOORI, KRILL, KRIOL, KROON, KRUBI, KRUMP, KRUNK, KUKRI, KWIRL, LIBOR, LIBRI, LIVOR, LOORD, LOURY, LOWRY, MHORR, MICRO, MILOR, MINOR, MOHUR, MOORY, MOURN, MUCOR, MUCRO, MUDIR, MUIRY, NIDOR, NJIRL, OCCUR, OCHRY, ODOUR, OFURO, ORBIC, ORCIN, ORFUL, ORGIC, ORIBI, ORIGO, ORLON, ORLOP, ORPIN, PONOR, POORI, PRICK, PRICY, PRIDY, PRILL, PRIMI, PRIMO, PRIMP, PRIMY, PRING, PRINK, PRION, PRIOR, PRIVY, PROBY, PRODD, PROIN, PROLL, PROMO, PRONG, PRONK, PROOF, PROOK, PROUD, PROUL, PROWK, PROWL, PROXY, PROYN, PRUNO, PRUNY, PUDOR, QUIRK, QUIRL, QUORK, QUORL, RHINO, RHODY, RHOMB, RHUMB, RHYMY, RIBBY, RICIN, RIDGY, RIDIC, RIFFY, RIGID, RIGMO, RIGOL, RIGOR, RILLY, RIMON, RINDY, RINGY, ROBBO, ROBIN, ROBUG, ROBUR, ROCKY, RODNY, ROGUY, ROHUN, ROILY, ROLLY, ROMPU, ROMPY, RONDO, RONIN, RONUK, ROOFY, ROOKY, ROOMY, ROOPY, ROUGH, ROUGY, ROUKY, ROUND, ROUPY, ROWDY, ROWND, RUBBY, RUBIN, RUBIO, RUBLI, RUBOR, RUCHY, RUDDY, RUFFY, RUGBY, RUGGY, RUING, RULLY, RUMBO, RUMLY, RUMMY, RUMOR, RUMPO, RUMPY, RUNCH, RUNIC, RUNNY, RUNUP, RUVID, RYIJI, RYIJY, RYPIN, RYUGI, UHURU, UPDRY, URUBU, VIGOR, VIZIR, VIZOR, VROOM, VROUW, WHIRL, WHIRR, WHORL, WRICK, WRING, WRONG, WRUNG, WRYLY, YOURN, YRIVD, ZOKOR

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test PRION against the 322 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    322 before → 24 after. This feedback leaves 24 candidates.

    All 24 surviving candidates

    BROCH, BROCK, BROGH, BROMO, BRUJO, CROCK, CROMB, CROWD, CROWL, CRUDO, DROCK, DROLL, DROUK, FROCK, FROMM, FRORY, FROWY, FROYO, GRODY, GROUF, GROVY, GROWL, ORFUL, VROUW

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 12.414. Information: 4.376 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test CROWL against the 24 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    CROWL

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.263. Information: 0.746 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 → 322 after. This feedback leaves 322 candidates.

    All 322 surviving candidates

    BIDRI, BLURB, BOMOR, BOORD, BOURD, BOURG, BOURN, BRICK, BRIKI, BRILL, BRING, BRINK, BRINY, BROCH, BROCK, BROGH, BROIL, BROMO, BRONC, BROND, BROOD, BROOK, BROOL, BROOM, BROWN, BRUCK, BRUGH, BRUIN, BRUJO, BRUNG, CHIRK, CHIRL, CHIRM, CHIRO, CHIRP, CHIRR, CHIRU, CHOIR, CHORD, CHURL, CHURN, CHURR, CLOUR, COLOR, COURB, COURD, COWRY, CRIBO, CRICK, CRIMP, CRINK, CROCI, CROCK, CROMB, CRONK, CRONY, CROOK, CROOL, CROON, CROUP, CROWD, CROWL, CROWN, CRUCK, CRUDO, CRUDY, CRUMB, CRUMP, CRUNK, CRUOR, CUPRO, DHIKR, DOBRO, DOLOR, DONOR, DOORN, DOWRY, DRILL, DRILY, DRINK, DROCK, DROID, DROIL, DROLL, DRONY, DROOB, DROOG, DROOK, DROOL, DROOP, DROUK, DROWN, DRUID, DRUNK, DRUXY, DRYLY, FIBRO, FIORD, FJORD, FLOOR, FLORY, FLOUR, FLUOR, FLURR, FRILL, FRIZZ, FROCK, FROMM, FROND, FROOM, FRORN, FRORY, FROWN, FROWY, FROYO, FRUMP, GLORY, GOORY, GOURD, GRIFF, GRILL, GRIMY, GRIND, GRIPY, GRODY, GROIN, GROOF, GROOM, GROUF, GROUP, GROVY, GROWL, GROWN, GRUFF, GRUMP, GRUND, GUIRO, HONOR, HOORD, HOURI, HUMOR, HYDRO, ICHOR, IMPRO, INCUR, INDRI, INORB, INURN, IRING, IROKO, IRONY, IVORY, KNURL, KNURR, KOORI, KRILL, KRIOL, KROON, KRUBI, KRUMP, KRUNK, KUKRI, KWIRL, LIBOR, LIBRI, LIVOR, LOORD, LOURY, LOWRY, MHORR, MICRO, MILOR, MINOR, MOHUR, MOORY, MOURN, MUCOR, MUCRO, MUDIR, MUIRY, NIDOR, NJIRL, OCCUR, OCHRY, ODOUR, OFURO, ORBIC, ORCIN, ORFUL, ORGIC, ORIBI, ORIGO, ORLON, ORLOP, ORPIN, PONOR, POORI, PRICK, PRICY, PRIDY, PRILL, PRIMI, PRIMO, PRIMP, PRIMY, PRING, PRINK, PRION, PRIOR, PRIVY, PROBY, PRODD, PROIN, PROLL, PROMO, PRONG, PRONK, PROOF, PROOK, PROUD, PROUL, PROWK, PROWL, PROXY, PROYN, PRUNO, PRUNY, PUDOR, QUIRK, QUIRL, QUORK, QUORL, RHINO, RHODY, RHOMB, RHUMB, RHYMY, RIBBY, RICIN, RIDGY, RIDIC, RIFFY, RIGID, RIGMO, RIGOL, RIGOR, RILLY, RIMON, RINDY, RINGY, ROBBO, ROBIN, ROBUG, ROBUR, ROCKY, RODNY, ROGUY, ROHUN, ROILY, ROLLY, ROMPU, ROMPY, RONDO, RONIN, RONUK, ROOFY, ROOKY, ROOMY, ROOPY, ROUGH, ROUGY, ROUKY, ROUND, ROUPY, ROWDY, ROWND, RUBBY, RUBIN, RUBIO, RUBLI, RUBOR, RUCHY, RUDDY, RUFFY, RUGBY, RUGGY, RUING, RULLY, RUMBO, RUMLY, RUMMY, RUMOR, RUMPO, RUMPY, RUNCH, RUNIC, RUNNY, RUNUP, RUVID, RYIJI, RYIJY, RYPIN, RYUGI, UHURU, UPDRY, URUBU, VIGOR, VIZIR, VIZOR, VROOM, VROUW, WHIRL, WHIRR, WHORL, WRICK, WRING, WRONG, WRUNG, WRYLY, YOURN, YRIVD, ZOKOR

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test PRION against the 322 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    322 before → 24 after. This feedback leaves 24 candidates.

    All 24 surviving candidates

    BROCH, BROCK, BROGH, BROMO, BRUJO, CROCK, CROMB, CROWD, CROWL, CRUDO, DROCK, DROLL, DROUK, FROCK, FROMM, FRORY, FROWY, FROYO, GRODY, GROUF, GROVY, GROWL, ORFUL, VROUW

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 12.414. Information: 4.376 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test CROWL against the 24 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    CROWL

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.263. Information: 0.746 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

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE00100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)32233
CRANE22000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)4055
SLATE01000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)32533
ADIEU00000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)114044
STARE00010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)36155
AUDIO00001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)178455
RAISE10000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)30955
ROATE11000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)22655
SALET00100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)30255
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 2 · 4 guesses: 1 · 5 guesses: 6 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 2 · 4 guesses: 1 · 5 guesses: 6 · 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.

10 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include CAROL, CLOWN, CRAWL, CLAWS, SCOWL, COWAL, CHAWL, CEORL, CLOWS, CROOL. 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.

A lesson from this route

This route identifies the answer on turn 3. Identifying a unique candidate and submitting it are separate actions.

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

CROWL can come back 88 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

472 answers
261 answers
253 answers
144 answers
120 answers
101 answers
96 answers
73 answers
71 answers
53 answers
49 answers
47 answers
44 answers
40 answers
33 answers
30 answers
29 answers
27 answers
27 answers
25 answers
24 answers
24 answers
22 answers
20 answers
14 answers
14 answers
14 answers
14 answers
13 answers
12 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

C3R1O1W4L1
Total: 10 points

Words With Friends

Total: 12 points

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

Try next

SAINE SATED PAISE SAINT DIANE NAICE

Strategy after playing CROWL

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing CROWL:

20% chance
Suggested:
SAINE
11% chance
Suggested:
SATED
11% chance
Suggested:
PAISE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

19.7% →
SAINE 6.25 bits
10.9% →
SATED 5.36 bits
10.6% →
PAISE 5.46 bits
6.0% →
SAINT 5.18 bits
5.0% →
DIANE 5.12 bits
4.2% →
NAICE 5.15 bits
4.0% →
TARRE 4.61 bits
3.1% →
SAINE 4.65 bits
3.0% →
STANE 4.70 bits
2.2% →
SAINT 5.22 bits

Research on CROWL

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

Optimal play

Opening with CROWL, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.70 guesses and ranks #4,868 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.80 guesses at best and is rank #1,508 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.64, at or below the proven-optimal 3.70, 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
CROWL sits in the rare band of the wordfreq scale, appearing less than once per million words in the source corpus. Corpus frequency does not measure every reader’s familiarity.

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).