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

HAPUS

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

Meaning and pronunciation

Noun

plural of hapu

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

Use HAPUS in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 90.9% of possible answers.

Open Solver with HAPUS 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 HAPUS performs as a guess

Wordle accepts HAPUS 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 77.4% of games, misses completely in 22.6%, and leaves about 217 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #6,999 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.70 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.

H___S H in the 1st position and S in the 5th position H__U_ H in the 1st position and U in the 4th position _A__S A in the 2nd position and S in the 5th position HA_US H in the 1st position, A in the 2nd position, U in the 4th position, and S in the 5th position

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

First-turn measures

All four describe HAPUS 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.

4.45 Entropy (bits)
217 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
90.9% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How HAPUS 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.

3.70 Avg guesses
100% Solved within six
0.71 Spread of game lengths
#6,999 Rank among openers
Opening with HAPUS solved every answer in the snapshot within six guesses. A spread of 0.71 means those games clustered within about 0.71 of a guess of the 3.70 average. It ranks #6,999 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
54
3 guesses
865
4 guesses
1,181
5 guesses
236
6 guesses
18

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ASU

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
77%
Green tile
21%
All gray
23%

When HAPUS is useful later

HAPUS tied for the smallest expected survivor count in 3 of 54 sampled positions where it was legal. This designed sample is not a measure of how often real players should use it.

After TARSE: 3 candidates, normal mode

TARSE: 00002 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

BUNDE: 00002 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

OXIME: 00002 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

LEEZE: 12002 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: HELVE, PEPLE, WELKE.

With a budget of 2 more guesses, HAPUS 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 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, HAPUS 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: 4 candidates, normal mode

SALET: 11000 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

PIAIS: 01102 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

NOIAS: 00222 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

AMIAS: 00222 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: CHIAS, CRIAS, HUIAS, KUIAS.

With a budget of 2 more guesses, HAPUS 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 HAPUS

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 → 492 after. This feedback leaves 492 candidates.

    All 492 surviving candidates

    AAPAS, BAALS, BAAPS, BABAS, BABUS, BACHS, BACKS, BAFFS, BAGHS, BAHUS, BAIKS, BAILS, BAJUS, BALAS, BALDS, BALKS, BALLS, BALMS, BALUS, BAMAS, BANCS, BANDS, BANGS, BANKS, BANNS, BAONS, BAPUS, BASAL, BASAN, BASAS, BASHA, BASHO, BASIC, BASIJ, BASIL, BASIN, BASIS, BASKS, BASON, BAUDS, BAUKS, BAWDS, BAWKS, BAWLS, BAWNS, BAYAS, BAZAS, CABAS, CACAS, CACKS, CADIS, CAFFS, CAIDS, CAINS, CALFS, CALKS, CALLS, CALMS, CALOS, CALPS, CAMAS, CAMIS, CAMOS, CAMPS, CAMUS, CANGS, CANNS, CAPAS, CAPHS, CAPOS, CASAS, CASCO, CASKS, CASKY, CASUS, CAUKS, CAULS, CAUMS, CAUPS, CAVAS, CAVUS, CAWKS, DAALS, DACKS, DADAS, DADIS, DADOS, DAFFS, DAGOS, DAHIS, DAHLS, DALIS, DAMNS, DAMPS, DANGS, DANKS, DASHI, DASHY, DAUBS, DAUDS, DAWDS, DAWGS, DAWKS, DAWNS, FADOS, FAFFS, FAIKS, FAILS, FAINS, FALLS, FANDS, FANGS, FANKS, FANOS, FASCI, FAUNS, FAVAS, FAVUS, FAWNS, GADIS, GAFFS, GAIDS, GAINS, GAJOS, GALAS, GALIS, GALLS, GAMAS, GAMBS, GAMPS, GANGS, GANKS, GAOLS, GAPOS, GASHY, GASPS, GASPY, GAUDS, GAUMS, GAUPS, GAWDS, GAWKS, GAWPS, HAAFS, HABUS, HACKS, HAFFS, HAGGS, HAHAS, HAIKS, HAILS, HAINS, HAJIS, HAKAS, HAKUS, HALFS, HALLS, HALMS, HALOS, HANDS, HANGS, HANKS, HAPAS, HAPUS, HASHY, HASKS, HASPS, HAUDS, HAUFS, HAULS, HAUNS, HAWKS, HAWMS, IAMBS, JAAPS, JACKS, JAFAS, JAGAS, JAGGS, JAILS, JAMBS, JANNS, JASPS, JAUKS, JAUPS, JAVAS, JAWNS, KACKS, KADIS, KAGOS, KAGUS, KAIDS, KAIFS, KAIKS, KAILS, KAIMS, KAINS, KAKAS, KAKIS, KALAS, KALIS, KAMAS, KAMIS, KANAS, KANGS, KAONS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, KASHA, KAVAS, KAWAS, KAYOS, KAZIS, LABIS, LACIS, LACKS, LAICS, LAIDS, LAIKS, LAKHS, LALLS, LAMAS, LAMBS, LAMPS, LANAS, LANDS, LANKS, LAPAS, LAPIS, LAUDS, LAUFS, LAVAS, LAWKS, LAWNS, LAZOS, MACAS, MACHS, MACKS, MADOS, MAGAS, MAGGS, MAGUS, MAHIS, MAIDS, MAIKS, MAILS, MAIMS, MAINS, MAJAS, MAJOS, MAKIS, MAKOS, MALAS, MALIS, MALLS, MALMS, MALUS, MAMAS, MANAS, MANDS, MANGS, MANIS, MANKS, MANOS, MANUS, MASAS, MASHA, MASHY, MASKS, MASON, MASUS, MAUDS, MAULS, MAUMS, MAVIS, MAWKS, MAWNS, MAWPS, MAXIS, MAYAS, MAYOS, MAZAS, NAAMS, NAANS, NABIS, NABKS, NADAS, NAFFS, NAGAS, NAIBS, NAIDS, NAIFS, NAIKS, NAILS, NAINS, NAIOS, NAKAS, NALAS, NAMUS, NANAS, NANOS, NAPAS, NASAL, NASHI, NASHO, NASIS, NASON, NASUS, NAZIS, OAFOS, OASAL, OASIS, PAALS, PAANS, PACAS, PACKS, PACOS, PADAS, PADIS, PAHOS, PAHUS, PAIKS, PAILS, PAINS, PAIPS, PALAS, PALIS, PALLS, PALMS, PALPS, PALUS, PANDS, PANGS, PANKS, PAPAS, PASAG, PASCH, PASHA, PASHM, PASKA, PASMO, PASPY, PAUAS, PAULS, PAVAS, PAVIS, PAWAS, PAWKS, PAWLS, PAWNS, QADIS, QAIDS, SAAGS, SABAL, SABHA, SABIN, SABJI, SABOS, SABZI, SACKS, SADDO, SADDY, SADHU, SADIC, SADIS, SADLY, SADOS, SADZA, SAGAS, SAGGY, SAGOS, SAGUM, SAHAB, SAHIB, SAICK, SAICS, SAIDS, SAIGA, SAILS, SAIMS, SAINS, SAJOU, SAKAI, SAKIA, SAKIS, SALAD, SALAL, SALAS, SALIC, SALIS, SALIX, SALLY, SALMI, SALOL, SALON, SALOP, SALPA, SALPS, SALUD, SALVO, SAMAN, SAMAS, SAMBA, SAMBO, SAMFI, SAMFU, SAMMY, SAMPI, SAMPS, SANAD, SANDS, SANDY, SANGA, SANGH, SANGO, SANGS, SANKO, SAOLA, SAPAN, SAPID, SAPPY, SASIN, SAUBA, SAUCH, SAUCY, SAUGH, SAULS, SAUNA, SAUNF, SAVIN, SAVOY, SAVVY, SAWAH, SAYAS, SAYID, SAYON, VACAS, VADAS, VAGUS, VAIDS, VAILS, VAKAS, VALIS, VAMPS, VANGS, VASAL, WAACS, WACKS, WADAS, WADDS, WADIS, WAFFS, WAIFS, WAILS, WAINS, WAKAS, WAKFS, WALDS, WALIS, WALKS, WALLS, WAMUS, WANDS, WANGS, WANKS, WAQFS, WASHI, WASHY, WASMS, WASPS, WASPY, WAUKS, WAULS, WAWAS, WAWLS, YABAS, YACKS, YAFFS, YAGIS, YANGS, YANKS, YAPPS, YAUDS, YAUPS, YAWLS, YAWNS, YAWPS, YAYAS, ZACKS, ZAMIS, ZAWNS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test POLES against the 492 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    492 before → 29 after. This feedback leaves 29 candidates.

    All 29 surviving candidates

    AAPAS, BAAPS, BAPUS, CAMPS, CAPAS, CAPHS, CAUPS, DAMPS, GAMPS, GASPS, GAUPS, GAWPS, HAPAS, HAPUS, HASPS, JAAPS, JASPS, JAUPS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, MAWPS, NAPAS, SAMPS, VAMPS, WASPS, YAPPS, YAUPS, YAWPS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 18.385. Information: 2.689 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test SAMPS against the 29 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    29 before → 10 after. This feedback leaves 10 candidates.

    All 10 surviving candidates

    AAPAS, BAPUS, CAPAS, CAPHS, HAPAS, HAPUS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, NAPAS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 7.414. Information: 2.177 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test HAPAS against the 10 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    HAPUS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 2.6. Information: 2.122 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  5. Submit the only remaining candidate.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    HAPUS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 5 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 4.

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 → 492 after. This feedback leaves 492 candidates.

    All 492 surviving candidates

    AAPAS, BAALS, BAAPS, BABAS, BABUS, BACHS, BACKS, BAFFS, BAGHS, BAHUS, BAIKS, BAILS, BAJUS, BALAS, BALDS, BALKS, BALLS, BALMS, BALUS, BAMAS, BANCS, BANDS, BANGS, BANKS, BANNS, BAONS, BAPUS, BASAL, BASAN, BASAS, BASHA, BASHO, BASIC, BASIJ, BASIL, BASIN, BASIS, BASKS, BASON, BAUDS, BAUKS, BAWDS, BAWKS, BAWLS, BAWNS, BAYAS, BAZAS, CABAS, CACAS, CACKS, CADIS, CAFFS, CAIDS, CAINS, CALFS, CALKS, CALLS, CALMS, CALOS, CALPS, CAMAS, CAMIS, CAMOS, CAMPS, CAMUS, CANGS, CANNS, CAPAS, CAPHS, CAPOS, CASAS, CASCO, CASKS, CASKY, CASUS, CAUKS, CAULS, CAUMS, CAUPS, CAVAS, CAVUS, CAWKS, DAALS, DACKS, DADAS, DADIS, DADOS, DAFFS, DAGOS, DAHIS, DAHLS, DALIS, DAMNS, DAMPS, DANGS, DANKS, DASHI, DASHY, DAUBS, DAUDS, DAWDS, DAWGS, DAWKS, DAWNS, FADOS, FAFFS, FAIKS, FAILS, FAINS, FALLS, FANDS, FANGS, FANKS, FANOS, FASCI, FAUNS, FAVAS, FAVUS, FAWNS, GADIS, GAFFS, GAIDS, GAINS, GAJOS, GALAS, GALIS, GALLS, GAMAS, GAMBS, GAMPS, GANGS, GANKS, GAOLS, GAPOS, GASHY, GASPS, GASPY, GAUDS, GAUMS, GAUPS, GAWDS, GAWKS, GAWPS, HAAFS, HABUS, HACKS, HAFFS, HAGGS, HAHAS, HAIKS, HAILS, HAINS, HAJIS, HAKAS, HAKUS, HALFS, HALLS, HALMS, HALOS, HANDS, HANGS, HANKS, HAPAS, HAPUS, HASHY, HASKS, HASPS, HAUDS, HAUFS, HAULS, HAUNS, HAWKS, HAWMS, IAMBS, JAAPS, JACKS, JAFAS, JAGAS, JAGGS, JAILS, JAMBS, JANNS, JASPS, JAUKS, JAUPS, JAVAS, JAWNS, KACKS, KADIS, KAGOS, KAGUS, KAIDS, KAIFS, KAIKS, KAILS, KAIMS, KAINS, KAKAS, KAKIS, KALAS, KALIS, KAMAS, KAMIS, KANAS, KANGS, KAONS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, KASHA, KAVAS, KAWAS, KAYOS, KAZIS, LABIS, LACIS, LACKS, LAICS, LAIDS, LAIKS, LAKHS, LALLS, LAMAS, LAMBS, LAMPS, LANAS, LANDS, LANKS, LAPAS, LAPIS, LAUDS, LAUFS, LAVAS, LAWKS, LAWNS, LAZOS, MACAS, MACHS, MACKS, MADOS, MAGAS, MAGGS, MAGUS, MAHIS, MAIDS, MAIKS, MAILS, MAIMS, MAINS, MAJAS, MAJOS, MAKIS, MAKOS, MALAS, MALIS, MALLS, MALMS, MALUS, MAMAS, MANAS, MANDS, MANGS, MANIS, MANKS, MANOS, MANUS, MASAS, MASHA, MASHY, MASKS, MASON, MASUS, MAUDS, MAULS, MAUMS, MAVIS, MAWKS, MAWNS, MAWPS, MAXIS, MAYAS, MAYOS, MAZAS, NAAMS, NAANS, NABIS, NABKS, NADAS, NAFFS, NAGAS, NAIBS, NAIDS, NAIFS, NAIKS, NAILS, NAINS, NAIOS, NAKAS, NALAS, NAMUS, NANAS, NANOS, NAPAS, NASAL, NASHI, NASHO, NASIS, NASON, NASUS, NAZIS, OAFOS, OASAL, OASIS, PAALS, PAANS, PACAS, PACKS, PACOS, PADAS, PADIS, PAHOS, PAHUS, PAIKS, PAILS, PAINS, PAIPS, PALAS, PALIS, PALLS, PALMS, PALPS, PALUS, PANDS, PANGS, PANKS, PAPAS, PASAG, PASCH, PASHA, PASHM, PASKA, PASMO, PASPY, PAUAS, PAULS, PAVAS, PAVIS, PAWAS, PAWKS, PAWLS, PAWNS, QADIS, QAIDS, SAAGS, SABAL, SABHA, SABIN, SABJI, SABOS, SABZI, SACKS, SADDO, SADDY, SADHU, SADIC, SADIS, SADLY, SADOS, SADZA, SAGAS, SAGGY, SAGOS, SAGUM, SAHAB, SAHIB, SAICK, SAICS, SAIDS, SAIGA, SAILS, SAIMS, SAINS, SAJOU, SAKAI, SAKIA, SAKIS, SALAD, SALAL, SALAS, SALIC, SALIS, SALIX, SALLY, SALMI, SALOL, SALON, SALOP, SALPA, SALPS, SALUD, SALVO, SAMAN, SAMAS, SAMBA, SAMBO, SAMFI, SAMFU, SAMMY, SAMPI, SAMPS, SANAD, SANDS, SANDY, SANGA, SANGH, SANGO, SANGS, SANKO, SAOLA, SAPAN, SAPID, SAPPY, SASIN, SAUBA, SAUCH, SAUCY, SAUGH, SAULS, SAUNA, SAUNF, SAVIN, SAVOY, SAVVY, SAWAH, SAYAS, SAYID, SAYON, VACAS, VADAS, VAGUS, VAIDS, VAILS, VAKAS, VALIS, VAMPS, VANGS, VASAL, WAACS, WACKS, WADAS, WADDS, WADIS, WAFFS, WAIFS, WAILS, WAINS, WAKAS, WAKFS, WALDS, WALIS, WALKS, WALLS, WAMUS, WANDS, WANGS, WANKS, WAQFS, WASHI, WASHY, WASMS, WASPS, WASPY, WAUKS, WAULS, WAWAS, WAWLS, YABAS, YACKS, YAFFS, YAGIS, YANGS, YANKS, YAPPS, YAUDS, YAUPS, YAWLS, YAWNS, YAWPS, YAYAS, ZACKS, ZAMIS, ZAWNS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test PALIS against the 492 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    492 before → 31 after. This feedback leaves 31 candidates.

    All 31 surviving candidates

    AAPAS, BAAPS, BAPUS, CAMPS, CAPAS, CAPHS, CAPOS, CAUPS, DAMPS, GAMPS, GAPOS, GASPS, GAUPS, GAWPS, HAPAS, HAPUS, HASPS, JAAPS, JASPS, JAUPS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, MAWPS, NAPAS, SAMPS, VAMPS, WASPS, YAPPS, YAUPS, YAWPS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 19.34. Information: 2.481 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test GAUPS against the 31 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    31 before → 3 after. This feedback leaves 3 candidates.

    All 3 surviving candidates

    BAPUS, HAPUS, KAPUS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 7.645. Information: 2.332 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test BAPUS against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 2 surviving candidates

    HAPUS, KAPUS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.667. Information: 0.918 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  5. Test HAPUS against the 2 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    HAPUS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 5 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 5.

Continue this board in the Solver

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE02010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)49255
CRANE00100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)148466
SLATE10100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)68566
ADIEU10001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)43455
STARE10100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)66266
AUDIO11000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)30555
RAISE02010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)49435
ROATE00100 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)140466
SALET12000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)46666
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 1 · 4 guesses: 0 · 5 guesses: 3 · 6 guesses: 5 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 0 · 4 guesses: 0 · 5 guesses: 4 · 6 guesses: 5 · Failed in six: 0

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 3–6 guesses among successes; 0 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

26 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include HOPES, HEAPS, PASHA, HARPS, HUMPS, HUMPH, HYPES, HUMPY, BAHUT, BAHUS. 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 worked board still allows 10 different answers at one later decision: AAPAS, BAPUS, CAPAS, CAPHS, HAPAS, HAPUS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, NAPAS. 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: AAPAS, BAPUS, CAPAS, CAPHS, HAPAS, HAPUS, KAPAS, KAPHS, KAPUS, NAPAS.

A lesson from this route

Before HAPAS, 10 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

HAPUS can come back 85 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

540 answers
315 answers
172 answers
167 answers
164 answers
101 answers
87 answers
66 answers
57 answers
54 answers
45 answers
40 answers
40 answers
34 answers
32 answers
31 answers
29 answers
27 answers
27 answers
24 answers
22 answers
18 answers
18 answers
16 answers
15 answers
14 answers
13 answers
12 answers
12 answers
12 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

H4A1P3U1S1
Total: 10 points

Words With Friends

Total: 11 points

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

Try next

DINER ALERT TRINE RONTE BRINE WRITE

Strategy after playing HAPUS

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing HAPUS:

23% chance
Suggested:
DINER
13% chance
Suggested:
ALERT
7% chance
Suggested:
TRINE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

22.6% →
DINER 6.03 bits
13.2% →
ALERT 5.47 bits
7.2% →
TRINE 4.71 bits
7.0% →
RONTE 5.54 bits
6.9% →
BRINE 4.94 bits
4.2% →
WRITE 5.35 bits
3.6% →
STIRE 4.83 bits
2.8% →
PRONE 5.02 bits
2.4% →
SPITE 4.54 bits
2.3% →
STUNG 4.07 bits

Research on HAPUS

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

Optimal play

Opening with HAPUS, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.73 guesses and ranks #6,748 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 #2,699 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.70, 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.

Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT).