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

KERKY

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

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

As an opener, it rules out about 87.9% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check KERKY 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 KERKY performs as a guess

Wordle accepts KERKY 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 77.0% of games, misses completely in 23.0%, and leaves about 287 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #14,099 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.91 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 KERKY 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.

3.72 Entropy (bits)
287 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
87.9% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 12% of evaluated openers
2.22 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How KERKY 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.

3.91 Avg guesses
99.79% Solved within six
0.72 Spread of game lengths
#14,099 Rank among openers
Opening with KERKY left 5 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.72 means those games clustered within about 0.72 of a guess of the 3.91 average. It ranks #14,099 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
26
3 guesses
606
4 guesses
1,313
5 guesses
364
6 guesses
40
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

4/5 unique
1 vowels
Common:
ER

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
77%
Green tile
30%
All gray
23%

Feedback distribution

KERKY can come back 51 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

546 answers
421 answers
263 answers
245 answers
205 answers
118 answers
64 answers
63 answers
57 answers
39 answers
34 answers
32 answers
29 answers
26 answers
24 answers
23 answers
21 answers
21 answers
20 answers
16 answers
13 answers
10 answers
10 answers
9 answers
8 answers
7 answers
7 answers
5 answers
4 answers
3 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

K5E1R1K5Y4
Total: 16 points

Words With Friends

Total: 15 points

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

Strategy after playing KERKY

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing KERKY:

23% chance
Suggested:
SAINT
18% chance
Suggested:
SLANT
11% chance
Suggested:
STAIR

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

23.0%
SAINT 6.15 bits
17.7%
SLANT 5.64 bits
11.1%
STAIR 4.43 bits
10.3%
TRAIN 5.25 bits
8.6%
SAULT 4.68 bits
5.0%
LIANE 4.43 bits
2.7%
COAST 4.87 bits
2.7%
CAULK 4.41 bits
2.4%
LATER 3.81 bits
1.6%
CHASE 4.16 bits

Research on KERKY

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

Optimal play

Opening with KERKY, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.91 guesses and ranks #14,076 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

No guaranteed hard-mode solve In hard mode, no strategy that opens with KERKY can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.91, at or below the proven-optimal 3.91, 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

Two syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it KURKEE. 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.