LATEX
LATEX is accepted as a guess but is not on the solver's possible-answer list.
Meaning and pronunciation
Pronunciation: /ˈleɪtɛks//ˈleɪˌtɛks/
- Noun
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The milky sap of several trees that coagulates on exposure to air; used to make rubber.
- Noun
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An emulsion of rubber in water, used in adhesives and the like.
Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin latex (“clear fluid which is part of a humour or bodily fluid”), a later use of Latin latex (“water; liquid, fluid”). Potentially a borrowing from Ancient Greek λᾰ́τᾰξ (lắtăx, “drop of wine”), reformed by analogy to other nouns in -ex. The semantic shift, however, from drop of wine to water is difficult to explain and may indicate that both words originated from a separate language.
Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)
How it sounds
Two syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it LAYTEHKS.
In a sentence
Some people are allergic to latex.
Tom is allergic to latex.
Use LATEX in a puzzle
As an opener, it rules out about 94.2% of possible answers.
Wordle status
A word can be a playable guess without being a possible answer.
Playable guess
YesIncluded in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.
Possible answer
NoThe solver does not currently treat this as a possible answer.
Past Wordle answer
No completed appearanceNo 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.
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See what the public sample says →LATEX in Connections
1 recorded appearance in completed main-edition puzzles through . A category label alone does not establish a word's meaning.
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· Puzzle #531
Reveal this appearance's category
LATEX appeared in SECRETED BY TREES (green group).
How LATEX performs as a guess
Wordle accepts LATEX 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 86.2% of games, misses completely in 13.8%, and leaves about 137 possible answers on average.
In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #10,848 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.78 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.
Useful pattern pages
If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.
First-turn measures
All four describe LATEX 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.
As an opening guess: previous benchmark
How LATEX 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.
Composition
Feedback chances
Feedback distribution
LATEX can come back 90 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:
Letter-value totals
Base letter-value totals for LATEX; these do not show whether either game accepts the word.
Scrabble
Words With Friends
Scores shown are base values without double/triple letter or word bonuses.
Try next
Strategy after playing LATEX
What the solver recommends next for each way the board can respond to LATEX.
Quick reference
Largest feedback groups after playing LATEX:
Research on LATEX
Game-tree analysis and word research for LATEX, with an explanation for each figure.
Optimal play
Opening with LATEX, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.74 guesses and ranks #7,323 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 LATEX can guarantee a solve within six guesses.
Our six-turn simulation says 3.78; proven optimal play reaches 3.74. The fixed strategy accounts for the difference.
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
- LATEX sits in the intermediate band of the wordfreq scale, appearing about 3 times per million words of written English; the band marks it as a word most readers meet regularly.
- Dominant sense
- Lancaster raters associated it most strongly with touch (4.1 of 5).
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); Lancaster Sensorimotor Norms (CC BY 4.0).