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

LOAST

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

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

As an opener, it rules out about 96.1% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check LOAST 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.

Why this solver ranks LOAST highly

This solver ranks LOAST highly because it separates the possible answers well, even though it is not itself a possible answer.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 87.6% of games, misses completely in 12.4%, and leaves about 93 possible answers on average.

In the current bounded six-turn policy, it ranks #24 of 182 evaluated openers; exact misses rank first, then average guesses among wins.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #32 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.54 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 LOAST 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.

5.52 Entropy (bits)
93 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
96.1% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 99% of evaluated openers
0.43 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How LOAST 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.

3.54 Avg guesses
99.92% Solved within six
0.69 Spread of game lengths
#32 Rank among openers
Opening with LOAST left 2 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.69 means those games clustered within about 0.69 of a guess of the 3.54 average. It ranks #32 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
76
3 guesses
1,107
4 guesses
1,013
5 guesses
139
6 guesses
17
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

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ALOST

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
88%
Green tile
39%
All gray
12%

Feedback distribution

LOAST can come back 124 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

295 answers
166 answers
133 answers
108 answers
106 answers
104 answers
103 answers
89 answers
80 answers
57 answers
55 answers
50 answers
45 answers
41 answers
37 answers
35 answers
34 answers
34 answers
32 answers
31 answers
31 answers
31 answers
29 answers
28 answers
27 answers
23 answers
20 answers
20 answers
19 answers
19 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

L1O1A1S1T1
Total: 5 points

Words With Friends

Total: 6 points

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

Strategy after playing LOAST

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing LOAST:

12% chance
Suggested:
DINER
7% chance
Suggested:
RAMEN
6% chance
Suggested:
DRICE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

12.4%
DINER 6.03 bits
7.0%
RAMEN 5.14 bits
5.6%
DRICE 5.02 bits
4.5%
CRINE 5.30 bits
4.5%
CRONE 4.36 bits
4.4%
SPIER 5.29 bits
4.3%
TRITE 5.32 bits
3.7%
RAINE 4.42 bits
3.4%
DRICE 4.93 bits
2.4%
BARON 4.67 bits

Research on LOAST

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

Optimal play

Opening with LOAST, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.59 guesses and ranks #81 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.71 guesses at best and is rank #44 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.54, at or below the proven-optimal 3.59, 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

One syllable Say it LOHST. 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.