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

MERDS

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

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

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check MERDS on Wiktionary or report a missing entry.

Use MERDS in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 93.5% of possible answers.

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

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 MERDS performs as a guess

Wordle accepts MERDS 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 83.2% of games, misses completely in 16.8%, and leaves about 156 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #4,069 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.65 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 MERDS 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.

4.79 Entropy (bits)
156 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
93.5% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How MERDS 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.

3.65 Avg guesses
99.92% Solved within six
0.69 Spread of game lengths
#4,069 Rank among openers
Opening with MERDS 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 3.65 average. It ranks #4,069 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
61
3 guesses
906
4 guesses
1,183
5 guesses
189
6 guesses
13

Composition

5/5 unique
1 vowels
Common:
ERS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
83%
Green tile
24%
All gray
17%

Feedback distribution

MERDS can come back 94 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

400 answers
229 answers
212 answers
178 answers
168 answers
126 answers
77 answers
70 answers
55 answers
54 answers
53 answers
51 answers
49 answers
45 answers
43 answers
37 answers
36 answers
33 answers
24 answers
23 answers
23 answers
21 answers
21 answers
20 answers
19 answers
17 answers
16 answers
16 answers
15 answers
15 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

M3E1R1D2S1
Total: 8 points

Words With Friends

Total: 9 points

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

Strategy after playing MERDS

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing MERDS:

17% chance
Suggested:
TONAL
10% chance
Suggested:
ALINE
9% chance
Suggested:
SLANT

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

16.8% →
TONAL 5.95 bits
9.6% →
ALINE 5.39 bits
8.9% →
SLANT 5.30 bits
7.5% →
POTAE 4.46 bits
7.0% →
TRAIN 5.31 bits
5.3% →
SLANT 4.93 bits
3.2% →
THALE 4.57 bits
2.9% →
DAILY 4.67 bits
2.3% →
COAST 4.48 bits
2.3% →
COALY 4.43 bits

Research on MERDS

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

Optimal play

Opening with MERDS, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.68 guesses and ranks #3,500 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 MERDS can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.65, at or below the proven-optimal 3.68, 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).