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

RATOO

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

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

As an opener, it rules out about 93.4% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check RATOO 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 RATOO performs as a guess

Wordle accepts RATOO 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 83.4% of games, misses completely in 16.6%, and leaves about 156 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #6,958 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.

First-turn measures

All four describe RATOO 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.

4.71 Entropy (bits)
156 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
93.4% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 66% of evaluated openers
1.23 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How RATOO 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
99.92% Solved within six
0.73 Spread of game lengths
#6,958 Rank among openers
Opening with RATOO left 2 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.73 means those games clustered within about 0.73 of a guess of the 3.70 average. It ranks #6,958 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
68
3 guesses
852
4 guesses
1,169
5 guesses
240
6 guesses
23
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
3 vowels
Common:
AORT

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
83%
Green tile
26%
All gray
17%

Feedback distribution

RATOO can come back 97 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

394 answers
221 answers
208 answers
163 answers
156 answers
125 answers
122 answers
102 answers
86 answers
69 answers
56 answers
47 answers
44 answers
41 answers
39 answers
34 answers
32 answers
29 answers
24 answers
23 answers
20 answers
20 answers
19 answers
18 answers
18 answers
15 answers
13 answers
13 answers
11 answers
11 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

R1A1T1O1O1
Total: 5 points

Words With Friends

Total: 5 points

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

Strategy after playing RATOO

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing RATOO:

17% chance
Suggested:
SLICE
9% chance
Suggested:
SLANE
9% chance
Suggested:
SEINE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

16.6%
SLICE 6.05 bits
9.3%
SLANE 5.53 bits
8.8%
SEINE 5.11 bits
6.9%
CLONE 5.18 bits
6.6%
SIENT 5.47 bits
5.3%
CRANE 4.57 bits
5.1%
SIDLE 4.63 bits
4.3%
SONCE 4.57 bits
3.6%
LEAST 5.01 bits
2.9%
TRITE 4.58 bits

Research on RATOO

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

Optimal play

Opening with RATOO, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.74 guesses and ranks #7,562 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 RATOO can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.70, at or below the proven-optimal 3.74, 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

Three syllables, stress on the second syllable Say it RAHTOOOH. 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.