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

SERKS

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

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

As an opener, it rules out about 90.3% of possible answers.

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check SERKS 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 SERKS performs as a guess

Wordle accepts SERKS 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 77.5% of games, misses completely in 22.5%, and leaves about 231 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #12,256 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.82 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 SERKS 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.

4.21 Entropy (bits)
231 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
90.3% Avg ruled out
Higher first-turn entropy than about 33% of evaluated openers
1.74 bits below the highest measured first-turn entropy (~5.95 bits)

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How SERKS 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.

3.82 Avg guesses
99.87% Solved within six
0.71 Spread of game lengths
#12,256 Rank among openers
Opening with SERKS left 3 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.71 means those games clustered within about 0.71 of a guess of the 3.82 average. It ranks #12,256 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
31
3 guesses
730
4 guesses
1,253
5 guesses
310
6 guesses
27
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:
ERS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
78%
Green tile
33%
All gray
22%

Feedback distribution

SERKS can come back 66 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

533 answers
313 answers
229 answers
227 answers
127 answers
118 answers
81 answers
71 answers
70 answers
62 answers
51 answers
42 answers
30 answers
30 answers
27 answers
26 answers
24 answers
21 answers
21 answers
20 answers
20 answers
18 answers
17 answers
16 answers
13 answers
12 answers
11 answers
10 answers
9 answers
8 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

S1E1R1K5S1
Total: 9 points

Words With Friends

Total: 9 points

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

Strategy after playing SERKS

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing SERKS:

22% chance
Suggested:
TONAL
13% chance
Suggested:
ANILE
10% chance
Suggested:
TRAIN

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

22.5%
TONAL 5.82 bits
13.2%
ANILE 5.46 bits
9.6%
TRAIN 5.23 bits
9.6%
IRATE 4.30 bits
5.3%
SLANT 4.62 bits
5.0%
THALE 4.56 bits
3.4%
PLATE 4.70 bits
3.0%
COALY 4.54 bits
2.9%
WAIST 4.57 bits
2.6%
LATER 3.81 bits

Research on SERKS

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

Optimal play

Opening with SERKS, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.83 guesses and ranks #11,962 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 SERKS can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.82, at or below the proven-optimal 3.83, 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 SURKS. 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.