Very unlikely Accepted guess S tier for first-turn info

SOARE

SOARE is an accepted guess. Its modelled answer likelihood is very unlikely; no globally completed appearance is recorded here.

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /sɔː//sɔɹ//so(ː)ɹ/

Noun

Obsolete form of sore (“A young hawk”).

Source: Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Corrections.

Use SOARE in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 97.3% of possible answers.

Wordle status

Answer chance: very unlikely. Roughly 0.05% within a year (about 1 in 2,113), under the model through 2026-11-05. This is an estimate, not a publisher forecast. How this is calculated.

Playable guess

Yes

Included in the Wordle guess list used by our tools.

Earlier benchmark pool

No

Membership in the preserved uniform benchmark; it is not a future eligibility rule.

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 SOARE performs as a guess

Wordle accepts SOARE as a guess. It is outside this preserved uniform benchmark’s answer pool; that is not a claim about future eligibility.

Played as an opener, it lands at least one colored tile in 92.1% of games, misses completely in 7.9%, and leaves about 64 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #1,451 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.61 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 SOARE 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.

5.89 Entropy (bits)
64 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
97.3% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How SOARE 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.

3.61 Avg guesses
99.96% Solved within six
0.73 Spread of game lengths
#1,451 Rank among openers
Opening with SOARE left 1 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 3.61 average. It ranks #1,451 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
96
3 guesses
959
4 guesses
1,089
5 guesses
187
6 guesses
22

Composition

5/5 unique
3 vowels
Common:
AEORS

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
92%
Green tile
50%
All gray
8%

When SOARE is useful later

No standout example in the positions tested. All 108 sampled states were checked; SOARE was legal in 55.

Sample and method

Every saved board is reachable within a six-turn game. Remaining turns equal six minus the saved history length. The sampling policy is independent of the expected-survivor metric. Two states at each of three depths per opener were selected by a fixed hash from an independent candidate-only sampling policy. Every accepted guess was evaluated. Model answer-model-2026-11-05-9183a914c959, data through 2026-11-05. The score measures expected survivors, not proved solve length or human difficulty.

How this is calculated.

How the solver finds SOARE

The strategy receives only earlier guesses and their feedback. It does not know the answer before choosing a move. Guessing the answer itself on turn one is a lucky one-turn result, not a recommended general strategy.

Normal mode

Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    14,855 before → 8 after. This feedback leaves 8 candidates.

    All 8 surviving candidates

    SCARE, SEARE, SHARE, SNARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE, URSAE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test CONES against the 8 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    8 before → 1 after. This feedback leaves 1 candidate.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    SOARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 3.184. Information: 1.617 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Submit the only remaining candidate.

    1 before → 1 after. The answer is submitted and solved.

    All 1 surviving candidates

    SOARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 0.0 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

Solved in 3 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 2.

Continue this board in the Solver

Hard Mode

Our solver: bounded weighted policy. Current-pool replay over 14,855 accepted words. Model through 2026-11-05.

  1. The fixed opener tests its five letters.

    14,855 before → 8 after. This feedback leaves 8 candidates.

    All 8 surviving candidates

    SCARE, SEARE, SHARE, SNARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE, URSAE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 414.45. Information: 5.74 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  2. Test SCARE against the 8 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    8 before → 6 after. This feedback leaves 6 candidates.

    All 6 surviving candidates

    SEARE, SHARE, SNARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 4.75. Information: 0.983 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test SHARE against the 6 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    6 before → 5 after. This feedback leaves 5 candidates.

    All 5 surviving candidates

    SEARE, SNARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 3.912. Information: 0.844 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test SNARE against the 5 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    5 before → 4 after. This feedback leaves 4 candidates.

    All 4 surviving candidates

    SEARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 2.879. Information: 0.954 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  5. Test SPARE against the 4 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    4 before → 3 after. This feedback leaves 3 candidates.

    All 3 surviving candidates

    SEARE, SOARE, SWARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.806. Information: 0.973 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  6. Test SEARE against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

    3 before → 2 after. This feedback leaves 2 candidates.

    All 2 surviving candidates

    SOARE, SWARE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.667. Information: 0.918 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

This policy did not solve within six guesses.

Continue this board in the Solver

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE01112 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)83Not solved in six
CRANE01202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)3036
SLATE20202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)2546
ADIEU10010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)7754Not solved in six
STARE20222 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)73Not solved in six
AUDIO10001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)57433
RAISE11012 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)113Not solved in six
ROATE12202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)122
SALET21010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)644Not solved in six
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 1 · 3 guesses: 5 · 4 guesses: 3 · 5 guesses: 0 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 1 · 3 guesses: 1 · 4 guesses: 0 · 5 guesses: 0 · 6 guesses: 2 · Failed in six: 5

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 2–6 guesses among successes; 5 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

70 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include STORE, WORSE, SCORE, HORSE, ROADS, SHORE, SOBER, AROSE, PROSE, ADORE. After their feedback, this answer is among the most likely survivors with at least half the model probability. This is an opportunity, not a guarantee. An opener that immediately solves is excluded.

Why this answer can be difficult

The worked board still allows 8 different answers at one later decision: SCARE, SEARE, SHARE, SNARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE, URSAE. These are mechanical alternatives, not a judgement of vocabulary difficulty.

Vocabulary evidence and voluntary player results are reported separately from these solver observations.

Closest competing answers in this board

These words all fit the earlier feedback, rather than merely sharing similar spelling: SCARE, SEARE, SHARE, SNARE, SOARE, SPARE, SWARE, URSAE.

A lesson from this route

Before CONES, 8 words still fit. Its feedback left 1; check the full survivor list before choosing the next answer.

Try another opener or a different move

How this is calculated

The current policy checks all remaining candidates and up to 128 fixed probes. At six or fewer candidates it uses bounded lookahead, preferring modelled six-turn success, then speed among successes. Larger states use expected survivors as a heuristic. These are recommendations, not proofs of optimal play. Hard Mode retains green positions and revealed letter counts; it allows grey letters and a yellow in the same position. Candidate-only play is stricter.

Methods and limitations

Feedback distribution

SOARE can come back 128 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

190 answers
140 answers
124 answers
121 answers
91 answers
83 answers
70 answers
65 answers
62 answers
62 answers
59 answers
58 answers
48 answers
44 answers
42 answers
42 answers
40 answers
40 answers
39 answers
38 answers
35 answers
34 answers
28 answers
28 answers
28 answers
27 answers
26 answers
26 answers
24 answers
23 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

S1O1A1R1E1
Total: 5 points

Words With Friends

Total: 5 points

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

Strategy after playing SOARE

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing SOARE:

8% chance
Suggested:
CLING
6% chance
Suggested:
NATAL
5% chance
Suggested:
INLET

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

7.9% →
CLING 5.25 bits
5.9% →
NATAL 4.82 bits
5.2% →
INLET 5.10 bits
5.1% →
RIDER 4.41 bits
3.8% →
HOTLY 3.76 bits
3.5% →
GUILE 4.54 bits
2.9% →
PETAL 4.44 bits
2.7% →
STINK 4.40 bits
2.6% →
TRICK 4.39 bits
2.6% →
RATEL 3.58 bits

Research on SOARE

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

Optimal play

Opening with SOARE, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.61 guesses and ranks #336 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 SOARE can guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.61, at or below the proven-optimal 3.61, 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.

Familiarity and learning

Frequency
SOARE sits in the rare band of the wordfreq scale, appearing less than once per million words in the source corpus. Corpus frequency does not measure every reader’s familiarity.

Sources: Optimal-play values: Alex Selby's exhaustive Wordle analysis (MIT); Word frequency: wordfreq (data CC BY-SA 4.0).