Very unlikely Accepted guess C tier for first-turn info

SOUTS

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

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

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check SOUTS on Wiktionary or report a missing entry.

Use SOUTS in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 88.8% 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 SOUTS performs as a guess

Wordle accepts SOUTS 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 71.6% of games, misses completely in 28.4%, and leaves about 267 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #9,391 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.75 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 SOUTS 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.

4.27 Entropy (bits)
267 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
88.8% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How SOUTS 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.

3.75 Avg guesses
99.79% Solved within six
0.71 Spread of game lengths
#9,391 Rank among openers
Opening with SOUTS left 5 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 3.75 average. It ranks #9,391 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
42
3 guesses
812
4 guesses
1,216
5 guesses
253
6 guesses
26

Composition

4/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
OSTU

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
72%
Green tile
37%
All gray
28%

When SOUTS is useful later

SOUTS tied for the smallest expected survivor count in 1 of 55 sampled positions where it was legal. This designed sample is not a measure of how often real players should use it.

After STARE: 4 candidates, normal mode

STARE: 11020 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: TIRRS, TORRS, TOURS, TURRS.

With a budget of 5 more guesses, SOUTS is an information probe, outside this survivor list. It leaves 1.00 candidates on average under the model. Every feedback identifies a single candidate; another turn may be needed to submit it.

Try this position in the Solver
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 SOUTS

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 → 303 after. This feedback leaves 303 candidates.

    All 303 surviving candidates

    BHUTS, BINTS, BITOS, BITTS, BLITS, BLOTS, BOLTS, BOOTS, BOTOS, BOTTS, BOUTS, BUNTS, BUSTI, BUSTS, BUSTY, BUTTS, CHITS, CHUTS, CISTS, CLITS, CLOTS, COITS, COLTS, COOTS, COSTS, COTHS, COTTS, CUITS, CULTS, CUNTS, CUTIS, CYSTS, DICTS, DINTS, DITTS, DOITS, DOLTS, DOUTS, DOWTS, DUCTS, DUITS, DUNTS, DUSTS, DUSTY, FISTS, FISTY, FITTS, FLITS, FONTS, FOOTS, FUNTS, FUSTS, FUSTY, GIFTS, GILTS, GISTS, GLITS, GLUTS, GOSHT, GOTHS, GOUTS, GUSTO, GUSTS, GUSTY, HILTS, HINTS, HISTS, HOLTS, HOOTS, HOSTS, HOTIS, HOUTS, HUNTS, ICTUS, INTIS, JILTS, JITIS, JOLTS, JUSTS, KILTS, KISTS, KITHS, KNITS, KNOTS, KNUTS, KOTOS, KUSTI, KUTIS, KUTUS, LIFTS, LILTS, LINTS, LISTS, LITHS, LOFTS, LOOTS, LOTOS, LOTUS, LOUTS, LOWTS, LUNTS, LUSTS, LUSTY, MILTS, MINTS, MISTO, MISTS, MISTY, MITIS, MITTS, MOITS, MOLTS, MOOTS, MOSTO, MOSTS, MOTHS, MOTIS, MOTTS, MOTUS, MUNTS, MUSIT, MUSTH, MUSTS, MUSTY, MUTIS, MUTTS, MYTHS, NOWTS, OBITS, OINTS, OMITS, OONTS, OPSIT, OTTOS, OUSTS, PHOTS, PHUTS, PINTS, PITHS, PLOTS, POLTS, PONTS, POOTS, POSIT, POSTS, POTTS, POUTS, PSHUT, PUNTS, PUTOS, PUTTS, PYOTS, QUITS, SCOOT, SCOTS, SCOUT, SCUFT, SCUTS, SHIFT, SHITS, SHOOT, SHOTS, SHOTT, SHOUT, SHTIK, SHTUM, SHTUP, SHUNT, SHUTS, SICHT, SIFTS, SIGHT, SILTS, SILTY, SISTS, SITCH, SITUP, SITUS, SIXTH, SIXTY, SKINT, SKITS, SLIPT, SLITS, SLOOT, SLOTH, SLOTS, SLUIT, SLUTS, SMITH, SMITS, SMOLT, SMOOT, SMOUT, SMOWT, SMUTS, SNIFT, SNITS, SNOOT, SNOTS, SNOUT, SOFTS, SOFTY, SOOTH, SOOTS, SOOTY, SOTHS, SOTOL, SOTTO, SOUCT, SOUTH, SOUTS, SOWTH, SPILT, SPITS, SPITZ, SPLIT, SPOOT, SPOTS, SPOUT, SQUIT, STICH, STICK, STIFF, STILB, STILL, STILT, STIMS, STIMY, STING, STINK, STINT, STIVY, STOBS, STOCK, STOGS, STOGY, STOIC, STOIT, STOLN, STOMP, STOND, STONG, STONK, STONN, STONY, STOOD, STOOK, STOOL, STOOP, STOPS, STOPT, STOTS, STOTT, STOUN, STOUP, STOUT, STOWN, STOWP, STOWS, STUBS, STUCK, STUCS, STUDS, STUDY, STUFF, STULL, STULM, STUMM, STUMP, STUMS, STUNG, STUNK, STUNS, STUNT, STYLI, STYLO, STYMY, SUINT, SUITS, SUNTS, SWIFT, SWITH, SWITS, SWOPT, SWOTS, SYNTH, UNITS, VINTS, VISIT, VISTO, VOLTS, WHITS, WIFTS, WILTS, WISHT, WISTS, WITHS, WONTS, XYSTI, XYSTS, YUFTS, ZITIS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test POUTS against the 303 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 6 surviving candidates

    BOUTS, DOUTS, GOUTS, HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 10.767. Information: 3.452 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

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

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

    All 4 surviving candidates

    DOUTS, GOUTS, HOUTS, SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 3.0. Information: 1.252 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test SADES against the 4 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.5. Information: 1.5 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  5. Submit the only remaining candidate.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 5 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 4.

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 → 303 after. This feedback leaves 303 candidates.

    All 303 surviving candidates

    BHUTS, BINTS, BITOS, BITTS, BLITS, BLOTS, BOLTS, BOOTS, BOTOS, BOTTS, BOUTS, BUNTS, BUSTI, BUSTS, BUSTY, BUTTS, CHITS, CHUTS, CISTS, CLITS, CLOTS, COITS, COLTS, COOTS, COSTS, COTHS, COTTS, CUITS, CULTS, CUNTS, CUTIS, CYSTS, DICTS, DINTS, DITTS, DOITS, DOLTS, DOUTS, DOWTS, DUCTS, DUITS, DUNTS, DUSTS, DUSTY, FISTS, FISTY, FITTS, FLITS, FONTS, FOOTS, FUNTS, FUSTS, FUSTY, GIFTS, GILTS, GISTS, GLITS, GLUTS, GOSHT, GOTHS, GOUTS, GUSTO, GUSTS, GUSTY, HILTS, HINTS, HISTS, HOLTS, HOOTS, HOSTS, HOTIS, HOUTS, HUNTS, ICTUS, INTIS, JILTS, JITIS, JOLTS, JUSTS, KILTS, KISTS, KITHS, KNITS, KNOTS, KNUTS, KOTOS, KUSTI, KUTIS, KUTUS, LIFTS, LILTS, LINTS, LISTS, LITHS, LOFTS, LOOTS, LOTOS, LOTUS, LOUTS, LOWTS, LUNTS, LUSTS, LUSTY, MILTS, MINTS, MISTO, MISTS, MISTY, MITIS, MITTS, MOITS, MOLTS, MOOTS, MOSTO, MOSTS, MOTHS, MOTIS, MOTTS, MOTUS, MUNTS, MUSIT, MUSTH, MUSTS, MUSTY, MUTIS, MUTTS, MYTHS, NOWTS, OBITS, OINTS, OMITS, OONTS, OPSIT, OTTOS, OUSTS, PHOTS, PHUTS, PINTS, PITHS, PLOTS, POLTS, PONTS, POOTS, POSIT, POSTS, POTTS, POUTS, PSHUT, PUNTS, PUTOS, PUTTS, PYOTS, QUITS, SCOOT, SCOTS, SCOUT, SCUFT, SCUTS, SHIFT, SHITS, SHOOT, SHOTS, SHOTT, SHOUT, SHTIK, SHTUM, SHTUP, SHUNT, SHUTS, SICHT, SIFTS, SIGHT, SILTS, SILTY, SISTS, SITCH, SITUP, SITUS, SIXTH, SIXTY, SKINT, SKITS, SLIPT, SLITS, SLOOT, SLOTH, SLOTS, SLUIT, SLUTS, SMITH, SMITS, SMOLT, SMOOT, SMOUT, SMOWT, SMUTS, SNIFT, SNITS, SNOOT, SNOTS, SNOUT, SOFTS, SOFTY, SOOTH, SOOTS, SOOTY, SOTHS, SOTOL, SOTTO, SOUCT, SOUTH, SOUTS, SOWTH, SPILT, SPITS, SPITZ, SPLIT, SPOOT, SPOTS, SPOUT, SQUIT, STICH, STICK, STIFF, STILB, STILL, STILT, STIMS, STIMY, STING, STINK, STINT, STIVY, STOBS, STOCK, STOGS, STOGY, STOIC, STOIT, STOLN, STOMP, STOND, STONG, STONK, STONN, STONY, STOOD, STOOK, STOOL, STOOP, STOPS, STOPT, STOTS, STOTT, STOUN, STOUP, STOUT, STOWN, STOWP, STOWS, STUBS, STUCK, STUCS, STUDS, STUDY, STUFF, STULL, STULM, STUMM, STUMP, STUMS, STUNG, STUNK, STUNS, STUNT, STYLI, STYLO, STYMY, SUINT, SUITS, SUNTS, SWIFT, SWITH, SWITS, SWOPT, SWOTS, SYNTH, UNITS, VINTS, VISIT, VISTO, VOLTS, WHITS, WIFTS, WILTS, WISHT, WISTS, WITHS, WONTS, XYSTI, XYSTS, YUFTS, ZITIS

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test POUTS against the 303 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 6 surviving candidates

    BOUTS, DOUTS, GOUTS, HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 10.767. Information: 3.452 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

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

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

    All 5 surviving candidates

    DOUTS, GOUTS, HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 4.333. Information: 0.65 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

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

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

    All 4 surviving candidates

    GOUTS, HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 3.4. Information: 0.722 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

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

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

    All 3 surviving candidates

    HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 2.5. Information: 0.811 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

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

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

    All 2 surviving candidates

    LOUTS, SOUTS

    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
TARSE10010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)3035Not solved in six
CRANE00000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)17875Not solved in six
SLATE20020 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)3744
ADIEU00001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)94146
STARE21000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)7865
AUDIO01001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)2846Not solved in six
RAISE00010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)9525Not solved in six
ROATE02020 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)1005Not solved in six
SALET20001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)10155
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 0 · 4 guesses: 2 · 5 guesses: 5 · 6 guesses: 2 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 0 · 4 guesses: 1 · 5 guesses: 2 · 6 guesses: 1 · Failed in six: 5

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 4–6 guesses among successes; 5 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

3 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include SOUTH, SHOUT, OUSTS. 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 answer contains 2 copies of S. Feedback allocates exact matches before misplaced copies; a grey duplicate does not erase another coloured copy.

The worked board still allows 6 different answers at one later decision: BOUTS, DOUTS, GOUTS, HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS. 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: BOUTS, DOUTS, GOUTS, HOUTS, LOUTS, SOUTS.

A lesson from this route

Before BALES, 6 words still fit. Its feedback left 4; 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

SOUTS can come back 80 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

678 answers
214 answers
207 answers
149 answers
144 answers
138 answers
67 answers
67 answers
60 answers
51 answers
47 answers
43 answers
36 answers
32 answers
31 answers
26 answers
23 answers
23 answers
20 answers
20 answers
20 answers
19 answers
15 answers
15 answers
14 answers
13 answers
13 answers
13 answers
13 answers
12 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

S1O1U1T1S1
Total: 5 points

Words With Friends

Total: 6 points

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

Strategy after playing SOUTS

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing SOUTS:

28% chance
Suggested:
RAILE
9% chance
Suggested:
TREAT
9% chance
Suggested:
CRANE

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

28.4% →
RAILE 6.23 bits
9.0% →
TREAT 5.48 bits
8.7% →
CRANE 5.44 bits
6.2% →
CARLE 4.72 bits
6.0% →
PARLE 5.32 bits
5.8% →
MARLE 4.65 bits
2.8% →
PALER 5.08 bits
2.8% →
LEANT 4.60 bits
2.5% →
LEARY 4.47 bits
2.1% →
ARIEL 4.48 bits

Research on SOUTS

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

Optimal play

Opening with SOUTS, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.80 guesses and ranks #10,746 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.95 guesses at best and is rank #5,367 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.75, at or below the proven-optimal 3.80, 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).