5 FiveLetterWords
Very unlikely Accepted guess B tier for first-turn info

TELCO

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

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /ˈtɛlˌkəʊ/

Noun

A telephone company (historically); a telecommunications company, a telecom.

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

Etymology

Diachronically, from tel + Co., from the collocation of Tel. Co. as seen, for example, in Bell Tel. Co. or the names of countless local telephone exchange companies (e.g., Savannah Valley Tel. Co., Mutual Tel. Co., Tarrytown Tel. Co.), by abbreviation in the late 19th through mid-20th centuries; synchronically also a clipped compound as tel(ephone) + co(mpany).

Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)

How it sounds

Two syllables, stress on the first syllable Say it TEHLKOH.

Related meanings by dictionary sense

noun

a public utility that provides telephone service

Open English WordNet, 2025 edition, CC BY 4.0. Source dictionary. Senses are kept separate; no puzzle appearance is assigned to a meaning without evidence.

Use TELCO in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 95.4% of possible answers.

Open Solver with TELCO Open Word Finder

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 TELCO performs as a guess

Wordle accepts TELCO 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 89.3% of games, misses completely in 10.7%, and leaves about 109 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #1,429 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.
See strategy patterns

Useful pattern pages

If you only know part of the word, start with one of these matching patterns.

T___O T in the 1st position and O in the 5th position T__C_ T in the 1st position and C in the 4th position _E__O E in the 2nd position and O in the 5th position

Explore lists that match the beginning, ending or letters in TELCO.

First-turn measures

All four describe TELCO 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.

5.22 Entropy (bits)
109 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
95.4% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How TELCO 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
0.70 Spread of game lengths
#1,429 Rank among openers
Opening with TELCO left 1 of the snapshot's answers unsolved after six guesses. A spread of 0.70 means those games clustered within about 0.70 of a guess of the 3.61 average. It ranks #1,429 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
70
3 guesses
986
4 guesses
1,108
5 guesses
173
6 guesses
16

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
ELOT

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
89%
Green tile
27%
All gray
11%

When TELCO is useful later

TELCO tied for the smallest expected survivor count in 1 of 54 sampled positions where it was legal. This designed sample is not a measure of how often real players should use it.

After ROATE: 3 candidates, normal mode

ROATE: 10101 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

AWNER: 10011 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

ZEBRA: 01012 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: CREMA, ERICA, PRESA.

With a budget of 3 more guesses, TELCO 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 TELCO

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 → 73 after. This feedback leaves 73 candidates.

    All 73 surviving candidates

    TECHY, TECUM, TEDDY, TEEND, TEENY, TEETH, TEIID, TEIND, TELCO, TELEX, TELIC, TELLY, TELOI, TEMED, TEMPI, TEMPO, TEMPT, TENCH, TENDU, TENET, TENNO, TENNY, TENON, TENTH, TENTY, TEPID, TEPOY, TEUCH, TEUGH, TEWED, TEWEL, TEWIT, THEED, THEEK, THEFT, THEGN, THEIC, THEIN, THELF, THEOW, THEWY, THIEF, TICED, TIDED, TILED, TIMED, TINED, TOGED, TOKED, TOKEN, TOLED, TOMEN, TONED, TONEY, TOPED, TOPEK, TOTED, TOTEM, TOWED, TOWEL, TOYED, TOZED, TUBED, TUNED, TUPEK, TWEED, TWEEL, TWEEN, TWEEP, TWEET, TYNED, TYPED, TYPEY

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test TONED against the 73 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 5 surviving candidates

    TELCO, TELOI, TEMPO, TEPOY, THEOW

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 5.842. Information: 2.852 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test TEMPO against the 5 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    TELCO

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 1.946 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Submit the only remaining candidate.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    TELCO

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 4 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.

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 → 73 after. This feedback leaves 73 candidates.

    All 73 surviving candidates

    TECHY, TECUM, TEDDY, TEEND, TEENY, TEETH, TEIID, TEIND, TELCO, TELEX, TELIC, TELLY, TELOI, TEMED, TEMPI, TEMPO, TEMPT, TENCH, TENDU, TENET, TENNO, TENNY, TENON, TENTH, TENTY, TEPID, TEPOY, TEUCH, TEUGH, TEWED, TEWEL, TEWIT, THEED, THEEK, THEFT, THEGN, THEIC, THEIN, THELF, THEOW, THEWY, THIEF, TICED, TIDED, TILED, TIMED, TINED, TOGED, TOKED, TOKEN, TOLED, TOMEN, TONED, TONEY, TOPED, TOPEK, TOTED, TOTEM, TOWED, TOWEL, TOYED, TOZED, TUBED, TUNED, TUPEK, TWEED, TWEEL, TWEEN, TWEEP, TWEET, TYNED, TYPED, TYPEY

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test TONED against the 73 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 5 surviving candidates

    TELCO, TELOI, TEMPO, TEPOY, THEOW

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 5.842. Information: 2.852 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test TEMPO against the 5 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    TELCO

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.0. Information: 1.946 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Submit the only remaining candidate.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    TELCO

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 4 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 3.

Continue this board in the Solver

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE20001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)7344
CRANE10001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)12133
SLATE01011 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)5733
ADIEU00010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)128255
STARE01001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)27055
AUDIO00002 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)14644
RAISE00001 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)73633
ROATE01011 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)4444
SALET00211 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)1033
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 4 · 4 guesses: 3 · 5 guesses: 2 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 4 · 4 guesses: 3 · 5 guesses: 2 · 6 guesses: 0 · Failed in six: 0

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 3–5 guesses among successes; 0 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

83 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include CLOSE, COLOR, HELLO, TEACH, COLIN, ELECT, TEMPO, TORCH, CLONE, COLTS. 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 5 different answers at one later decision: TELCO, TELOI, TEMPO, TEPOY, THEOW. 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: TELCO, TELOI, TEMPO, TEPOY, THEOW.

A lesson from this route

Before TEMPO, 5 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

TELCO can come back 106 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

256 answers
256 answers
160 answers
129 answers
128 answers
110 answers
104 answers
93 answers
86 answers
72 answers
65 answers
55 answers
43 answers
40 answers
36 answers
35 answers
35 answers
35 answers
33 answers
33 answers
32 answers
31 answers
28 answers
26 answers
21 answers
19 answers
19 answers
19 answers
18 answers
16 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

T1E1L1C3O1
Total: 7 points

Words With Friends

Total: 9 points

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

Try next

DAISY ARISE ADORN SHIRT SNAIL BAILE

Strategy after playing TELCO

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing TELCO:

11% chance
Suggested:
DAISY
11% chance
Suggested:
ARISE
7% chance
Suggested:
ADORN

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

10.7% →
DAISY 5.55 bits
10.7% →
ARISE 5.44 bits
6.7% →
ADORN 5.11 bits
5.4% →
SHIRT 5.20 bits
5.4% →
SNAIL 5.02 bits
4.6% →
BAILE 4.51 bits
4.3% →
ROOSE 4.41 bits
3.9% →
RANSE 4.65 bits
3.6% →
SAREE 5.04 bits
3.0% →
ROOST 4.59 bits

Research on TELCO

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

Optimal play

Opening with TELCO, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.63 guesses and ranks #995 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.74 guesses at best and is rank #203 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.61, at or below the proven-optimal 3.63, 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
TELCO sits in the advanced 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); Pronunciation: CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (BSD); Word frequency: wordfreq (data CC BY-SA 4.0).