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

THELF

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

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

Meaning and pronunciation

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

Check THELF on Wiktionary or report a missing entry.

Use THELF in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 92.1% of possible answers.

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 THELF performs as a guess

Wordle accepts THELF 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 82.4% of games, misses completely in 17.6%, and leaves about 188 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #6,038 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.69 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 THELF 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.

4.61 Entropy (bits)
188 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
92.1% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How THELF 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.

3.69 Avg guesses
100% Solved within six
0.69 Spread of game lengths
#6,038 Rank among openers
Opening with THELF solved every answer in the snapshot within six guesses. A spread of 0.69 means those games clustered within about 0.69 of a guess of the 3.69 average. It ranks #6,038 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
50
3 guesses
877
4 guesses
1,203
5 guesses
210
6 guesses
14

Composition

5/5 unique
1 vowels
Common:
ELT

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
82%
Green tile
24%
All gray
18%

Feedback distribution

THELF can come back 90 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

419 answers
389 answers
171 answers
166 answers
134 answers
105 answers
77 answers
69 answers
61 answers
55 answers
48 answers
43 answers
38 answers
37 answers
33 answers
32 answers
31 answers
30 answers
28 answers
26 answers
25 answers
21 answers
19 answers
18 answers
17 answers
17 answers
14 answers
13 answers
13 answers
12 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

T1H4E1L1F4
Total: 11 points

Words With Friends

Total: 11 points

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

Strategy after playing THELF

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing THELF:

18% chance
Suggested:
ARSON
16% chance
Suggested:
SONAR
7% chance
Suggested:
SONAR

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

17.6%
ARSON 5.91 bits
16.4%
SONAR 5.45 bits
7.2%
SONAR 5.11 bits
7.0%
SAINT 5.45 bits
5.6%
LEARE 4.69 bits
4.4%
SEARE 4.89 bits
3.2%
SAUCY 4.64 bits
2.9%
IDYLL 4.13 bits
2.6%
SARED 4.38 bits
2.3%
ROANY 4.66 bits

Research on THELF

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

Optimal play

Opening with THELF, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.72 guesses and ranks #6,352 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.84 guesses at best and is rank #2,414 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.69, at or below the proven-optimal 3.72, 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).