Very unlikely Accepted guess A tier for first-turn info

TRAPE

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

Meaning and pronunciation

Pronunciation: /tɹeɪ̯p//tɹæɪ̯p//tɹep/

Verb

To drag.

“No, that coat's too big; it'll trape along the ground if you wear it.”

Verb

To run about idly or like a slattern.

Noun

A messy or untidy woman.

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

Etymology

Perhaps via Medieval Latin *trappa, from Old English træppe /treppe (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *trap-, from Proto-Indo-European *dreb-, from *der- (“to walk, step”).

Source: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA)

Use TRAPE in a puzzle

As an opener, it rules out about 96.4% 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 TRAPE performs as a guess

Wordle accepts TRAPE 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 88.4% of games, misses completely in 11.6%, and leaves about 86 possible answers on average.

In the previous complete opener benchmark, it ranks #50 of 14,855 openers, averaging 3.55 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 TRAPE 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.

5.65 Entropy (bits)
86 Avg remaining
0.0% Exact match
96.4% Avg ruled out

As an opening guess: previous benchmark

How TRAPE 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.

3.55 Avg guesses
99.92% Solved within six
0.70 Spread of game lengths
#50 Rank among openers
Opening with TRAPE left 2 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 3.55 average. It ranks #50 of 14,855 openers by average guesses in games solved within six.
1 guess
0
2 guesses
102
3 guesses
1,035
4 guesses
1,057
5 guesses
147
6 guesses
11

Composition

5/5 unique
2 vowels
Common:
AERT

Feedback chances

Any hit (G/Y)
88%
Green tile
40%
All gray
12%

When TRAPE is useful later

TRAPE 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 ADIEU: 3 candidates, normal mode

ADIEU: 00000 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

SLOPS: 00202 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

NOOBS: 02202 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

COOMS: 02212 (0 = grey, 1 = yellow, 2 = green).

Remaining answers: MOOKS, MOORS, MOOTS.

With a budget of 2 more guesses, TRAPE 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 TRAPE

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 → 5 after. This feedback leaves 5 candidates.

    All 5 surviving candidates

    TIARE, TRACE, TRADE, TRAPE, TRAVE

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test TRACE against the 5 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 3 surviving candidates

    TRADE, TRAPE, TRAVE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.037. Information: 0.161 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test TRADE against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 2 surviving candidates

    TRAPE, TRAVE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.311. Information: 0.894 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test TRAPE against the 2 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    TRAPE

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 4 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 → 5 after. This feedback leaves 5 candidates.

    All 5 surviving candidates

    TIARE, TRACE, TRADE, TRAPE, TRAVE

    Decision measures before feedback

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

  2. Test TRACE against the 5 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 3 surviving candidates

    TRADE, TRAPE, TRAVE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.037. Information: 0.161 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  3. Test TRADE against the 3 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 2 surviving candidates

    TRAPE, TRAVE

    Decision measures before feedback

    Expected remaining candidates: 1.311. Information: 0.894 bits. These measures describe the decision before its realised feedback.

  4. Test TRAPE against the 2 candidates consistent with the earlier rows.

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

    All 1 surviving candidates

    TRAPE

    Decision measures before feedback

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

Solved in 4 guesses. Uniquely identified on turn 4.

Continue this board in the Solver

How the fixed opener panel performs on this answer

OpenerFirst feedbackSurvivorsNormalHard Mode
TARSE21102 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)544
CRANE02202 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)3054
SLATE00212 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)1144
ADIEU10010 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)77554
STARE01212 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)1454
AUDIO10000 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)251344
RAISE11002 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)7766
ROATE10212 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)644
SALET01011 (0 grey, 1 yellow, 2 green)9255
Normal mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 0 · 4 guesses: 4 · 5 guesses: 4 · 6 guesses: 1 · Failed in six: 0
Hard Mode
1 guess: 0 · 2 guesses: 0 · 3 guesses: 0 · 4 guesses: 7 · 5 guesses: 1 · 6 guesses: 1 · Failed in six: 0

The nine openers use the same pool and continuation policy. Across both modes: 4–6 guesses among successes; 0 of 18 configurations failed. This is performance on this answer, not an overall opener ranking.

17 openers set up a two-turn opportunity; examples include PLATE, PASTE, TAPES, TAPED, TAPER, LEAPT, SPATE, PARTE, TAUPE, PETAR. 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: TIARE, TRACE, TRADE, TRAPE, TRAVE. 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: TIARE, TRACE, TRADE, TRAPE, TRAVE.

A lesson from this route

Before TRACE, 5 words still fit. Its feedback left 3; 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

TRAPE can come back 135 different ways. These are the most likely, and how many of the possible answers give each one:

277 answers
149 answers
128 answers
119 answers
118 answers
115 answers
81 answers
68 answers
64 answers
58 answers
57 answers
51 answers
50 answers
49 answers
46 answers
39 answers
38 answers
34 answers
32 answers
31 answers
28 answers
25 answers
24 answers
22 answers
21 answers
21 answers
21 answers
21 answers
20 answers
19 answers

Letter-value totals

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

Scrabble

T1R1A1P3E1
Total: 7 points

Words With Friends

Total: 8 points

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

Strategy after playing TRAPE

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

Quick reference

Largest feedback groups after playing TRAPE:

12% chance
Suggested:
SOILY
6% chance
Suggested:
SONLY
5% chance
Suggested:
OLDEN

Follow-ups for common patterns

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

11.6% →
SOILY 5.73 bits
6.2% →
SONLY 5.19 bits
5.4% →
OLDEN 4.99 bits
5.0% →
HOIST 5.17 bits
4.9% →
SOILY 4.70 bits
4.8% →
SOILY 3.85 bits
3.4% →
SORRY 4.75 bits
2.8% →
CAROL 4.48 bits
2.7% →
SLACK 4.54 bits
2.4% →
SAULT 4.16 bits

Research on TRAPE

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

Optimal play

Opening with TRAPE, a proven-optimal strategy averages 3.58 guesses and ranks #45 of 14,855 legal openers. The best proven opener, TARSE, averages 3.55.

In hard mode it averages 3.69 guesses at best and is rank #6 of the 7,453 openers that can still guarantee a solve within six guesses.

Our six-turn simulation says 3.55, at or below the proven-optimal 3.58, 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).