Why letter frequency matters
In five-letter English words the most common letters are roughly E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S and N. A starter that covers five of these rules in or out a large share of possible answers at once.
Strong opening words
- CRANE and SLATE: high-frequency consonants plus two vowels.
- TRACE and CRATE: strong letters in common positions.
- ADIEU and AUDIO: find the vowels fast, weaker on consonants.
- STARE and ROAST: good all-rounders.
A simple second guess
If your first guess found little, play a second word with five completely new common letters (for example CRANE then SPLIT or TOILS). Two complementary guesses cover ten letters and usually reveal three or more letters of the answer.
Watch for double letters
Answers like ABBEY or SPOON repeat letters. If you are stuck with few letters found, consider that one letter appears twice.
Try today's Wordy below. Everyone gets the same word, so share your emoji grid when you're done.