I solve Wordle inside four guesses most days by following the same simple routine, and here is the exact method step by step.
Step 1: Open with a vowel-heavy word
My first guess is never a wild stab, it is a fixed information word loaded with common letters. I want three vowels and two high-frequency consonants. Words like ADIEU, AUDIO or AROSE all do the job. The goal of guess one is not to be close, it is to learn which vowels are in play.
Step 2: Spend guess two on new letters
Whatever the first word told me, my second guess uses five completely fresh letters. I do not reuse anything from guess one. A pairing like ROAST after ADIEU, or CLINT-style words covering the common consonants, tests the rest of the alphabet. After two guesses I have probed ten different letters, which is most of the useful ones.
It feels counterintuitive to throw away the green and yellow tiles I just earned, but the maths backs it up. Ten tested letters narrows the field of possible answers far more sharply than two guesses that each chase a partial match. I would rather know exactly which ten letters are in or out and then solve cleanly on guesses three and four than nibble at the answer from the very start and run out of attempts.
Step 3: Read the clues properly
Now I slow down and read carefully. Green means right letter, right spot. Yellow means right letter, wrong spot, so I know that square is ruled out for it. Grey means the letter is out, with one catch: a repeated letter can show grey and green together, which tells me it appears once and only once.
Track what is left
I jot a quick mental list of confirmed letters and which positions are still open. With ten letters tested, the answer is usually narrowed to a handful of candidates.
Step 4: Place known letters in guess three
Guess three is where I commit. I slot every green into its known spot, move every yellow to a position it has not failed in, and fill the gaps with letters I have not yet eliminated. Even if this guess is not the answer, it should lock in nearly every position.
Step 5: Finish on guess four
By guess four the pattern is usually obvious. If two valid words still fit, I pick the one using more common letters, since everyday words appear as answers far more often than obscure ones. That tie-breaker is what turns a coin-flip into a confident solve.
The trickiest day is when the answer shares four letters with several other words, like a final slot that could be a B, a G or a T. When that happens and I still have a guess to spare, I will sometimes burn it on a probe word that contains all the candidate letters at once, so the result tells me the answer outright on my last line. It is the same information-first thinking from the opening, just applied at the finish.
TL;DR
- Guess one: a fixed vowel-heavy word like ADIEU.
- Guess two: five brand-new letters, no repeats.
- Read greens, yellows and greys carefully before guess three.
- Guess three: place every confirmed letter in its slot.
- Guess four: solve, breaking ties with common letters.
FAQ
What is the best Wordle starting word?
There is no single magic word, but any opener with three vowels and common consonants performs well. ADIEU, AUDIO and AROSE are all strong because they reveal vowels fast. Consistency matters more than the exact word.
Should I use hard mode?
Hard mode forces you to reuse every revealed clue, which removes the freedom of my fresh second guess. I recommend normal mode while you learn this method, then try hard mode once reading clues is second nature.
What if I am stuck with one letter missing?
List the alphabet against the open slot and cross off anything already ruled grey. Usually only two or three letters make a real word, and the most common one is the safe pick.