How to Always Win Wordle Game in 3–4 Guesses

Wordle is a popular five-letter word puzzle with daily challenges. Developed by Josh Wardle and later taken over by The New York Times, Wordle became a global craze starting in 2021. Players have six attempts to guess the secret word of the day. After each guess, Wordle highlights letters that are correct and in the right spot (green), correct but in the wrong spot (yellow), or not in the word at all (grey). By applying logical deduction to these clues, you can solve most puzzles in just 3–4 guesses.

Understand Wordle Feedback

Each colored result must be interpreted systematically. A green tile locks that letter and position, yellow means the letter is present but misplaced, and grey means the letter is absent (taking repeats into account). For example, if the answer is CRANE and you guess STAMP, the pattern might be S–grey, T–grey, A–yellow, M–grey, P–grey. This tells you CRANE has ‘A’ (but not at position 3) and has none of S, T, M, or P.

Apply each clue:

Fix greens: Keep any green letters in place for your final answer. (If N is green in position 4, all candidate words must have N in that slot.)
Record yellows: Note each yellow letter and make sure to use it in a different spot. (If A is yellow in slot 2, include A again but not in slot 2 next time.)
Eliminate greys: Remove any word containing a grey letter (beyond any confirmed duplicates). (From the STAMP guess above, drop any words with S, T, M, or P.)
Handle duplicates: If you guessed a letter twice and only one lights up, the answer has exactly one copy of that letter. (For instance, guessing APPLE in a one-‘P’ word yields one P colored and the other grey.)

Track your clues carefully (many players jot them down or use the on-screen keyboard hints). This systematic approach ensures you use every piece of information.

Step 1: Pick a Strong First Word

The first guess sets the tone. Use a word with five different, high-frequency letters and multiple vowels. Letter-frequency analysis of Wordle’s answer list shows E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S, N, C are most common. For example, one study found SALET solves Wordle in about 3.42 guesses on average. Other top openers include SLICE, TRIED, and CRANE (each with an average around 3.9).

Rules of thumb for an opener:

Include common vowels: Use A, E (and often O or I). Words like AUDIO, ORATE, AEONS test multiple vowels at once.
Cover frequent consonants: Aim for R, T, L, S, N, etc.
Avoid repeats: Five unique letters give maximum coverage.
Use two vowels: Openers with two vowels tend to solve faster on average.

For example, LATER (and its anagram SALET) contains E, A, R, T, L – five top letters.

Other high-ranked openers are SLATE, TRACE, ROATE, CRATE, and CARTE. The key is simply to maximize information on the first turn: each distinct common letter you include either gets confirmed or eliminated at once.

Step 2: Analyze the Feedback

Use the colors from your guess to eliminate possibilities:

Fix greens: Place each green letter in your pattern.
Place yellows: Insert yellow letters elsewhere (tracking which slots they can’t occupy).
Drop greys: Remove any word with grey letters.

For example, if CRANE yields C-grey, R-grey, A-yellow (not pos 3), N-green (pos 4), E-grey, then the answer fits _ _ A N _ with no C, R, E. Drop all words containing C, R, or E. Now candidates must have A and N in those spots. Continue similarly with each clue. If a guess contained two of the same letter, note how many times that letter appears; a grey duplicate means the answer has fewer occurrences.

By the end of each guess, the set of possible words shrinks dramatically if you update correctly.

Step 3: Narrow the Word List

Maintain a running list of all possible answers consistent with the clues so far. After each guess:

Enforce greens: Keep only words with the correct letters in the green positions.
Enforce yellows: Keep only words that include the yellow letters (in different positions).
Remove greys: Eliminate any word with a grey letter (beyond any confirmed repeats).
Check counts: Make sure letter counts (for duplicates) match the clues.

Often by guess #2 or #3, you’ll have just a handful of candidates. If more remain, plan a guess to split them. For instance, if three words fit and they differ by one letter, guess one of them to resolve that difference.

Wordle solvers do exactly this. For example, one simulation took BLOKE as guess, got L,E green and B,O,K grey, then narrowed answers to FLUME and SLATE. It scored those candidates by letter frequency (SLATE won) and chose it next. You can do the same reasoning: from the remaining candidates, pick a guess that covers common unknown letters to eliminate as many words as possible.

Remember: Wordle’s official answer list is only ~2,315 common words. In practice, puzzles use those words, so focus on them when filtering.

Step 4: Make Informed Subsequent Guesses

By the third or fourth guess, you should be very close. At each turn:

If one word fits all clues: Guess it immediately.
If a few remain: Guess them (in hard mode you must use all known letters, in normal mode you can still choose any word that gathers info).
If many remain: Choose a word that tests the most remaining unknown letters.

Aim to eliminate possibilities quickly. In fact, optimal strategies solve most games by guess 4 or 5. One analysis showed 57% of puzzles are solved in 3 guesses and 100% by guess 5 (never needing a 6th). For example, after LIGHT (I, G, H, T green), a human player might try TIGHT or FIGHT, but the best move was FERMS, which rules out all those variants in one step.

Other tactics to keep in mind:

Leverage patterns: Common word endings include -E, -S, -D, -LY; prefixes like ST-, UN-, RE-. If letters align with a known pattern, test it.
Test remaining letters: If letters like Y, D, or S haven’t appeared, consider including them.
Maximize information: A good guess should split the remaining list roughly in half. In info‑theory terms, you’re maximizing expected entropy reduction.
Stay logical: Always follow the clues. If you feel lucky, remember Wordle rarely rewards random guesses — it’s designed for deduction, not chance.

Example Walkthrough

To illustrate, imagine the secret word is GRAND.

First guess: SLATE
- Feedback: S–grey, L–grey, A–yellow, T–grey, E–grey.
- Clues: The word contains A (but not in slot 3), and contains none of S, L, T, E. Now pattern _ _ A _ _.
Second guess: RADON
- Feedback: R–yellow, A–green (pos2), D–green (pos5), O–grey, N–yellow.
- Clues: Now we know ‘A’ is in position 2 and ‘D’ in position 5: _ A _ N D. R and N are present (but R isn’t pos1; N isn’t pos4), and O is out.
Third guess: GRAND (fits _ A _ N D with G, R, N placed).

This solves the puzzle in 3 guesses. Each time, the choice used all available information to eliminate wrong letters and zero in on the answer.

Additional Tips

Letter frequency matters: E appears in ~13% of answers and is the most common final letter. Others like R, A, S appear frequently as well. Use this knowledge when picking letters to test.
Common starts/ends: Statistics show S overwhelmingly starts the most Wordle answers, and E overwhelmingly ends them(see charts below).
For example, S is by far the most common first letter (over 300 instances):
Likewise, E tops the final letters: E is present as the last letter far more often than any other:
Test information: A guess is like a question. Pick words that will split the remaining possibilities (maximizing information).
Avoid rare letters early: Q, X, Z, J are very unlikely in answers. Save them for late-game when needed.
Be disciplined: Always incorporate all clues. If Hard Mode is available, use it to train strict logic.
Stay organized: Use the color-coded keyboard or pencil-and-paper to mark letters and positions. A clear layout of what’s confirmed or eliminated helps avoid mistakes.
Ask yourself: After each guess, ask “What do I know now that I didn’t before?” and “Which guess will answer the biggest unknown?”

Practice and Consistency

Consistent practice sharpens this strategy. Review every game: ask yourself which clues you used and which you missed. If you ever fail to solve, use the answer to see which letters or patterns you overlooked. Practice with different first words and notice which consistently give good feedback.

Wordle also builds vocabulary and logical thinking. Over time, you’ll recognize useful word patterns and common letter combinations. Try playing under different conditions (e.g. alternate word lists or timing yourself) to keep your mind agile.

Keep a relaxed approach: taking a moment to think through the clues is often better than rushing guesses. Even experts don’t solve every puzzle in two or three; they just rarely make careless errors. The most important thing is learning from each game.

Finally, remember that Wordle is meant to be fun. Don’t be discouraged by a tough word – each puzzle is practice. As the saying goes, Wordle isn’t solved by luck; it rewards careful, logical play.

Conclusion

A methodical strategy – starting with a high-information word and then logically eliminating possibilities – enables you to win most Wordle games in 3–4 guesses. In fact, analyses of optimal play show careful solvers average around 3.4–3.9 guesses per game. You may not get every puzzle in three, but following these steps maximizes your chances. Stay calm, use each color clue fully, and practice regularly. Over time you’ll find that solving Wordle in 3–4 tries becomes routine. Be logical, be patient, and soon those puzzles will seem much easier.

Remember: Wordle is as much about the process as the result. Use every clue, test your theories, and learn from mistakes. Happy Wordling!