Best starting words
Two schools for picking a starting word
Two completely opposite philosophies coexist, and both are valid.
The "go for it" school: play a word you actually hope will land on the answer. Guessing the word on the first try earns a massive XP bonus (×10 on the game), and some players would rather take that shot than play safe.
The coverage school: play a word not meant to win, but to eliminate as many frequent letters as possible in a single move. You accept to "burn" the first attempt to optimise the next ones.
In practice, experienced players mix both: a coverage word when the grid is empty, then a more instinctive guess as soon as two or three coloured hints show up.
The most frequent letters in English
In an average English word, letter distribution follows a very clear pattern.
Vowels: E (≈12-13 %) is by far the most common, followed by A (≈8 %), O (≈7.5 %) and I (≈7 %). U (≈3 %) is much rarer.
Consonants: T > N > S > H > R > L > D > C > M. T and H owe a lot of their frequency to extremely common words like THE, THIS, THAT. N, S and R structure the majority of English words. J, Q, X, Z are almost non-existent outside of loanwords.
Your ideal coverage word will therefore contain E + one or two other vowels + 2 or 3 consonants among T, N, S, R, L, H.
Typical English patterns
English has no single infinitive ending like Romance languages do, but three visual patterns come back constantly and can guide your openings.
The silent final E is everywhere: HOUSE, SLATE, WHITE, STONE, CRANE, NOBLE. Ending your opening word on E is almost always a safe bet — the letter is the most frequent of the alphabet and often sits in the last position.
Opening digraphs: TH (THEME, THINK), CH (CHASE, CHESS), SH (SHARP, SHINE), WH (WHALE, WHITE). If your first move has revealed a T or an H as yellow, these pairs should be tested early — they are the backbone of English word beginnings.
Internal double letters: LL, SS, TT, EE, OO, FF, PP are extremely common (LETTER, MIDDLE, COFFEE, HAPPY). If a letter comes back yellow and you can't fit it anywhere else, placing it twice in the same word is often the solution.
Examples by length (5 to 10 letters)
5 letters
- SLATE — S, L, A, T, E. Three top-5 consonants and two common vowels: a reference coverage word for 5-letter grids.
- CRANE — C, R, A, N, E. Another classic: strong consonants, two high-frequency vowels, all different.
- ADIEU — A, D, I, E, U. Four different vowels in five letters — the go-to pure-vowel probe.
6 letters
- ORANGE — O, R, A, N, G, E. Three different vowels and three frequent consonants, all unique.
- SILENT — S, I, L, E, N, T. Only two vowels but four top-10 consonants; extremely efficient.
- MASTER — M, A, S, T, E, R. Balanced vowel/consonant distribution with no rare letters.
7 letters
- STRANGE — S, T, R, A, N, G, E. Seven different letters, five top-10 consonants and two frequent vowels: excellent coverage.
- JOURNAL — J, O, U, R, N, A, L. Four different vowels including the rare U in one common noun.
- RAINBOW — R, A, I, N, B, O, W. Three vowels including the tricky O/I combination, all distinct.
8 letters
- DAUGHTER — D, A, U, G, H, T, E, R. Eight different letters, broad vowel coverage, strong consonants.
- NEIGHBOR — N, E, I, G, H, B, O, R. Eight different letters as well, four vowels in one word.
- DIALOGUE — D, I, A, L, O, G, U, E. Eight different letters and all five vowels in a single word: near-perfect vowel coverage.
9 letters
- DANGEROUS — D, A, N, G, E, R, O, U, S. Nine different letters, four vowels including U — excellent coverage.
- EDUCATION — E, D, U, C, A, T, I, O, N. Nine different letters and five vowels: near-perfect vowel probe.
- WORKPLACE — W, O, R, K, P, L, A, C, E. Nine unique letters, less common K and P widen the reach.
10 letters
- BACKGROUND — B, A, C, K, G, R, O, U, N, D. Ten different letters, four vowels, no rare character.
- PAINTBRUSH — P, A, I, N, T, B, R, U, S, H. Ten unique letters with a strong consonant mix.
- REVOLUTION — R, E, V, O, L, U, T, I, O, N. Strong vowel coverage (A is the only vowel missing).
A two-move combo (short words)
On 5-letter grids with six attempts, the most solid strategy is to play two complementary opening words no matter what. For instance ADIEU then STORM: in two moves, you've tested A, D, I, E, U, S, T, O, R, M — ten different letters covering all five vowels and five of the most frequent consonants. You enter the resolution phase with four attempts remaining and, on average, three or four coloured hints already on the board.
English-specific pitfalls
The Y. In English, Y is a half-vowel: it often acts as a vowel in short words (MYTH, CRY, SKY, FLY) or at the end of longer ones (HAPPY, CRAZY). Don't treat it as a standard consonant — it's a serious finishing letter once you know where the vowels land.
Double letters. English is full of them: LL, SS, TT, EE, OO, FF, PP. If a letter comes back yellow and your other positions keep filling up, seriously consider placing it twice in the same word.
Silent letters. KNEE, KNOW, WRITE, HOUR, LAMB — the silent letter still counts for the grid. The K in KNEE must be typed, even though nobody says it.
UK vs US spelling. COLOR / COLOUR, CENTER / CENTRE, FAVORITE / FAVOURITE. Our dictionary mode accepts both variants, but in strict mode only the exact form in the answer will match.
What about other languages?
The "frequent vowels + structural consonants" principle works in all supported languages, but with different letters: in German, umlauts (Ä, Ö, Ü) and the long compound nouns change the picture radically; in Spanish and Italian, the vowel-to-consonant ratio is even more vowel-heavy; French piles accents on the E. Each language has its own top 10 of opening words.
Find the equivalent of this article in the five other languages of the game:
Going further
These examples are a starting point, not a recipe. After 50 to 100 games, you'll develop your own style: some players favour aggression (trying the answer early), others play pure coverage and aim for 100 % success in five or six moves.
To fine-tune your skill, check the XP system which details difficulty weighting, or the game rules for the basics, or our FAQ.