Chances are, you’ve played Wordle by now. Or at the very least, you’ve heard of it.
Wordle is a free word game that you can play once a day right from your browser. Players are given six chances to guess a five-letter word. The letters you get right will be highlighted: green if they’re in the right place, and yellow if they appear in the word but in a different location.
For many of us, playing Wordle has become part of our daily routine. We personally play every night just as the clock strikes midnight (not least so we can bring you the answers right here), and keeping our win streak running has become a point of personal pride.
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But getting the answer to Wordle is not always easy. Over the last couple of months we’ve developed a few tactics that help us ensure we do the best that we can. And so, read on to find out our best Wordle tips.
Choose a strong starting word
This is the best Wordle tip we can possibly give you. Choosing a good starting word really can make or break a game. You want to ensure your starting word uses either a lot of vowels, or very common letters. You know that your word is going to contain at least one vowel, and figuring those out early on can be very useful. And seeing if any of the most common consonants (N, R, S and T) are in there is hugely helpful, too.
Two of our favourite starting words, then, are AUDIO, which contains all but one vowel, and STERN, which uses all of the most common consonants along with the most common vowel (E).
Ignore your found letters
Sometimes, particularly on an early guess, it pays to ignore any letters you’ve already found and try a word with five completely different letters in. If you’re playing in Wordle’s Hard Mode – more on that in a bit – the ability will be locked out. But for normal players, narrowing down as many letters as possible can be helpful. We often use the words AUDIO and STERN as guesses one and two, ruling out as many popular letters as possible.
Take your time
There’s no time limit to Wordle, so you can take as much time as you need. Don’t rush, because it’s easy to miss something obvious, or make a mistake. Think about it, and maybe even close the window and go back to it later if you’re struggling. Sometimes, looking at it with a fresh pair of eyes can really help.
Challenge yourself with Hard Mode
As we mentioned above, Wordle has a Hard Mode for those players who like to challenge themselves. With Hard Mode enabled, every letter that has been revealed has to be used in subsequent guesses, ruling out the option to go for a completely different word. If you fancy changing up the way you play, it’s worth enabling. To do so, click the cog in the top-right corner of the screen, and toggle ‘Hard Mode’ on.
Use a notepad
We find it helpful to jot down some notes while we’re playing Wordle on a bit of scrap paper. You could even give yourself a dedicated Wordle notepad, if you wanted. If you have a couple of letters revealed, it’s helpful to write it out, allowing you to test various letters in the spaces remaining.
Toggle display settings
Don’t forget that Wordle has its own display settings to help with accessibility. It has its own Dark Mode (although if you have your mobile device set to ‘Dark Mode’, it should already be using that setting), and you can also turn on High Contrast mode. Both change the default colours, and may make it easier for you if you struggle with white backgrounds or looking at certain colours.
