Current dictionary analysis
Best Starting Words Calculator
A strong first guess should do more than look clever. It should test letters that occur throughout the answer list, avoid spending two tiles on the same letter and, when possible, place common letters where they regularly appear. This calculator measures those qualities across Wurdella’s current playable five-letter dictionary. The full dictionary sets the frequency baseline; the ranked candidates come from the general word bank, keeping expert-only curiosities from crowding out openers people can confidently use. The rankings are rebuilt from the game data whenever the site is generated.
Read the score before you pick a word
The score beside each word is a comparison index, not a claim that the word has that percentage chance of winning. The best word in each mode is set to 100, and the rest are measured against that leader with the same formula. Coverage shows how strongly a word’s distinct letters match whole-dictionary letter frequency. Position fit measures how often each letter appears in that exact slot. Both indexes are also scaled to the strongest candidate in the current corpus.
Balanced opener
Best overall starting words
Use the overall list when you want one balanced opener. It gives most of its weight to five distinct, commonly occurring letters, then rewards letters that occupy productive positions. Repeated letters receive a penalty because they usually reveal less on an opening turn. This is the closest list here to a general-purpose answer for “What should I play first?”
- #1ARISE100.0 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 97Position fit 61
Meaning: To begin, appear, develop, or get up.
- #2CRANE99.0 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 94Position fit 64
Meaning: A tall long-legged bird, or a machine used for lifting and moving heavy loads.
- #3ALERT98.8 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 100Position fit 51
Meaning: Awake, watchful, and ready to notice or respond to something.
- #4RAISE97.4 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 97Position fit 54
Meaning: To lift or move something to a higher position or level.
- #5ALONE97.2 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AOE)Coverage 94Position fit 58
Meaning: Without anyone or anything else present.
- #6CLEAR96.4 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (EA)Coverage 99Position fit 47
Meaning: Easy to see or understand; transparent or free from obstruction.
- #7LATER95.2 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 100Position fit 41
Meaning: At a time after the present time or after another event.
- #8LEARN95.1 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (EA)Coverage 99Position fit 43
Meaning: To gain knowledge, understanding, or skill through study or experience.
- #9ADORE94.7 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AOE)Coverage 94Position fit 52
Meaning: To love or admire someone or something deeply.
- #10LARGE94.3 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 94Position fit 50
Meaning: Greater than average in size, amount, or extent.
- #11SHARE93.5 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 90Position fit 57
Meaning: To use, have, give, or experience something jointly with others.
- #12GRACE93.3 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 90Position fit 58
Meaning: Smoothness and elegance, or kindness and calm dignity.
Test the vowel shape
Best words to eliminate vowels
The vowel-elimination list deliberately asks a narrower question: which playable words test the most useful spread of A, E, I, O and U while still carrying worthwhile consonants? Distinct vowel frequency and the number of different vowels drive most of this score. Y is treated as a consonant because its vowel role changes by word. These openers are helpful when you prefer to establish the vowel shape early, but they are not automatically the best overall guesses.
- #1AUDIO100.0 score5/5 unique letters4 distinct vowels (AUIO)Coverage 73Position fit 33
Meaning: Sound that is recorded, transmitted, or reproduced electronically.
- #2ADORE99.0 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AOE)Coverage 94Position fit 52
Meaning: To love or admire someone or something deeply.
- #3ALONE99.0 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AOE)Coverage 94Position fit 58
Meaning: Without anyone or anything else present.
- #4ARISE99.0 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 97Position fit 61
Meaning: To begin, appear, develop, or get up.
- #5RAISE99.0 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 97Position fit 54
Meaning: To lift or move something to a higher position or level.
- #6OPERA98.7 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (OEA)Coverage 93Position fit 26
Meaning: A dramatic stage work performed mainly by singing.
- #7AISLE98.2 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 93Position fit 50
Meaning: A passage between rows of seats or shelves.
- #8OCEAN97.9 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (OEA)Coverage 89Position fit 29
Meaning: A very large body of salt water covering much of the Earth's surface.
- #9IDEAL97.6 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (IEA)Coverage 90Position fit 30
Meaning: Perfect or most suitable for a purpose or situation.
- #10ALIVE96.7 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 86Position fit 53
Meaning: Living; having life.
- #11ALIKE96.6 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 86Position fit 52
Meaning: Similar to one another in appearance, character, or nature.
- #12ASIDE96.3 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 85Position fit 44
Meaning: To or toward one side, away from the main position or subject.
Position-weighted
Best starting words for hard-mode-style play
Hard mode changes what you may play after clues appear, not what information exists before turn one. For that reason, this is a hard-mode-style opening heuristic rather than a promise of a special universal solution. It increases the value of exact letter placement, because a well-positioned green can be particularly useful once future guesses must respect confirmed information. Letter coverage still matters, and duplicate letters are still penalized on the first move.
- #1CRANE100.0 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 94Position fit 64
Meaning: A tall long-legged bird, or a machine used for lifting and moving heavy loads.
- #2ARISE99.5 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 97Position fit 61
Meaning: To begin, appear, develop, or get up.
- #3ALONE96.4 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AOE)Coverage 94Position fit 58
Meaning: Without anyone or anything else present.
- #4RAISE94.9 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 97Position fit 54
Meaning: To lift or move something to a higher position or level.
- #5ALERT94.7 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 100Position fit 51
Meaning: Awake, watchful, and ready to notice or respond to something.
- #6GRACE93.4 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 90Position fit 58
Meaning: Smoothness and elegance, or kindness and calm dignity.
- #7SHARE93.2 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 90Position fit 57
Meaning: To use, have, give, or experience something jointly with others.
- #8ADORE92.0 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AOE)Coverage 94Position fit 52
Meaning: To love or admire someone or something deeply.
- #9CLEAR91.5 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (EA)Coverage 99Position fit 47
Meaning: Easy to see or understand; transparent or free from obstruction.
- #10LARGE91.3 score5/5 unique letters2 distinct vowels (AE)Coverage 94Position fit 50
Meaning: Greater than average in size, amount, or extent.
- #11CAUSE90.2 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AUE)Coverage 83Position fit 59
Meaning: To make something happen; also a reason why something happens.
- #12AISLE89.9 score5/5 unique letters3 distinct vowels (AIE)Coverage 93Position fit 50
Meaning: A passage between rows of seats or shelves.
Inside the word bank
Which letters carry the calculation?
A whole-word frequency asks how many playable answers contain a letter at least once. Position frequency asks how often it appears in a specific slot. Those are related signals, but they are not interchangeable.
Most widespread letters
- 1E50.5%
- 2A47.6%
- 3R38.4%
- 4L31.7%
- 5O30.1%
- 6I29%
- 7T24.4%
- 8C22.2%
- 9N22%
- 10S20.6%
Top letters in each position
Slot 1
- A 11.6%
- C 10.7%
- S 8.8%
Slot 2
- A 13.3%
- R 12.3%
- O 11.4%
Slot 3
- A 14.2%
- O 9.7%
- E 9.3%
Slot 4
- E 12.6%
- I 9.5%
- A 9.3%
Slot 5
- E 20.6%
- T 11.7%
- L 8.1%
Position percentages use the full five-letter corpus as the denominator, so every slot can be compared on the same basis.
How the starting-word calculator works
First, the calculator counts a letter once per dictionary word. If a word contains two Es, that word contributes one E to the whole-word frequency table. This presence-based count prevents repeated letters in the answer bank from inflating a letter’s apparent reach. A separate position table counts the letter in each of the five slots, which captures patterns such as common final letters without confusing them with general popularity. Those statistics use every playable five-letter word; only the final candidate shortlist is limited to the general bank.
Each candidate receives three raw measurements: the summed presence frequency of its unique letters, the frequency of its letters in their exact positions and the frequency of its distinct vowels. The overall formula uses 68% coverage and 32% position fit. The vowel formula uses 50% vowel frequency, 30% number of distinct vowels and 20% general coverage. The hard-mode-style formula uses 48% coverage and 52% position fit. Each repeated tile subtracts the same fixed penalty.
The method is intentionally inspectable. It does not simulate every possible color pattern, calculate expected information entropy or assume a hidden answer list that differs from Wurdella’s playable dictionary. Those approaches can be excellent for a specific game, but they answer a different question and are harder to audit. Here, a player can see why a word ranks well and decide whether that trade-off matches the board, the rules and their own style.
| Mode | Formula | What it favors |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 68% coverage + 32% position − 0.09 per repeat | A balanced first guess with broad, well-placed distinct letters. |
| Vowel elimination | 50% vowel frequency + 30% vowel variety + 20% coverage − 0.09 per repeat | Testing several common vowels without throwing away all consonant value. |
| Hard-mode style | 48% coverage + 52% position − 0.09 per repeat | Greater emphasis on letters that begin in productive slots. |
How to use the shortlist
Treat the first few points as a shortlist, not a command. Words separated by a small score gap are practically close under this model. Pronounceability and recall also matter: a mathematically neat opener is of little use if you cannot remember it or are unsure it is accepted. After the first result, stop following a generic ranking and respond to the actual clues. Green letters constrain position, yellow letters need a new slot and gray letters should normally disappear unless the game allows repeated copies.
When the rankings change
Because the corpus comes from the same TypeScript word banks as the live game, adding or removing playable words changes the calculation at the next build. The page records the size of the analyzed corpus and shows the strongest letters by presence and position, making material shifts visible. Definitions are included when Wurdella has a reviewed entry for a ranked word; a missing definition does not affect its mathematical score.
Turn the ranking into a real move
Open the complete five-letter list when you want to inspect the corpus, read the strategy guide for the human side of opening play or use Word Finder after the board gives you exact letter constraints.