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Best five-letter starting words, measured
A good first guess is one whose colours tell you the most. We took every one of the 4,860 guesses Word Race accepts, scored it against all 1,466 possible answers, and counted how many answers would still fit the colours you see, on average. Lower is better.
The best openers
| First guess | Answers still possible, on average |
|---|---|
| RAISE | 37.7 |
| ORATE | 38.1 |
| ARISE | 38.2 |
| IRATE | 39.1 |
| AROSE | 39.6 |
| CRATE | 41.6 |
| TRACE | 42.0 |
| SNARE | 43.6 |
From 1,466 possible words, one good guess usually leaves about 38. Two more good guesses are normally enough to pin the answer down, which is why strong players solve most words in three or four.
Popular openers compared
| First guess | Answers still possible, on average | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| ARISE | 38.2 | Among the very best |
| STARE | 43.9 | Excellent |
| CRANE | 44.5 | Excellent |
| SLATE | 45.2 | Very good |
| HOUSE | 77.6 | About twice as many left as ARISE |
| ADIEU | 84.3 | Weak: finds vowels, but they are the easy part |
| AUDIO | 124.6 | Weakest of the popular picks |
ADIEU and AUDIO are popular because they test four vowels at once. But almost every word has an A, E or O somewhere, so learning that tells you little. Common consonants in likely places, like R, T and S, split the list far better.
Letters that show up most
Share of the 1,466 answers that contain each letter at least once:
| E | A | R | O | T | S | I | L | N | C |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45% | 40% | 38% | 30% | 29% | 28% | 27% | 27% | 24% | 21% |
Where letters sit matters too. The most common letter in each position:
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S (17%), C, B | R (13%), O, A | A (15%), I, O | E (12%), N, C | E (20%), Y, T |
So a word starting with S and ending in E or Y is a reasonable bet when you are unsure. S is common as a first letter but rare as a last one: plurals are not answers, and only 22 of the 1,466 end in S.
Tips for playing against friends
- Have one opener ready and always use it. In Race and Blitz, the seconds you spend choosing a first word are seconds lost. Type ARISE or STARE and press Enter without thinking.
- In Marathon, guesses cost more than seconds. Each extra guess loses a point, so a careful third guess beats a fast fourth.
- Use the keyboard colours. Grey keys are dead letters. A second guess with five fresh letters (for example CLOUD after ARISE) often beats trying to place a yellow straight away.
- Watch for repeated letters. Answers like PUPPY, SHEEP and JELLY catch people out. If you are stuck with few letters left, try a double.
- Skip, do not stall. In Marathon and Race, a word you cannot crack in six tries scores nothing anyway. The skip button moves you on.
- In Survival, slow down. One miss ends your game, so take the guess that rules out the most words, not the one you hope is right.
How these numbers were worked out
For each guess, we coloured it against every answer exactly as the game does (repeated letters included), grouped the answers by the colour pattern they produce, and took the average size of the group the real answer falls into. The answer list is Word Race's own: about 1,500 everyday words, so the ranking can differ slightly from lists made for the daily Wordle.