Best Wordle Starting Words 2026
The best starting words for Wordle ranked by entropy & win rate.
Find the best wordle opener 2026 and proven strategies to always win.
Best Wordle Starting Word 2026 - Top 5 Ranked
CRATE
Our #1 pick. Achieves ~3.3 average guesses with 100% solve rate.
Advantages
- Highest information gain
- Perfect letter distribution
- Optimal entropy score
Considerations
- Uncommon daily answer
SLATE
WordleBot's long-time favorite. Tied with CRATE for best performance.
Advantages
- S in starting position
- High consonant frequency
- Great for Hard Mode
Considerations
- Can lead to strict traps
SALET
Mathematically proven optimal by information theory analysis.
Advantages
- Minimax optimal
- Best worst-case scenario
- Used by top solvers
Considerations
- Obscure word - not well known
TRACE
Excellent balance of common letters and high entropy.
Advantages
- Common word
- Strong letter coverage
- Easy to remember
Considerations
- Slightly lower entropy than CRATE
CRANE
Balanced mix of common consonants and best vowels.
Advantages
- Optimal letter coverage
- E in best position
- Versatile follow-ups
Considerations
- No S for plural testing
The Science of Letter Frequency
You don't have to be a genius to realize that using common letters increases your odds. But it's not just about any common letters—it's about their position.
According to Peter Norvig's analysis of English letter frequency, E, T, A, R, I, O are the most common letters. However, Wordle answers are a specific subset of five-letter words. In this subset:
- S is the most common starting letter (but rarely ends a word since plurals are excluded).
- E is the most common ending letter.
- A is typically found in the 2nd or 3rd position.
This is why SLATE is so powerful: it puts S at the start, E at the end, and A/L/T in their most statistically probable slots.
Frequency Heatmap
Top occurring letters by position in Wordle solutions
The Evolution of the "Best" Word
The solver's pick
CRATE achieves ~3.3 average guesses with a 100% solve rate — our top recommendation for 2026.
Balance of power
TRACE emerged as the sweet spot between efficiency and playability.
The solver's choice
Advanced solvers favored SALET — mathematically optimal by minimax analysis.
Rises to the top
NYT WordleBot updated to prioritize "steps to solve" — SLATE lands Green tiles more often.
Takes the crown
3Blue1Brown and other analysts identified CRANE as the mathematically optimal start.
Hard Mode Deep Dive - Best wordle strategy
In Hard Mode, you MUST use any revealed hints in your subsequent guesses. This sounds helpful, but it's actually a trap. If you guess SHAFT and get _HA_T, you are now locked into guessing words ending in AT.
That's why DEALT is safer for Hard Mode. It consumes common letters without locking you into common rhyming traps as easily as words ending in -IGHT or -OUND.
Best By Situation
Best 3 Starting Words for Wordle 2026 - Power Combinations
What are some good starting words for Wordle? Use these "System Pairs" back-to-back to eliminate 10 unique letters instantly.
The "Ultimate" system. Our #1 ranked word (CRATE) perfectly complimented by LIONS. Hits all top 10 frequent letters.
The "Consonant Crusher". Hits high-frequency consonants hard. Excellent for structure finding.
The "Technical" pair. SALET is mathematically optimal for narrowing down lists. COURD cleans up the rest.
3 Words to Start Wordle - The Ultimate Opening System
Want to cover even more letters? Use this 3 words to start Wordle system to test 15 unique letters in your first three guesses.
Covers: S, L, A, T, E, C, O, R, N, Y, W, H, U, M, P (15 letters)
Most common starting letter (S) + key vowels (A, E) + frequent consonants (L, T)
Second-tier vowels (O, Y) + key consonants (C, R, N) - no overlap with SLATE
Remaining common consonants (W, H, M, P) + last vowel (U) - maximize letter coverage
Mastering the Second Guess
The starting word is only 50% of the strategy. What you do next determines whether you solve in 3 or 6.
Scenario A: The "Grayout"
Situation: Your starter (e.g. CRATE) turned up nothing but gray tiles.
Strategy: Don't panic! You've eliminated 5 common letters. Now you MUST pivot to a "Complementary Word" like CLOUT or NYMPH to hunt for the remaining vowels and consonants.
Scenario B: The "Green Hit"
Situation: You hit one Green letter (e.g., _ _ A _ _).
Strategy: Resist the urge to guess the answer immediately. Instead, use an "Eliminator" word that tests 4-5 new letters in common positions relative to that 'A'.
Wordle Glossary
Entropy
A mathematical measure of how much information a guess provides. High entropy words eliminate more possibilities.
Hard Mode
A game setting where any revealed hints (Green/Yellow) must be used in all subsequent guesses.
Trap
A word pattern (like _IGHT) with more possible solutions than you have remaining guesses.
Par
The average number of guesses a skilled player usually takes to solve a puzzle (typically ~3.3).
Information Theory 101
For the math nerds out there, Wordle is fundamentally a game of Entropy Reduction. We measure the quality of a guess in "Bits" of information. A guess worth 5.87 bits (like CRANE) cuts the remaining pool of 2,345 words down to just ~40 on average.
Data based on average expected pool reduction across all 2,345 Wordle solutions.
Common Beginner Mistakes
Avoid these traps to keep your streak alive.
Using Plurals
Wordle answers are never simple plurals ending in S (like "CATS"). Waste of a slot.
Repeating Early
Don't reuse gray letters. Even in standard mode, guess fresh letters to hunt for clues.
Ignoring Structure
Knowing "A is in the word" isn't enough. Try to guess WHERE it is (e.g., typically 2nd or 3rd).