Wordle Strategy Guide: Best Starting Words
The math behind ADIEU, AUDIO, CRANE, and SLATE — and which truly wins.
What makes a great Wordle opener?
A good starting word does two things: it tests common letters and it tests **common
positions**. Information theory measures this with "expected entropy" — how many possible
answers each guess eliminates on average.
The contenders
- ADIEU — four vowels, but D is the only consonant. Maximum vowel info, weak consonant info.
- AUDIO — same problem. Five letters, four vowels, one consonant.
- CRANE — three high-frequency consonants (C, R, N), two of the most common vowels (A, E).
Consistently one of the highest entropy openers in computer simulations.
- SLATE — S, L, T, plus A and E. Also near the top of the entropy charts.
- RAISE / AROSE / SOARE — all strong, all in the top 10 mathematically.
The math says: CRANE or SLATE
3Blue1Brown's full entropy analysis put CRANE at the top for the original Wordle answer
list. SLATE is essentially tied. The vowel-heavy options (ADIEU, AUDIO) feel productive
but waste positions on rare-information letters.
A better strategy than one perfect opener
Use a fixed two-word opening: CRANE then SLOTH (if no green/yellow on CRANE), or
STERN + CLOUD. Two guesses cover 10 distinct high-frequency letters in tested
positions. After turn 2, you're almost always in solve mode.
Hard Mode considerations
In Hard Mode you must use every revealed letter on subsequent guesses, so flexibility matters
more than raw entropy. Open with SLATE or CRANE and prepare follow-ups in the same
letter family.
When in doubt
Plug your knowns into our Wordle Solver — set green letters by position, yellow letters
that exist somewhere, and gray letters that are out. The tool returns every word in the
Wordle answer list that still fits.