Wordle Combinations – WordsRated (2024)

Playing improved letter and word combinations can have a significant positive impact on the number of turns it takes you to pass a Wordle level. In this article, WordsRated highlights some recommended opening words and follow-ups to play after discovering letter information in previous turns.

• A large-scale simulation found that the starting word combination of COALS and NITER were statistically the best way to begin a game of Wordle.
• When using this Wordle combination, yellow letters were found in 97.00% of games and green letters were found in 62.40% of games.
• Players looking for consonants only should look to play a two-word combination of DARNS and LETCH.
• This combination produces yellow letters in 90.80% of cases and green letters in 37.00% of cases.
• However, this should only be played after using an opening guess that reveals letters not contained in either of the words.
• Some players instead prefer to use 3 word combinations to maximize their chances.
• One combination of the best 3 starting words for wordle is to play RATIO, followed by MENDS and then LUCKY.
• RATIO provides three common vowels, MENDS offers a fourth vowel in addition to four common consonants while LUCKY includes the final vowel and the letter “Y” in the final position.
• SCALY (first word), GUIDE (second word) and THORN (third word) has also been suggested as a successful 3-word combination for similar reasons.
• Combinations can be even more effective in variations of Wordle such as Quordle and Octordle, as each hint revealed can simultaneously benefit multiple solutions.

Best Wordle starting word combinations

Many players look to use two-word starting combinations when starting the daily Wordle, maximizing the hint potential from their opening 10 letter squares. Choosing the perfect opening pair is a strategy that can pay huge dividends through playing common vowels and consonants early on.

Below is a table of Wordle’s most effective two-word opening combinations using all letters:

Below is a table of Wordle’s most effective two-word opening combinations using consonants only:

Wordle combinations that exclude letters for normal mode

We can look at excluded letter combinations to give us information on optimal words to play in Wordle’s Normal mode. The solutions given can potentially provide 5 entirely new letters, preventing the use of letters already played.

If any letters in the listed options have already turned yellow, make sure the option you choose places the letter in a different spot. However, if any of the best playable word options show letters already grayed-out in your game from previous turns, try to exclude these and create a similar word that replaces any incorrect letters with unplayed letters.

Common letter combinations

Combinations of each vowel with 1 of the 6 most common consonants, when not present in the Wordle solution.

• ALONE, ARISE, AUDIO and RAISE feature as some of the most common follow-up words from the given excluded vowel + consonant combinations (6 times each).
• Non-presence of 6 of the given combinations eliminate at least 60% of answers.
• From these, AUDIO is a recommended option to play in 83.33% of cases.

Vowel combinations

Combining each vowel with another vowel, when not present in the Wordle solution.

• The exclusion of five different vowel combinations will result in at least 60% of Wordle answers eliminated.
• When “A & E” is not present, it eliminates 69.2% of solutions.
• All of the follow-up options are specific to each combination, with none appearing multiple times.

Consonant combinations

Combines each of the most common consonants together, when not present in the Wordle solution.

• The removal of 5 different consonant combinations result in the elimination of at least 50% of Wordle answers.
• Excluding the consonant combination “L & R” eliminates 59.2% of answers.
• ALONE and TEARY are the most commonly recommended follow-up words when the given consonants are not present.

Wordle combinations that contain letters for hard mode

Looking at combinations present in the solution provides us with slightly different information. By looking at included letter pairings, we can see the percentage of answers it eliminates, alongside some recommended words to play in the next turn.

Using the options listed below will only reveal additional information on 3 further letters, so it is recommended to play them only in Hard mode, where existing hints must be played. These options can still be considered in Normal mode, although they should only be used if attempting to solve the solution in the next turn.

Common letter combinations

Combinations of each vowel with 1 of the 6 most common consonants, when present in the Wordle solution.

• The letter “U” is present in the top 3 vowel + consonant combinations for eliminating Wordle answers.
• “C & U” eliminates 96.1% of answers, more than any other vowel + consonant combination.
• The most common follow-up option for this list is ALIEN, appearing 5 times in total.

Vowel combinations

Combining each vowel with another vowel, when present in the Wordle solution.

• When any of the 2 letter vowel combinations are present, at least 84% of Wordle answers will be eliminated.
• 9 out of the 10 vowel combinations will even eliminate at least 90%.
• However, “I & U” are the most effective, eliminating a whopping 97.3%.

Consonant combinations

Combines each of the most common consonants together, when present in the Wordle solution.

• The presence of any of the given consonant combinations will eliminate at least 90% of Wordle solutions.
• Furthermore, seven of these combinations will eliminate 95%.
• STARE is the most frequent follow-up option from this list, appearing three times.

Best starting words for Wordle

At WordsRated, we performed an analysis of the best Wordle starting words to help you get better at the game and lower your score. To do this we split the Wordle dictionary into two lists, all solution words and remaining words to be played.

• WordsRated recommends playing the word CRANE as a starting word for all solutions.
• However, taking only future solutions into consideration we recommend playing SAUCY as a starting word (as of February 2024).
• In addition to our recommended words, there are some other highly rated starting words that you may wish to consider to make the most of your available Wordle guesses.