How to play Word Guess
The rules
- Guess a five-letter word in six tries.
- Every guess must be a real word from the list.
- After each guess, every letter is marked:
- Green with a bar: the letter is in the word, in the right place.
- Purple with a dot: the letter is in the word, but somewhere else.
- Gray: the letter is not in the word.
- A letter you type twice is marked only as many times as it really appears in the word.
How to play here
- Type on your keyboard. Enter submits the guess, Backspace deletes a letter.
- You can also tap the on-screen keyboard. Its letters get the same marks.
Difficulty levels
A word’s level is set by how many guesses the best strategy needs to find it, and by how many words are left after the first guess.
| Level | Guesses needed |
|---|---|
| Easy | Up to two guesses |
| Medium | Three guesses, and up to five words left after the opener |
| Hard | Three guesses, and more than five words left after the opener |
| Expert | Four guesses or more |
Strategy
- Open with common letters: E, A, R, O, T, L, I, S, N.
- Use everything you learn: in the next guess, keep green letters in place, and don’t put purple letters in the same spot again.
- The “wasted” guess: sometimes it’s better to guess a word that can no longer be the answer, if it tests several candidate letters at once.
- Common patterns: many English words end in -ER, -LY or -Y, and double letters are more common than you think.
FAQ
- How is a word's difficulty decided?
- By how many guesses the best strategy needs to find it. Words that take more guesses are rated harder.
- Is there a new word every day?
- Yes. A new word is published every day at each of the four levels: easy, medium, hard and expert. Earlier words are in the archive.
- Do I need an account to play?
- No. You play right in your browser, with no sign-up and no cookies. Your progress is saved in your browser.