Wordle - the best and worst 10 guesses to use first during daily word challenge

Wordle has taken 2022 by storm as the viral word game continues dominates social media and brains around the UK, but would you like a helping hand?

Players are given six guesses to figure out what the random five-letter word of the day is.

After each guess, coloured tiles will indicate how close you are to correctly guessing the answer - unless you have miraculously got it at the first attempt.

Read More - What is Wordle and where can I play it?

A green tile means that the letter is in the correct place in the word, orange indicates that the letter is in the answer but not in the right spot and a grey tile shows that it is not in the word at all.

Wordle - which does not have an app and is played online with a new word every 24 hours - has seen its popularity increase due to people posting their results on Twitter.

Whether successful or not, people will display their green, orange and grey tiles on their profile for their followers to see.

However, could players improve their chances of completing the puzzle quicker than usual by using specific words with their opening guess?

The answer is yes. Alex Selby, a mathematician living in Cambridge, has done all the hard work and has explained exactly how best to play Wordle.

The highest-ranked word that minimises the average number of guesses needed, according to a report in PlymouthLive is: SALET .

Salet - a light round helmet extending over the back of the neck which replaced the basinet in the 15th century - will give you the best chance of completing the Wordle in the shortest time due to the letters and their placement with an average of 3.4212 guesses.

Next on the list is REAST, followed by CRATE, TRACE and SLATE for the five best guesses to start the Wordle. CRANE, CARLE, SLANE, CARTE and TORSE complete the top 10.

At the other end of the scale, QAJAQ - a narrow boat that is manually propelled with a double-bladed paddle - will give you the worst possible start with an average of 4.1019 guesses required to complete the Wordle.

JUJUS, JAZZY, IMMIX and JEEZE complete the worst five answers to put in the first attempt. YUKKY, PZAZZ, JAFFA, XYLYL and SUSUS are seen as the next five words to avoid.

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