You’ve been there. It’s 11:58 PM. You’re staring at a grid of yellow and gray squares, one guess left, and your brain is screaming that "ZILCH" has to be the answer. It isn't. You lose your 100-day streak because of a word you didn't even know existed in the English language.
Wordle is a game of constraints. But those constraints aren't as simple as "any five-letter word in the dictionary." If they were, the game would be a nightmare. Imagine trying to guess obscure tax terms or archaic 14th-century slang every morning with your coffee. Josh Wardle, the guy who started this whole craze before the New York Times bought it for seven figures, knew that wouldn't work. He didn't just dump a dictionary into a file. He curated it.
So, when we talk about all possible wordle words, we are actually talking about two very different lists that live inside the game's code. One list is the "solutions"—the stuff you actually see when you win. The other is the "valid guesses"—the words the game lets you type in so you don't get that annoying "Not in word list" wiggle.
The Secret Curation of the 2,309
Originally, the game launched with exactly 2,309 solution words. That’s it. Out of the roughly 13,000 five-letter words in the English language, only about 17% were deemed "worthy" of being an answer. Wardle actually had his partner, Palak Shah, go through the massive list of five-letter words and sort them. She categorized them into words she knew, words she didn't know, and words she maybe knew.
This human touch is why you’ll get "TRAIN" or "SLUMP" but you won't get "XYLYL."
The New York Times has since tweaked this list. They’ve removed some words that were deemed offensive or just too obscure (like "FIBRE" was changed to "FIBER" in some versions to account for American audiences, though they try to keep it consistent). They also famously skipped "LYNCH" and "SLAVE" for obvious reasons. They want the game to be a pleasant morning ritual, not a political or linguistic minefield.
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The Massive Guessing Pool
While the solution list is tiny, the "allowable" list is huge. There are about 12,972 words you can legally guess. This is where things get weird. You can guess "QAJAQ." You can guess "SOARE." You can guess "ROATE."
Why?
Because if the game only let you guess potential answers, it would be too easy. The "guess list" acts as a buffer. It allows for linguistic diversity and lets "power players" use high-entropy starters that might never be an actual answer but help eliminate common letters like S, T, R, N, and E. If you’ve ever wondered why your weird "expert" starting word never actually wins the game on the first try, this is why. It’s likely in the guess list, not the solution list.
Why the Wordle List is Shrinking
Since the New York Times takeover, the Editorial Manager for Games, Everdeen Schulz, has taken a more active role in the daily curation. It’s no longer just a static list running on a loop. It’s curated.
They’ve started removing plural versions of three-letter or four-letter words that end in "S" or "ES." You’ll rarely see "FOXES" or "SPOTS" as an answer. Why? Because it feels cheap. It’s a "filler" word. They want words that feel substantial. This means the pool of all possible wordle words that can actually appear as a daily solution is actually getting smaller and more refined.
This curation creates a specific "vibe" for the game. If the word is "GUILD," it feels classic. If the word is "SNAFU," it feels cheeky. The editors are looking for that sweet spot of difficulty where you feel smart for getting it, but not cheated for losing it.
The Math Behind the Best Guesses
Mathematicians have obsessed over these lists. Grant Sanderson, who runs the 3Blue1Brown YouTube channel, did a deep dive into information theory regarding Wordle. He used the full list of all possible wordle words to determine which starting word provides the most "information" (reducing the pool of remaining possibilities the fastest).
For a long time, the math pointed to "CRANE" or "SALET."
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But here is the catch: those "best" words change depending on whether you are looking at the 2,309 solutions or the 12,000+ guesses. If you optimize for the solution list, you play differently than if you're just trying to avoid a "Not in word list" error. Most people play somewhere in the middle. They use "ADIEU" because they want to knock out the vowels, even though "ADIEU" is statistically a pretty mediocre starter because it doesn't give you enough information about common consonants.
Honestly, "ADIEU" is a bit of a trap. You get the vowels, sure. But vowels are the skeleton of the word; the consonants are the meat. You need the meat to solve the puzzle.
Hard Mode and the Trap of "___IGHT"
If you play on Hard Mode, the list of all possible wordle words becomes your worst enemy. Hard Mode forces you to use the hints you’ve already found. This sounds fine until you hit the "IGHT" trap.
Imagine you have _ I G H T.
The word could be:
- LIGHT
- NIGHT
- FIGHT
- MIGHT
- SIGHT
- TIGHT
- RIGHT
- WIGHT
If you only have two guesses left, you are literally flipping a coin. In standard mode, you could guess a word like "FLING" to check F, L, and N all at once. In Hard Mode, you're stuck guessing one by one. This is where knowing the solution list matters. An expert knows "WIGHT" is incredibly unlikely to be a Wordle solution, so they skip it. They prioritize the "common" words because the NYT editors prioritize the "common" words.
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The "S" Factor
One of the biggest misconceptions is that any five-letter word ending in S is a fair game. It’s not. While the guess list is full of them, the NYT has largely moved away from simple plurals as answers. If you’re stuck between "COINS" and "CLEAN," always bet on "CLEAN." The game favors unique roots over pluralized forms.
How to Use the List to Your Advantage
Stop trying to memorize the dictionary. That’s a waste of time. Instead, focus on the "Core 2000."
Understand that the game is designed for a general audience. If a word is too technical, too niche, or too slangy, it’s probably not the answer. It might be a valid guess, but it’s not the solution.
When you are down to your last two turns, ask yourself: "Would I see this word in a New York Times headline?" If the answer is no, don't guess it.
The strategy shouldn't be about finding the most obscure word. It should be about finding the most standard word that fits your remaining letters. The editors want you to win, but they want you to sweat a little. They aren't trying to trick you with "QORAN" (which is a valid guess in some dictionaries, but will never be a Wordle answer).
Actionable Steps for Your Next Game
If you want to actually improve your win rate based on how the word lists function, change your opening strategy immediately.
- Ditch "ADIEU" and "AUDIO." They give you vowels, but they leave you blind to the most common consonants like R, S, and T. Try "STARE" or "CHARE" instead.
- Think like an editor, not a dictionary. If you’re stuck between a common word and an obscure one, the common word is almost always the answer. The NYT team curates for a "satisfying" reveal.
- Recognize the "Trap" patterns. If you see a word ending in "___ER" or "___ING," don't just start guessing letters. Use your next turn (if not in Hard Mode) to burn a word that tests four or five different potential starting letters at once.
- Verify the list source. If you’re using a "Wordle Solver," make sure it differentiates between the "Guess List" and the "Solution List." If it doesn't, it will give you bad advice by suggesting words that are legal to type but will never actually appear as the daily answer.
- Track your own "misses." Most people lose on words with repeated letters (like "MUMMY" or "SISSY"). These are in the solution list specifically because they are hard to find. When you have two slots left and only one "likely" letter, consider if that letter might be used twice.
The game is a balance of math and linguistics. You don't need to be a computer to win; you just need to understand the human bias behind the list. The 2,309 words are a curated slice of English, picked to be challenging but fair. Play the common words, avoid the plural "S" trap, and stop worrying about the 10,000 words that are just there to distract you.