The Worst Wordle Starting Word Makes The Game A Little Harder

If you’re one of the thousands of people enjoying the popular game of Wordle each day but feel like you’re given one too many guesses to start with, then the game’s worst starting word might spice things up for you.

After deducing the best possible starting word using a script, TikTok creator Crvlwanek has also discovered which word contains the worst five-letter combination to completely waste a guess on. The content creator used the entire list of known and future Wordle answers and used an algorithm to determine both the best and worst starting choices using letter frequency. If you’re looking to try and challenge yourself, start your next Wordle puzzle off with the word “xylyl”.

Considering its use of two repeated consonants and the use of one of the most unused letters in the English alphabet, it’s no surprise why this would not help you towards victory. If you are looking to try and move that four-turn average closer to three, however, you should look towards the best starting word in Wordle, which is “later”. If you’re looking for other suggestions, we’ve rounded up a few other good choices, too.

If you’ve somehow missed the game that has dominated social media throughout this year, Wordle is a daily puzzle game that gives you six chances to correctly guess a five-letter word. Each guess will give you clues as to which letters are in the final answer, as well as whether you’ve used them in the right space or not. The game is free-to-play online.