Every Wordle fan knows picking the right starting word is key. A good opener can solve it in just 2 guesses. A bad one drags it out to 5 or 6, or worse – breaks your streak!
Well, WordleBot, the official NY Times AI helper, now says TRACE is better than its previous top pick SLATE. For hard mode, it prefers TROPE.
But as the NY Times explains, the difference is extremely small. Playing SLATE over TRACE for 4.5 years would only save 1 total guess. Both words are still great starters.
The reason for the switch is WordleBot updated its dictionary, adding and removing some words. But this doesn’t impact the real game, since WordleBot uses a different word list.
Interesting stuff, but it won’t change my strategy. After 700+ games starting with STARE, I’ve switched to a random first word instead.
I chose STARE back in December 2021, before all the opening word analysis existed. It served me well – S, A, E are super common letters. And it let me quickly choose a good second word.
But solving Wordle got dull. December was so easy, I just typed STARE, a second word, and solved it in 3. Boring!
So now I randomly pick my starter. I’ve had good ones like LOUSE, bad ones like CHAFF, and ugly ones like POPPY. The word itself doesn’t determine my score though. The randomness makes me shape the puzzle through good and bad choices after.
My scores vary wildly now. I’ve scored 2s and 5s recently. It’s way more interesting than my consistent 3/6s with STARE.
So feel free to use TRACE. But picking randomly is more fun after hundreds of games. It revived my Wordle obsession two years in. Luck plays a role, but good and bad choices after the starter word make it a rollercoaster ride.
