Wordle Has a New Rule That Might Change Your Idea of the Best First Word for Words.
In Wordle, choosing a good opening word is both an art and a science. And now that the New York Times has announced it will begin repeating previously used words, it might be time to rethink your strategy. Previous solutions were previously unavailable for future puzzles, but that rule has changed. As of February 1, 2026, they are once again allowed.
The rule change matters because each word choice in Wordle requires dividing the tasks into two: getting information about what to guess next and attempting to solve the puzzle with your guess. If you don’t care whether your initial word is the solution, the rule change may not affect you. However, some players prefer to use words that are valid options for the solution, giving them a chance at a solution with just one guess. If you tend to discard your initial word after using it, you might want to reconsider this strategy and be open to using it again.
However, there’s no need to change the beginning of the sentence. My tried-and-true beginning, ARISE, appeared as a solution a few months ago—and I still use it, though I’m unlikely to see it again anytime soon. Emily Long, who writes our daily Wordle prompts , has a similar beginning: RAISE. (That was the solution in 2024.)
Vowel sounds are important, but not that important .
Computer analysis has identified other words that are ideal as word starters, and experienced Wordle players have their own opinions on the matter. However, most of us agree: ADIEU sucks. Sorry.
This isn’t to say that ADIEU is the worst word to start with, but according to a 2023 New York Times analysis , ADIEU is the worst of the 30 most popular starting words. However, in that ranking of the 30 best starting words, based on their effectiveness in revealing letters in any given puzzle, the top five were SLATE, CRANE, LEAST, STARE, and RAISE, with ADIEU ranking 30th. (My personal favorite, ARISE, ranks seventh.) Another computer analysis once suggested CRANE was the best starting word; another settled on SALET.
Let me explain the crux of the issue now. The argument in favor of ADIEU is that the word has four vowels, and you know the solution must have at least one vowel. So, eliminating four of them on the first try is quite clever. (Only O and the occasionally occurring vowel Y are excluded.)
But it’s arguable that vowels don’t narrow your choices enough to be useful. Most English words remain perfectly readable even if you eliminate all vowels. If you only know one or two vowels, you know very little about the word. Here’s what I mean: if you’re playing ADIEU and the letter A lights up yellow, yes, you know there’s an A somewhere in the solution. But that tells you very little about what the solution actually is! There are plenty of words that contain the letter A somewhere.
The best strategy might be to start with a word that has a lot of consonants and worry about vowels later. According to one local Wordle expert , “There are only five vowels, and it’s almost never the letter U.”
Do you want your blank to represent a possible answer?
One computer analysis suggested that SALET is the best choice to start with. Not only does it combine common letters well, but the letter arrangement provides more information than, say, SLATE or STALE. Just one problem: what the heck is a salet? (Okay, it’s a helmet used in European warfare in the 1400s, but I had to check.) Similarly, TARSE is also considered a good choice. But it’s unlikely that Wordle’s puzzle editor would ever choose SALET or TARSE as a solution today.
So, do you want your headline phrase to be a possible answer? If so, you should also avoid obscure words. You should also avoid any words that have been used recently. For many years, Wordle never repeated any solutions, but as of February 2026, this rule no longer applies. Previously used words may appear, but we don’t yet know how old a word is considered acceptable. You can look at Wordle’s lists of past solutions, but for now—as of February 2, 2026—the following strong headlines haven’t yet been used as solutions, but could very well (in my opinion) be. Take your pick:
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STEAL
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STEAK
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CARRIAGE
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GOODBYE (!)
If you’re hoping to get it right the first time, you might want to play ADIEU. If you don’t mind the previously used starting combinations, SLATE and STALE last appeared in 2022, while STAND and CRATE last appeared in 2021.
Your starter kit should match your problem-solving style.
Scientific analysis aside, I don’t think there’s any point in choosing the theoretically best seed; you need to find your best seed. The human brain doesn’t narrow down the problem space the same way a computer does. I like to find vowels early on because having vowels helps me mentally pronounce words. If I know there are vowels in the second and fourth positions (like _A_E_), I know it’s probably a two-syllable word. I cycle through the available letters, trying them in each position in my head. (SABER? CARET? LAYER?) For me, a seed with lots of vowels is helpful. For you, it might not be.
When choosing a starting letter, think about how you think through possible solutions when you’re halfway through a puzzle. Which starting letters will help you succeed, given your preferred solving style? If your brain works best when you know the initial letters of a word, perhaps choose a starting letter like TRASH, which immediately introduces many common initial consonants.
My approach is somewhere in the middle: I consider my initial sounds as a pair. When I play ARISE with TOUCH, I get information about all five vowels and the five most common consonants. If you play ADIEU, I think you need to be prepared to follow it up with THORN.
Don’t forget about the letter Y, which is sometimes pronounced as a vowel.
Should Y be in the starting lineup? Most of us don’t, but there are compelling arguments for including him early in the game.
The letter Y often goes unnoticed because it’s the last letter of the alphabet. It’s generally considered as rare as X and Z. But Y is quite common (it’s worth 4 points in Scrabble, compared to 8 for X and 10 for Z), appearing in words like FUNNY and JAZZY (JAZZY is perhaps the hardest word ever found as a Wordle answer). Words ending in Y also often contain two letters—like N and Z in these examples—so consider that when narrowing down your options.
You may remember from elementary school that vowel sounds are “A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y.” (You may even have learned “…and sometimes Y and V.”) That’s because Y can actually sound like a vowel on its own! The Y ending in FUNNY is an example: U is the vowel of the first syllable, and Y is the vowel of the second. There are also words in which Y is the only vowel, such as GLYPH, NYMPH, and TRYST.
So, if you’re working on a word cloud and feel like you don’t have enough vowels to form a word, add the letter Y to your guess somewhere—preferably at the end. LANKY or HORNY might be good choices when you’re stumped.
Isn’t the day you were looking for? Here’s the solution to today’s Wordle challenge.