Wordle tips: How to master the game, according to a linguistics expert

It’s the game that social media can’t get enough of, but we can’t help but wonder: should you really start Wordle with the same word every day?
Laura Hampson finds out
5 days ago

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What are the best starting words for Wordle?
Some users swear by starting each game with the same word. Usually vowel-heavy, some popular starting words include ‘ADIEU’, ‘STEAK’, ‘TREAD’, ‘TABLE’ and ‘AUDIO’.

But is this really the best tactic? Murphy, a Wordle fan who plays the game daily in three different languages, says she varies the words she starts with – but they are always consonant-heavy.

“Consonants are more informative than vowels – there are more of them to knock out of contention,” she explains. “Things like ‘CLAMP’ or ‘DRINK’, which have either an ‘L’ or an ‘R’ and either an ‘M’ or an ‘N’.

“Whereas if you guess something vowel-heavy like ‘ALIEN’ at the start, you might learn that the word has an ‘A’ and an ‘E’, but a lot of words have those two vowels – you haven’t ruled as many words out.

Consonants are more informative than vowels
“I like using ‘L’, ‘R’, ‘N’, and ‘M’ (linguists call them sonorant consonants) early because they combine easily with other consonants. Once I know that a word with a ‘P’ doesn’t have an ‘L’, for instance, I’ve ruled out a lot of the possible ‘P’ words.”

More........
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/wordle-starting-word-hints-win-b2024307.html

Synopsis
This is a true story based on transcripts of the Salem Witch Trials. Sarah (Vanessa Redgrave) and her two sisters are put on trial for suspicion of witchcraft. While her sisters are hanged, Sarah is sentenced to a prison term to be served in a box barely large enough for her to lie down in. When she is released, her family name is cleared and all she is given for all she has suffered are three gold sovereigns- coin of the realm at the time.

Abby Williams, the preacher's niece, starts getting into fortune telling and such illegal activities, as taught to her by the slave Tituba. Other local girls get into it, and then start acting strange. Abby and the girls eventually start to name local people as 'witches' and blame their sicknesses on witchcraft. Hundreds are accused and sent to jail, though there are many who doubt the truth of the accusations. Among these are three sisters, Mary, Rebecca, and Sarah. All are kept in jail for quite some time, until Mary and Rebecca are found guilty, though they pleaded innocent. They are hanged, and due to over crowding, Sarah is sent to a farm until her hearing. She is kept in utter isolation in a chicken coop, getting very sick and lonely, until family comes to save her. The madness is over, though the clever girls, along with one 'afflicted' mother, first succeeded in giving enough 'evidence' so that 19 people were hanged on the count of witchcraft, and one was pressed to death. The story is told to a court 10 years later by Sarah, wanting to clear the family name. Though they can not immediately decide on guilt, or give her compensation, the three judges do give Sarah 3 symbolic sovereigns, one for each of the lives that had suffered.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090164/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl#synopsis