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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that if you get Wordle on the second guess it’s more luck than judgment?

146 replies

AuntyJanet · 04/02/2022 00:30

My friend is extremely boastful about the fact she got Wordle right on the second guess. Thinks it’s down to inate skill and excellent vocabulary. However, I think getting it right on the second guess is largely down to getting lucky with the letters in your first guess.

Who’s right?

OP posts:
BuanoKubiamVej · 04/02/2022 00:31

Yanbu. There's no skill in being lucky.

TheOriginalEmu · 04/02/2022 00:33

Of course there is an element of luck. If you happen to use a word that gives you a lot of clues it’s far easier.

HerRoyalNotness · 04/02/2022 00:34

Yesterday I got in one guess. Pure luck!

Teeturtle · 04/02/2022 00:37

There might be a tiny bit of skill in getting it on the second guess, but not much and definitely not due to great vocabulary, they are generally pretty easy words. 😂

Lellochip · 04/02/2022 00:40

The only time I've done it in two, I didn't get a single letter on the first guess, so second was definitely sheer dumb luck didn't stop me feeling undeservedly smug though Grin

KrisAkabusi · 04/02/2022 00:43

There's luck in getting it on first guess. There's skill in getting it on the second.

givethatbabyaname · 04/02/2022 00:45

Depends. Sometimes the first guess can leave you with a permutation of letters and order of letters that can make the second guess a skilled response.

If you got nothing out of the first guess, it’ll mostly be luck.

OmgIThinkILikeYou · 04/02/2022 00:50

Just got it in 4 on first ever play. It's good fun!

Frlrlrubert · 04/02/2022 00:50

Bit of both I think. I got yesterdays in two, I got three letters on the first guess.

Todays took me all 6 and probably shows I need to go to bed, instead of doing it after midnight and mumsnetting!

Ginevere · 04/02/2022 00:51

Totally agree. I’ve got it in two goes twice and both times I was very lucky with the first word and it was easy. As far as I’m concerned, 3 or 4 is where the real smarties hang out.

Nanny0gg · 04/02/2022 00:53

I got it in two yesterday.

Two right guesses wrong place, so when I tried them somewhere else the word fell into place.

But there was some logic in where I moved them to.

TonyThreePies · 04/02/2022 00:54

@OmgIThinkILikeYou

Just got it in 4 on first ever play. It's good fun!
I've not been playing it long but it's the 4th go every time for me!
FavouriteMug · 04/02/2022 00:57

I got today's in 2 but just pure fluke that it was close to my start word.

Probably won't ever happen again.

exexpat · 04/02/2022 01:27

Bit of luck, bit of logic.

I have been playing for three weeks and have got it in 2 goes four times so far. Usually it takes me three or four. It's more fun when it takes longer!

KitchenTowel · 04/02/2022 01:31

It depends on the clues she got in the first round. It could be s combination of working out the clues and luck. I used to get mastermind invariably in five or six rounds and people ajways thought I'm cheating but I just went through every possibility in my head based on the clues.

(It's the only game I've ever been good at so thanks Mumsnet for giving me an opportunity to mention itGrin)

CJsGoldfish · 04/02/2022 01:46

I've gotten it on the second go twice. The 'luck' is in picking a good first word. You've got to be able to take from that to get it on the next go 🤷‍♀️

lemonsaretheonlyfruit · 04/02/2022 01:57

Yes and no I would say. I just got today's in two for the first time (I am normally 4 or 5) and I did tags more time than normal (as I can't sleep) trying Work out the various combinations based on the eliminated letters. Still an element of luck for sure but with extra time and thought thrown in based on today's experience.

lemonsaretheonlyfruit · 04/02/2022 01:57

*take not tag

CindyLouWho1 · 04/02/2022 02:08

It’s mostly luck but there’s a little bit of brain power required. If you have a large enough vocabulary it will be easier to identify which letters commonly occur (or don’t occur) together so you can make more informed guesses. I always get it on the 2nd guess too.

PivotPivotPivottt · 04/02/2022 02:20

Just played for the first time off the back of this thread and got it in 3.

safariboot · 04/02/2022 02:47

Agreed. Or cheating.

I'm not sure what the best opening guess is. I usually go for something with common letters, like "their" or "heart". But no matter what your opening is, if you get all five letters grey, there's countless words that could be made from the remaining 21 letters of the alphabet.

Seemslikeagoodidea · 04/02/2022 03:34

@PivotPivotPivottt

Just played for the first time off the back of this thread and got it in 3.
Same here. There's certainly an element of luck involved, but if you choose a word with a couple of vowels in it, I think that is probably a good way to go as most words include at least one vowel.

I wonder what the odds are of getting it right on the first guess... there must be thousands of 5 letter words in the dictionary and from what I've seen there is no clue offered, just empty boxes to fill with letters. (Or have I misunderstood the game?) It would be hard to calculate the odds. I wonder if words with the same letter used twice might be harder to find, statistically speaking?

Vanellopee · 04/02/2022 03:43

I got it in 2 yesterday, but there were other words that could have fit. Definitely a large element of luck getting it in 2.

Vanellopee · 04/02/2022 03:45

I wonder what the odds are of getting it right on the first guess.
There are currently around 2,500 words in the Wordle dictionary, so about 1:2500.

BeMoreGoldfish · 04/02/2022 03:47

Definitely largely luck but I have a friend who also thinks that his Wordle luck is some form of undiscovered genius Grin. The daily boasts are getting tiresome now! GrinHmm