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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:
AgentProvocateur · 04/02/2022 04:01

Definitely skill and intelligence! (Guess who got it in 2 today 😉)

Oblomov22 · 04/02/2022 05:02

More luck than skill. It'll soon get boring. It's already started to be.

MakeItRain · 04/02/2022 05:17

Yes I agree! Sometimes I've got it in 6 because I've got 4 letters right and there are a fair few possibilities with the final letter (eg might/right/sight/light). That's just luck, not skill. Or I tried "hoist" before getting "moist" the other day. That's just luck too. I think the more words you know, it can mean you try more combinations, not less. I'm still a bit addicted though, and still feel like I've achieved something if I get it in 2 or 3! Now it's been bought up by the New York Times I reckon its days of being a free game are limited, and my addiction will be cured once you have to pay for it, or run adverts during it!

Frogsonglue · 04/02/2022 05:28

@CindyLouWho1

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.
I don't understand how you can ALWAYS get it on the second guess? Don't you ever get all the letters grey on the first guess? I agree that second guess is mostly luck. You just haven't got enough to go on unless your first had lots of clues - which is pure luck. If it's a common combo of letters you can easily take 5 goes as you go through the possibilities.
NoSquirrels · 04/02/2022 05:31

I’ve literally just got todays in two, having read this thread and gone off to see as an experiment.

Bit of luck in choosing the first word - got 2, beginning and end letters and knocked out several vowels, allowing me to see what was likely (using the vowels left) to get it on the second go.

If your friend consistently gets it in 2 I’d say it’s a bit of a skill. If, like me, it’s more hit and miss (often takes me 4!) then more luck.

It’s fun either way.

MimiDaisy11 · 04/02/2022 05:43

I don’t get the boasting that’s apparently going on. It’s just a silly fun game. There’s definitely luck involved especially for the second guess. The best I’ve got is third.

I worked out all letters quickly once apart from the first letter on first guess so thought it was my time to get it on the second turn. It was a common ending and so there were multiple options. I got it on the fourth 😂.

FelicityBeedle · 04/02/2022 06:56

@Vanellopee

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.
I don’t think so, not unless you’ve memorised the Wordle dictionary for your guesses. Unless you mean there’s only 2500 5 letter words it affects which is possible I guess
Vanellopee · 04/02/2022 07:03

I don’t think so, not unless you’ve memorised the Wordle dictionary for your guesses. Unless you mean there’s only 2500 5 letter words it affects which is possible I guess
Yes, it only accepts guesses from the 2,500ish words in its word list.

EishetChayil · 04/02/2022 07:10

I have an unbroken streak of getting it in my first go, because so many numb-nuts post their results on social media and I just copy.

JorisBonson · 04/02/2022 07:13

Totally luck. I start with the same word every day, today I was lucky enough it was very close to the answer and I got it in 2.

meditrina · 04/02/2022 07:15

Yes, it's good luck.

Having a starting word with a useful selection of letters helps of course.

Real luck is getting it in one!

Scarby9 · 04/02/2022 07:18

My start word (always the same one) gave me the first four correct letters in the correct places the other day.
It then took me until gueß 5 to get the right final letter.
There is definitely luck in it.

NashvilleQueen · 04/02/2022 07:22

Three for me is the sweet spot. One or two us usually a fluke. Four is the average.

Growbean · 04/02/2022 07:26

Entirely depends on what you got on the first go.

If it was nothing or very little, obviously getting it right second times requires a lot of luck. On the other hand, if you got quite a lot on your first go (maybe 4-5 oranges or a few oranges and greens) turning that into the right answer may have been largely down to skill (although of course the useful first go was luck).

Shiningpath · 04/02/2022 07:27

Maybe she’s just figured out a good combination of words. There’s skill in strategy.

miltonj · 04/02/2022 07:27

Bit of both!

eldora · 04/02/2022 07:35

Just downloaded Wordle and can’t believe the insane number of ads Shock

Do people buy the ad free version?

BurntToastAgain · 04/02/2022 07:37

I did it in 2 guesses today. I chanced upon the first and last letter and ruled out two vowels in the first guess.

Definitely luck.

NiceViper · 04/02/2022 07:37

There are no ads on the version people are on about :

www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 04/02/2022 07:39

I failed yesterday's my first loss. Had the first four letters within 3 tries. But it was one of those words where there was several possibilities for the last one. I've also got it in two before by getting four of the letters on the first try. There's a massive element of luck.

Scoobydoobywho · 04/02/2022 07:40

My fil got one on the first go, he said it was more luck than than intelligence.

ivykaty44 · 04/02/2022 07:43

If you put

Trick as the first word, then Rick are all green letters, then just changing the first letter isn’t going to give you many choices and putting p in would be obviously the correct answer

Prick a while back made me giggle, as did moist

ivykaty44 · 04/02/2022 07:45

I just use the normal webpage, no app and no adds

Shortpoet · 04/02/2022 07:45

@BeMoreGoldfish

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
Apparently if you look in the code you can work out what the next words will be. I saw spoilers posted on twitter for the days ahead which was very annoying.

So if he is consistently “lucky” I’d be suspicious.

That said I did get lucky with LIGHT when loads of people failed going through night, might, tight, fight, sight etc.

Blueroses99 · 04/02/2022 07:48

@eldora

Just downloaded Wordle and can’t believe the insane number of ads Shock

Do people buy the ad free version?

The official/original version is on a website not an app, though lots of apps have sprung up off the back of it. Link posted by pp upthread.

I’ve got it in 2 just once. I never use the same starting word as that feels a bit boring to me.