How to use the five-letter word finder
- 1Make a guess in your game and look at the colors it gives each letter.
- 2Type green letters into their square in the green row, yellow letters under their square in the yellow row, and gray letters into the gray box.
- 3Read the suggested guesses and the full list of words that still fit. After your next guess, add the new colors; earlier clues stay.
An example round
Say your first guess is SLATE, and A and E come back green in squares 3 and 5, while S, L and T are gray. Type A in green square 3, E in green square 5 and SLT in the gray box. The finder keeps 30 words such as crane, grace, brave and drape.
Your second guess is CRANE: R, A and E come back green, C and N gray. Add R to green square 2 and CN to the gray box. Nine words are left: grade, grape, grave, graze, drake, drape, brake, brave and frame. With that many close words, the finder also offers GAPED as a word to narrow it down, because it tests G, P and D in one guess.
| Color | Where to type it | What the finder keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Green | Green row, same square | Words with this letter in this square |
| Yellow | Yellow row, same square | Words with this letter somewhere else |
| Gray | Gray box | Words without this letter |
Double letters
A letter can be green or yellow in one square and gray in another when you guessed it twice but the word has it once. Enter it in both places. The finder reads that as "exactly as many copies as the green and yellow squares show": with E green in square 5 and E also in the gray box, words like geese drop out, while words with a single E in square 5 stay. A letter that is only green or yellow, never gray, may appear more often.
How the next guess is chosen
The finder counts, among the words still possible, how many contain each letter and how many have it in each square. A guess scores higher when its different letters are common in that list, so the suggested guesses are the likely words that also test the most frequent letters. The full list is sorted the same way.
When many words are left, a word to narrow it down may appear as well. It is picked from all five-letter words, including ones the clues have ruled out, for letters that about half of the remaining words contain. Whatever color those letters turn, the list shrinks a lot. Use it when several words differ by one letter, like bound, found, hound, mound and pound, where guessing them one by one can take many turns.
Where the words come from
The finder uses the 4,662 five-letter words of the 12dicts 3of6game list by Alan Beale, a public domain list of common English words, after we removed slurs and the strongest swear words. It is not the answer list of any game and does not know any day's answer. Your game may use or accept a word that is not in this list. For other word lengths, the word finder searches by letters and length, and the crossword solver by pattern.
Related guide
Frequently asked questions
How do I enter my clues?
Type each green letter in its square in the green row. Type each yellow letter in the yellow row under the square where it was yellow; a square can hold several yellow letters from different guesses. Type every gray letter in the gray box. The list of possible words updates as you type.
What if a letter is both green or yellow and gray?
That happens with double letters: you guessed a letter twice and only one copy is in the word. Enter it in both places. The finder then keeps only words with as many copies of that letter as your green and yellow squares show, and no more.
How is the next guess suggested?
The suggested guesses are the possible words whose letters are most common among all the words still possible, with a small bonus for letters in their most common squares. When many words are left, the finder may also show a word to narrow it down: a word whose letters split the remaining list about in half, which may itself not be the answer.
Is this the official answer list of the game?
No. The words come from a public domain list of common English words (12dicts), the same list our other word tools use. It has 4,662 five-letter words. The game you play may accept or use words that are not in it, or the other way round.
Does this spoil the puzzle?
Only as much as you want. It shows the words that still fit your clues and a suggestion; it does not know today's answer and does not connect to any game.