Everything To Know About Using Repeat Letters, Plurals, And More In Wordle

If you haven’t tried your hand at Wordle, it can seem pretty confusing when you look at the yellow, gray, and green squares on your Twitter timeline. But the rules of the daily word game are actually really simple to follow, you just need to know what to consider for each try. If you’ve been looking to join the Wordle craze, it’s not too late. Here are all the Wordle rules you need to know including, does Wordle repeat letters, (aka use the same letter twice), use plurals, or past tense words.

Those who aren’t familiar with Wordle probably feel like everyone on Twitter has excluded you from an inside joke (I know I did). To bring you up to speed, Wordle is a daily word puzzle game that was created and developed in October 2021 by software engineer Josh Wardle for his word game-loving partner, Palak Shah. The game can only be played once a day, as users try to guess the secret word of the day within six guesses on the Wordle website.

The name, Wordle, is actually a wordplay of the founder’s name. Since its conception, the popularity of Wordle grew rapidly to 3 million players in early 2022 and was acquired by The New York Times on Jan. 31 for “low seven figures,” according to The Times. The publisher did not change the game, but it did remove certain “insensitive or offensive” words.

Despite the confusing blocks you’ve probably seen on Twitter, the Wordle rules are super basic: You have six tries to guess the five-letter word of the day. There aren’t any hints to start — you just have to take a guess and hope you get a yellow or green square. A yellow square means that letter is in the word of the day but in a different place, and a green square means you’ve found a correct letter, and it’s in the right place. A gray square means the letter isn’t in the word at all.

That’s really all there is to it, but if you still have questions as to how the game works, let me clear up a few things before you get started on your first Wordle puzzle.

Does Wordle Use Repeat Letters?

One of the most frequently talked about Wordle topics is can the daily Wordle use repeat letters? It makes sense that you wouldn’t want to waste one of your six tries on a word with double letters, but that shouldn’t be the case. Wordle doesn’t shy away from words that use the same letter twice, and neither should you. If you guess a repeated letter more times than it appears in the word of the day, the first use of that letter will turn yellow and the second will turn gray, according to this Reddit post from devoted Wordle player u/Humdrumbee.

Keep in mind the repeat letter could be twice in a row or used non-consecutively in the word, like “rally” or “gorge,” respectively. In fact, on July 7, the answer was “fluff,” per Prop Game Guides, so don’t be afraid to try a letter more than twice. It’s more common than you might think: In the course of five days in July, four of the words used repeated letters.

Does Wordle Use Plurals?

You can guess words that are plural to help you eliminate or discover correct letters, but don’t bank on many of the answers being plural. Of all the Wordles in 2022 through July 7, none of the answers have been plural words, although words do end in “s” while not being plural — recent ones have included “glass,” “focus,” “truss,” and “rebus.” I wouldn’t rule plurals out of the question, but they don’t seem like they’ll be the answer very often. Elite Daily reached out to Wordle for comment on the use of plurals but did not hear back at the time of publication.

Does Wordle Use Past Tense Words?

This one’s tricky. While there’s no proof the word of the day will end in -ed, there’s no proof that it won’t, either. The list of every word of the day starting from Jan. 1, 2022 indicates there haven’t been any past tense words as of July 7, but who knows what that could mean for the future. Elite Daily reached out to Wordle for comment on the possible use of past tense words but did not hear back at the time of publication.

What Is The Best Word To Start With Wordle?

Given all the possibilities, you might wonder how you should kick off your Wordle play. A computer scientist shared in a January 2022 TikTok the best 10 first guesses. The best guess, according to a code developed by TikToker @crvlwanek using the existing word list, is “later.” Other good choices include: alter, alert, arose, and irate.

Even with occasional frustrations as you play, Wordle manages to be a pretty enjoyable form of entertainment. The game is completely free to play, so there’s no harm in trying it out for yourself. Now that you’ve mastered all the Wordle rules, who knows, maybe you’ll become the best Wordle player on your Twitter feed.