Word Guess

How to play Word Guess

There's a hidden five-letter word, and you have six tries to find it. Type any real five-letter word and press Enter. Each letter then turns a color that tells you how close you are:

• Green: the letter is in the word, in that exact spot.
• Yellow: the letter is in the word, but in a different spot.
• Gray: the letter isn't in the word at all.

Use what you learn to make a better guess. Find the word within six guesses and you win.

Repeated letters are marked one copy at a time. If you guess a word with two Es and the answer has only one, one E lights up and the other turns gray. If both Es light up, the answer has two.

Playing on Poozee

• Daily is one word a day, the same for everyone, and a new one starts at midnight your time. Your streak grows each day you solve it.
• Unlimited gives you a fresh word every game, as often as you like, with its own stats. You won't see the same answer again until you've played 200 others.
• Hard mode makes you use every hint you uncover: green letters must stay in place and yellow letters must appear in every later guess. You can switch it on or off before your first guess.
• High contrast swaps green and yellow for orange and blue, which are easier to tell apart for many players with color vision deficiency.
• Share copies your result as colored squares, without the letters, so you can post it without spoiling the word.
• Type on your keyboard, or tap the on-screen keys on a phone or tablet. Your game is saved in your browser, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off.

The answers are common, everyday English words. Plurals made by adding S, like BOOKS, are never the answer, though you can use them as guesses.

Tips for solving in fewer guesses

1. Open with common letters. A first guess with E, A, R, S and T, like STARE or CRATE, rules in or out the most letters at once. Our guide to the best Wordle starting words explains how to pick one.
2. Don't reuse gray letters. Each new letter you try is new information. A guess made only of letters you've already seen tells you nothing new.
3. Move yellow letters. A yellow letter is in the word but not in that spot, so try it somewhere else next time.
4. Think about repeats. If you're stuck, the answer may have a double letter, as in SKILL or GEESE.
5. Try a helper word. When one letter could still be several options (say _IGHT with L, M, N, F and S left), a guess that tests several of those letters at once, like FILMS, can save you from guessing one at a time. This works in normal mode; hard mode doesn't allow it.

Playing hard mode? Our hard mode tips show which openers and habits lose the fewest games, measured on every answer in this game.

Pro tip: Before your last guess, write down every word that still fits. Picking the most common one is usually the best bet.

About the game

Word Guess is Poozee's own take on a classic letter-guessing puzzle, with our own word list and code. It's inspired by Wordle, which is a trademark of The New York Times Company. Poozee isn't affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times.