Why I Start With STAIR (and Other Strong Wordle Openers)
Ask any group of Wordle players about starting words and you'll get a lively debate. Mine is STAIR. It's my go-to every single day. Here's why I like it, how it honestly stacks up against other popular openers, and how to pick one that works for you.
What a first guess is really for
Your first guess almost never wins the game, and it isn't supposed to. Its job is to gather information. You know nothing at the start, so the best opener is one that tests letters that show up in lots of five-letter words, in spots where they tend to sit.
That's the whole idea behind a strong opener: common letters, no repeats, and ideally a couple of them in their favorite positions.
Why STAIR works for me
STAIR packs five different, very common letters into one word: S, T, A, I and R. In the original Wordle answer list (2,315 words from the game's source code, before The New York Times began editing it), A appears in about 39% of the words, R in about 36%, T in 29%, I in 28% and S in 27%. Those are all near the top of the chart. You can see the full breakdown in my guide to the most common letters and positions.
It also puts letters in friendly spots. S is by far the most common first letter in that list (366 words start with it). T sits second in every word that starts with ST-, and there are 65 of those in the list. A and I are two of the most common middle letters, and R is one of the most common last letters.
And honestly? I just like it. It's easy to remember, it's a real everyday word, and it gives me a quick read on two vowels at once. When you play every single day, having a comfortable routine matters.
How STAIR compares, with real numbers
I didn't want to just say STAIR is good, so I checked it against the same 2,315-word list. For each opener, I worked out how often it finds at least one letter, how many letters it finds on average (greens plus yellows), and roughly how many possible words are left after you see the colors. That last one is the best single measure of a first guess: the smaller, the better.
| Opener | Finds at least one letter | Letters found, on average | Possible answers left, on average |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAIR | 88.7% | 1.59 | about 87 |
| RAISE | 92.7% | 1.76 | about 61 |
| SLATE | 90.5% | 1.68 | about 72 |
| CRANE | 88.6% | 1.64 | about 79 |
| ADIEU | 93.0% | 1.49 | about 124 |
| AUDIO | 91.8% | 1.32 | about 184 |
Source: the original Wordle answer list as compiled by cfreshman (GitHub gist); counted by Word Junkie.
Here's the honest takeaway. STAIR is a solid opener, but it isn't the mathematically best one. RAISE and SLATE leave you with fewer possible words on average, mostly because E is the most common letter of all and STAIR doesn't test it. STAIR finds no letters at all 262 times out of 2,315, which is about one game in nine.
What surprised me is how badly the vowel-heavy openers do. ADIEU and AUDIO find a letter more often, but they mostly find vowels, and vowels are a weak way to narrow things down. Knowing a word contains an A and an E still leaves hundreds of options. Consonants like R, T, S and L are what really split the list apart.
So should you switch?
Not necessarily. The difference between good openers is small compared with the difference your second and third guesses make. A player who picks a decent opener and then plays thoughtfully will beat someone who uses the "perfect" opener and then guesses carelessly. If you have a favorite word that you enjoy, that's worth something too.
What I'd avoid:
- Words with repeated letters, like SPEED or LLAMA, as an opener. A repeat wastes a slot you could use to test a new letter.
- Words full of rare letters, like JUMPY or FIZZY. Fun, but they mostly tell you what the word isn't.
- Changing your opener every day just because. A consistent opener teaches you how to read its results. After a while you'll know exactly what to do when STAIR comes back with a yellow A and nothing else.
Pairing your opener with a second word
Some players use a fixed pair of words to start: one opener plus a second word with five completely different letters. After STAIR, a word like CLONE works nicely because it adds E, O, L, N and C. Across the same 2,315-word list, STAIR plus CLONE finds at least one letter in 2,300 words, and on average leaves only four or five possible answers. I talk about when to use a fixed second word and when to adapt in my second-guess strategy.
Other strong openers worth trying
If you want to experiment, these are all sensible choices with five different common letters:
- SLATE and STARE: test S, T, A and E, the big four.
- RAISE and ARISE: excellent coverage of the most common letters.
- CRANE and TRACE: swap S for C, which is a very common first letter.
Try one for a week, see how it feels, and keep the one you enjoy. That's the whole secret.
My bottom line
STAIR is my opener because it tests five common letters, sets up those handy ST- starts, and fits my daily routine. The numbers say it's a good opener, not the best one. I'm completely fine with that, because the real fun of Wordle happens on guesses two, three and four.