128ordle Opener Analysis
This analysis uses the exact 2,313-answer production list shipped with 128ordle. Each candidate is scored against every answer with normal duplicate-letter rules, then grouped by the resulting green, yellow, and grey pattern.
Among the six compared words, RAISE has the highest entropy at 5.878 bits and leaves the smallest expected answer group at 60.9. AROSE has the smallest worst-case group at 182 answers. The figures were recalculated from src/data/wordleSolutions.txt on 10 July 2026.
Across the production answers, E appears in 1,055 words, A in 908, R in 837, O in 673, T in 667, I in 647, L in 646, and S in 617. That is why useful opener candidates cluster around those common vowels and consonants.
Single-word partition quality is only a baseline for 128 boards. One guess creates 128 separate feedback patterns, so low-overlap two- and three-word sequences matter more than a tiny advantage between individual openers.
To reproduce the comparison, score every candidate against every production answer, count the five-tile pattern groups, calculate Shannon entropy, and calculate expected remaining answers as sum(group size squared) divided by 2,313.
Results
| Opener | Feedback patterns | Entropy (bits) | Expected answers left | Largest group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAISE | 132 | 5.878 | 60.9 | 167 |
| AROSE | 121 | 5.768 | 65.9 | 182 |
| STARE | 133 | 5.808 | 71.2 | 226 |
| SLATE | 146 | 5.853 | 71.6 | 221 |
| TRACE | 150 | 5.830 | 74.0 | 246 |
| CRANE | 142 | 5.742 | 78.8 | 263 |
These figures compare six popular candidates; they are not a claim that every accepted guess was exhaustively ranked.
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