Wordle

The script confirmed it analytically. Here’s the result:

The best non-overlapping 3-word combination we can find is banjo + glyph + quirk – 15 unique letters, using a,b,g,h,i,j,k,l,n,o,p,q,r,u,y.

The remaining 11 letters are c,d,e,f,m,s,t,v,w,x,z — and here’s the wall: “e is the only vowel left” . You can’t build two valid 5-letter English words from that set. One word might squeeze through (something like “vexed” fails because e repeats), but two is essentially impossible.

So 25 is almost certainly unachievable with real English words. The theoretical ceiling is probably around 23, constrained by the vowel distribution problem – J, Q, X, Z, and V all need vowels and there simply aren’t enough to go around once you’ve used each vowel once.

Your Wordle instinct was right that it’s a worthy puzzle. The answer just happens to be “no.”

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Prof Barry Smyth simulated a million Wordle games to find optimal starter words. Best single word is “tales” (3.66 avg rounds, 95% success). Best two-word combo is “cones” then “trial” (3.68 rounds, 96% success). Three seeds (“hates”, “round”, “climb”) hits 97% but averages 4.2 rounds — more reliable but slower.

One or two seeds beats three. Information efficiency wins over coverage.