How to use the word finder
- Copy your green letters. Tap a spot in the row of five, then tap the letter that turned green there. Tap the spot again and press ⌫ to clear it.
- Mark yellow letters. Tap a letter twice so it turns yellow. If you remember where you tried it, open the yellow row below the keyboard and tap that spot; the finder drops words with the letter there.
- Mark gray letters. Tap a letter once. Words containing it disappear from the list.
- Pick your next guess. The highlighted word splits the remaining list most evenly. Any word on the list is a legal guess.
Prefer a keyboard? Type a letter to cycle it, or tap a spot first and type the green letter. Typing is optional; every step works with taps.
Tips for finding the word faster
- Open with five different common letters. Words built from A, E, R, S, T, L, N and O rule out the most of the list on the first try. The “Good starting words” chip lists strong openers with no repeated letter.
- Do not reuse gray letters. A guess with a known gray letter spends a whole slot on information you already have.
- Move yellow letters. Try each yellow letter in a new spot. The finder does this for you when you mark where it was not.
- Remember repeated letters. Words like geese, allay or tweet use a letter twice. If many words still match, turn on “No repeated letters” only after you have ruled doubles out.
- When two or three words remain, a word that tests their differing letters can be better than guessing one of them, unless you can afford to be wrong.
Repeated letters, explained
Green, yellow and gray can describe the same letter twice. In this finder, gray and yellow always describe the copies beyond your green ones. Say the word has an E in spot 2 and your guess showed a second E as gray: put E in spot 2 and tap E once so it is gray, and only words with exactly one E remain. If the second E came back yellow, tap E twice instead and the finder keeps words with at least two. The yellow row also takes exact counts: when speed shows one E yellow and the other gray, the word has exactly one E, so set E to “exactly 1”.
Where the words come from
The finder searches the same 12,578 five-letter words that Spell Guess accepts as guesses. They come from the open-source word-list collection (MIT license), so rare words and plurals appear next to everyday ones. The list is in alphabetical order and carries no mark for any daily word: the finder cannot spoil today's puzzle, and it narrows the list only as far as your clues do.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find 5 letter words with certain letters?
Tap each letter you know is in the word twice so it turns yellow. Every word on the list that contains all of those letters appears below. Add gray letters to remove words that use letters you have ruled out.
What do green, yellow and gray mean?
Green means the letter is in the word and in that exact spot. Yellow means the letter is in the word but not in the spot where you tried it. Gray means the letter is not in the word at all.
How does the finder handle repeated letters?
Gray and yellow describe copies beyond the green ones. If E is green in one spot and you also mark E gray, the word has exactly that one E. If you mark it yellow instead, the word has at least one more E somewhere else. When one guess shows a letter both yellow and gray, set its copies to exactly 1 in the yellow row.
What is the best next guess?
It is the matching word whose letters split the remaining words most evenly, so its colors tell you the most. It is a suggestion based on letter counts, not knowledge of the hidden word.
Does this reveal today's Spell Guess word?
No. The finder only filters the public list of accepted guesses in alphabetical order. It has no access to the daily word, so the result is only as narrow as the clues you enter.
Which words are included?
The 12,578 five-letter words that Spell Guess accepts as guesses, from the open-source word-list collection. It includes rare words and plurals, so many matches are valid guesses rather than likely answers.