Tips
Verdle tips
Some help for when the board stares back at you. Everything here comes from counting the 407 words in Verdle’s daily list, so it holds for any day, without giving any day away.
Start with A
A is in nearly three words out of four (72%). After it come N, I, K and E, each in roughly a third of the words. A first guess with A, N, I and K in it tells you a lot, whatever the length.
Good first guesses
- Four letters: AKIN
- Five letters: SNAKE or SNEAK
- Six letters: INTAKE
- Seven letters: PEAKING
None of these is in the list of answers. Think of them as scouts, not shots at goal: their job is to light up as many letters as they can.
Watch the ending
One word in seven ends in NG (14%): the -ang, -ing and -ung of so many Malay words. K is the next most common last letter (12%), then I, A and N. If a G turns up near the end, try an N just before it.
And the start
K is the most common first letter (14%), followed by B, S and P. The most common openings are KE, MA, KA and PA.
Expect a letter twice
About half the words (51%) use some letter more than once. A green A doesn’t mean there isn’t another A.
When in doubt, think Malay
Two words in three come from Malay (66%), and about one in six from Hokkien (17%). Cantonese, Tamil, English and mixed words make up the rest.
Letters you can mostly forget
Q never appears. X and V turn up in one word each, F in three and Z in six. Spend your guesses elsewhere.
Play the sound, not the spelling
Singlish and Manglish are spelt however people type them, and Verdle accepts any guess of the right length. The colours are measured against the answer’s own spelling, though, so if a word you’re sure of comes up short, try the other way people write it.
How long will it be?
Five letters is the most common length (39% of words), then six (28%), four (18%) and seven (15%). You never have to guess this part: the board is set to the day’s length before you start.
Want more practice? Every past puzzle is still playable in the back issues, and none of them touch your streak.