According to a recent study, thousands of people are cheating at Wordle by searching for the answer and inputting it as their first guess. The study examined players’ daily guesses and found that up to 10,000 individuals are cheating to achieve a perfect score. In contrast, the probability of correctly guessing the word on the first try is only about 0.04%, which implies that around 860 players should achieve this feat.
In Wordle’s normal mode, anywhere from 0.2% to 0.5% of people are managing to win on their first attempt. Based on Wordle’s 1.7 million daily users, this translates to 4,000 to 10,000 cheaters. The study reveals that this high number of cheaters consistently occurs every day.
There are several telltale signs of cheating, such as unusual words suddenly becoming popular on days when they are the correct answer. For instance, the study highlights the odd choice of “NANNY” as a first guess—a word that only consists of 2 vowels and 1 consonant.
While the number of cheaters appears to be declining over time, the reason behind this trend remains unclear. The study speculates that cheaters might be getting bored with Wordle or have been on summer vacation during the three-month study period.
Furthermore, the study reveals that players who engage in Wordle’s hard mode cheat slightly less. In this mode, players must use any correctly-guessed letters in subsequent guesses. Approximately 0.3% of these players typically guess correctly on their first try.
In addition, the study found that at least a third of players have a preferred starting word or multiple words that they rotate through. Even if their chosen starting word is the correct answer, only around 10% of players switch to something else afterwards. The starting word “ADIEU” is particularly popular, accounting for 8% of all guesses due to its combination of vowels.
The study concludes that Wordle is more than just a game of luck and skill, highlighting the presence of rampant cheating, player loyalty, and various influences.
If you’re one of those individuals seeking the satisfaction of solving Wordle, you can consider using our Wordle Solver Tool.