--- title: "Tusmo tips: 7 strategies to solve the word in fewer tries · SIWA" description: "Opening words, double letters, positional logic and jokers: 7 Tusmo tips to crack the French word of the day in fewer tries and push your score higher." canonical_url: "https://dev.siwa.io/en/guides/astuces-tusmo" last_updated: 2026-10-27 locale: en meta: "og:description": "Opening words, double letters, positional logic and jokers: 7 Tusmo tips to crack the French word of the day in fewer tries and push your score higher." "og:image": "https://dev.siwa.io/og/en/tusmo.jpg?v=73e06cff" "og:image:alt": "Tusmo · Find the mystery word in 6 tries" "og:image:height": "630" "og:image:type": image/jpeg "og:image:width": "1200" "og:title": "Tusmo tips: 7 strategies to solve the word in fewer tries" "twitter:image": "https://dev.siwa.io/og/en/tusmo.jpg?v=73e06cff" "twitter:image:alt": "Tusmo · Find the mystery word in 6 tries" --- > Index of every page on this site: [llms.txt](https://dev.siwa.io/llms.txt) How to play # Tusmo tips: 7 strategies to solve the word in fewer tries To solve Tusmo in fewer tries, open with a word made of common, all-different letters, use your second guess to test new letters, then place the orange letters by ruling out positions. Add a sound grasp of double letters and a joker kept for the endgame. Updated October 27, 2026 [Play Tusmo](https://play.dev.siwa.io/game/tusmo) ## Why every try counts In [Tusmo](https://dev.siwa.io/en/games/tusmo), your score out of 1,000 depends first on the number of tries. Each extra try takes 120 performance points off, down to the sixth: | Word found on… | Performance points | | --- | --- | | 1st try | 1,000 | | 2nd try | 880 | | 3rd try | 760 | | 4th try | 640 | | 5th try | 520 | | 6th try | 400 | On top of that comes a **speed bonus** (up to 200 points if you win in under a minute) or a gradual **penalty** beyond two minutes, capped at 250 points. Each joker costs 60 points. The total is kept between 0 and 1,000; a win at 750 or more earns 3 stars, at 450 or more 2 stars. The upshot: saving a try is worth more than saving thirty seconds. The tips below focus on cutting the number of tries first. ## 1. Open with common, distinct letters Your first guess should cover as much ground as possible. In French text, the most frequent letters are, in order, E, A, I, S, N, R, T, O, L and U. A good opener of the right length packs five or six of them, **with no repeats**: every doubled letter is a square that tests nothing new. Since the first letter is given, it tells you nothing: the squares after it do the work. Our guide to the [best Tusmo starting words](https://dev.siwa.io/en/guides/tusmo-meilleurs-mots-de-depart) suggests French examples by first letter and word length. ## 2. On your second try, explore rather than confirm After a weak first guess, it is tempting to keep the orange letters and shuffle them around. That is often too early. If you only have one or two letters, a second word that tests **five new letters** (O, U, L, C, D, M, P…) teaches you more. Green letters, on the other hand, are locked and pre-filled: you cannot swap them out. Use the free squares to probe new letters, then switch to placing letters on your third or fourth try. ## 3. Think in positions An orange letter tells you two things: it is in the word, and **not in that spot**. For each orange letter, keep track of the positions you have already tried. After two or three guesses, there are often only one or two places left. This elimination beats intuition. Before submitting, check that your guess doesn't put an orange letter back where it was already orange, and uses no grey letters. ## 4. Master double letters French loves double letters (LL, SS, TT, NN) and repeated Es. Tusmo handles them like this: green squares are assigned first, then orange ones from left to right, and a letter is only coloured as many times as it appears in the word. Here is an example with a 6-letter mystery word containing a single E: METRES *M in the right spot, R misplaced, T and S absent. The first E is orange, the second grey: the word has only one E.* Same mystery word, another guess: MEUBLE *M and the final E in the right spot, U, B and L absent. The E in second place is grey, because the word's only E is already counted in green.* Remember the rule: **a grey letter isn't necessarily absent** if the same letter is green or orange elsewhere on the row. It only means there is no extra copy. Conversely, if a word seems obvious but you have run out of letters, think of doubling: one letter can fill two squares. ## 5. Think like a French dictionary The word of the day is 5 to 8 letters long and is not reused within 30 days. Conjugated verb forms ("chantait", "prenez") are rare: think of nouns, adjectives and infinitives first. Accents don't count, and É is typed as E. For long words, endings are your best friends: -TION, -MENT, -EUR, -AGE, -ETTE, -IER, -ANCE. As soon as two final letters are green, list the matching suffixes and try the most common one. ## 6. Read the keyboard like a dashboard The keyboard under the grid shows the best colour each letter has earned. Before each guess, one glance stops you from replaying a grey letter. On a computer, you can also type on your physical keyboard, which is faster than tapping on screen and helps with the speed bonus. ## 7. Save the joker for the right moment The joker reveals one letter in an unknown position, picked at random among the squares you don't know yet, never the first. It costs 60 points, **half the cost of an extra try** (120 points). So it pays off as soon as it saves you a try. The right moment is when one or two squares remain and several candidates fit (B, D or M? R or L?). Early on, a randomly revealed letter is worth less than a good exploratory guess. ## If you miss the sixth try After six tries, free play lets you keep going without scoring, and extra guesses never push your score any lower. You might as well continue: finding the word yourself sharpens your method for tomorrow. To review the basics, read [how to play Tusmo](https://dev.siwa.io/en/guides/comment-jouer-a-tusmo). And if you enjoy the format, try our other [daily word games](https://dev.siwa.io/en/guides/jeu-de-mots-du-jour). ## Frequently asked questions
What is the best first word in Tusmo? There is no single best word, because the first letter changes every day. Pick a French word of the right length with all-different letters drawn from the most common ones in French: E, A, I, S, N, R, T.
How many points does an extra try cost in Tusmo? With 6 tries, each extra try takes 120 performance points off 1,000: a word found on the 1st try is worth 1,000, on the 6th try 400, before the time bonus and jokers.
Is the joker worth it in Tusmo? A joker costs 60 points, half the cost of an extra try. If it saves you at least one try, it pays for itself; if it only confirms what you already knew, it doesn't.
Why is a letter grey when it is in the word? Because you entered it more times than it appears in the word. Green squares are assigned first, then orange ones from left to right, and any extra copies stay grey.
## Ready to play? Today's grid is waiting, free and without sign-up. [Play Tusmo](https://play.dev.siwa.io/game/tusmo) ## More guides [T

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