Why there is no universal starting word
In Wordle, many players have a favourite opener. In Tusmo, that can't work: every day, the mystery word has a set first letter and a length of 5 to 8 letters. Your first guess has to start with that letter and fill every square.
So the winning approach is to apply the same criteria every day, and to keep a few ready-made French words in mind for the most common first letters and lengths.
What are the most common letters in French?
A first guess is there to detect as many letters as possible, so it should test the ones most likely to be in the word. These are the ten most frequent letters in a large corpus of French text taken from French Wikipedia in 2008 (letter frequency table, in French):
| Rank | Letter | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | 12.10% |
| 2 | A | 7.11% |
| 3 | I | 6.59% |
| 4 | S | 6.51% |
| 5 | N | 6.39% |
| 6 | R | 6.07% |
| 7 | T | 5.92% |
| 8 | O | 5.02% |
| 9 | L | 4.96% |
| 10 | U | 4.49% |
Tusmo ignores accents: É, È and Ê are typed as E. Add them up and E accounts for over 14% of letters. These figures measure running text rather than a word list, but they make an excellent compass. At the other end of the ranking, K, W, Z, X, J and Q are rare: avoid them on your first try.
Note that the French ranking differs from English, where T and H rank much higher. Openers that work in Wordle are rarely the best choice here.
What makes a strong first word?
A good starting word ticks four boxes:
- the right length and first letter, or it can't be played;
- all-different letters: a repeated letter fills a square without testing anything new;
- two or three vowels, ideally E plus A, I or O;
- common consonants: R, S, T, N, L.
The first letter is given and always green: it tells you nothing. The squares after it are the ones that count, and that is where your common letters should go.
Starting words by first letter and length
These examples are common French words chosen for their letters. They are not taken from the game's list of answers: their only job is to probe as many frequent letters as possible.
| First letter | 5 letters | 6 letters | 7 letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | ASTRE | ALTIER | ARSENIC |
| C | CARTE | CINTRE | CRAINTE |
| L | LAINE | LATINE | LATRINE |
| M | MAIRE | MARINE | MINARET |
| P | PRISE | PIRATE | PARTIES |
| R | REINS | RIANTE | RATIONS |
| S | SAINE | SATIRE | SATINER |
| T | TAIRE | TISANE | TRANSIE |
For 8-letter words, CERTAINS, CRAINTES, LATRINES or MINARETS combine eight different letters, nearly all from the top of the ranking. For other first letters: DINER and DESTIN for D, BRISE and BRAISE for B, ETAIN and ECRANS for E.
When no ideal word comes to mind, compromise: a word with a mid-frequency letter (C, D, M, P) beats a word with a repeated letter.
What about the second word?
Your second guess completes the first. If the opener didn't reveal much, pick a word that tests new letters (O, U, L, C, D, M, P) while moving the orange ones. A made-up example, with a 6-letter mystery word starting with S:
The second guess tested four new letters and moved the E. We now know the word contains I, E and O, with no A, T, R, C, N or D, and that E is neither 2nd nor 6th. In this example the word was SOLEIL (French for sun): all that was left was to place the known letters by ruling out positions, a method covered in our Tusmo tips.
First-guess mistakes to avoid
- Playing a word with a double letter (such as SALLES or TERRE): a wasted square from the start.
- Stacking rare letters: a K or a Z has very little chance of being in the word.
- Going for the answer on try one: the first guess is for gathering information, not guessing.
To review the basic rules, read how to play Tusmo.