Puzzle and strategy team
Word-game players who write our Scrabble, Words With Friends, Wordle and crossword strategy guides.
The WordFinderZ Puzzle Team is the group of word-game players who build and test the site's solvers and write its strategy guides for Scrabble, Words With Friends, Wordle and crosswords.
Strategy claims in our articles are tested against real data wherever possible. Letter frequencies, word counts and lists of playable words are generated with the same search engine and dictionaries that power WordFinderZ, so the numbers you read match what the tools return.
The team also prepares the daily puzzle hints published on the site and keeps the game-specific helpers up to date when rules or word lists change.
We ran every Wordle answer through the numbers, from letter frequencies and positions to double letters and how much each starting word narrows the field, to see which habits help.
Why RAISE beats ADIEU, what "expected answers left" really measures, and which second word pairs best with the most popular openers. Every number comes from Wordle's 2,315-word answer list.
A practical system for the daily Spelling Bee that covers how scoring and ranks work, where the points really are, how to hunt for the pangram and what to do when you stall.
QI, QAT, QOPH, FAQIR, TRANQ and the rest of the Q-without-U words in the TWL06 Scrabble list, with what they mean, what they score, and when to play them.
Practical techniques for the Letter Boxed puzzle, including reading the sides, spotting long "anchor" words, choosing good last letters and turning a five-word solve into a two-word one.
We counted every six-letter stem in the TWL06 word list to find the ones that turn into a seven-letter bingo with the most extra tiles. Here are the most productive, what they make, and how to keep them on your rack.
Same idea, different game. How Scrabble and Words With Friends differ in tile values, bonuses, word lists and strategy, and which habits carry over from one to the other.
The complete list of 101 two-letter words in the TWL06 Scrabble list, the extra ones Collins allows, the highest scorers, and how to use them to score more.
The best short words for J, Q, X and Z, the four-letter words that punch above their weight, and why your Scrabble instincts can cost you points in Words With Friends. Scores checked against WWF tile values.
Strong Scrabble, Words With Friends and Wordle players think in anagrams. This post explains why rearranging letters is the most useful word-game skill and how to practise it.
Every two- and three-letter word with J, Q, X or Z in the North American Scrabble list, the Collins extras, and how to turn the four most valuable tiles into reliable points.