The best starting words for 5, 6 and 7 letters
Short version: open with SLATE on five-letter days, SATIRE on six and PARTIES on seven, then follow with CORNY, COLUMN or COLUMNS. We did not pull these from a forum. We counted the letters in Pinteza's own English answers, then played every sensible opener against those answers to see which ones split them up best. Below is what came out, length by length, and the habits that matter once the opener has done its job.
Test them on today's word
Pinteza is a daily word game in English, European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. Free, no ads, no account. Out now on Google Play for Android phones and tablets, with iOS later.
Get it on Google PlayHow we picked them
Most opener advice is built for one five-letter list. Pinteza's daily word is five, six or seven letters depending on the date, and the letters that matter shift as words get longer. So we went to the source. For each length we counted how often every letter turns up in our English answers, overall and in each position. Then we took every valid guess made of all-different letters, played it against every answer, and kept the ones that leave you with the fewest possibilities on average. Finally we threw out anything obscure or unpleasant. An opener is no use if you have to look it up first.
Two things stood out. E is the most common letter at every length, and it gets more dominant as words grow. And from six letters up, R pushes into second place, because so many longer words end in -ER.
Best 5-letter starting words
In our five-letter answers the most common letters are E, S, A, R and T, in that order, followed by O, L and I. S is the most common first letter and C the next, while the last letter is most often S, E or Y.
| Open with | Then try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| SLATE | CORNY | SLATE tests four of the five most common letters, and puts S first and E last, two spots where they turn up a lot. CORNY adds O, R, N and C, and checks Y in the last slot, where it often hides. |
| TEARS | CHILD | On its own, TEARS was the strongest everyday word in our tests, a whisker ahead of SLATE. CHILD then sweeps up I, L, C, H and D. |
Where does AUDIO land? Well down the list. It burns four slots on vowels, and U in particular is not common enough in our answers to deserve a place on your first row.
Best 6-letter starting words
This is the one people search for most, and it is where five-letter habits start to let you down. In our six-letter answers the order is E, R, S, A, T, I, then N, L and O. E is in far more six-letter answers than any other letter, and the final letter is most often E, S or R.
| Open with | Then try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| SATIRE | COLUMN | SATIRE alone covers the six most common letters. COLUMN shares none of them and adds C, O, L, U, M and N. Two rows in, you have tested eleven of the twelve most common letters, everything but D. |
| CRATES | HOLDUP | A good swap if you like to test C early. HOLDUP brings in the D that SATIRE and COLUMN leave out. |
Six-letter days still give you six guesses, the same as five. That makes them tighter than they look, so the second word matters more here than anywhere else.
Best 7-letter starting words
In our seven-letter answers the order is E, R, S, A, I, T, N and O. I climbs into the top five, thanks to all the -ING endings, and the last letter is most often E, S or R.
| Open with | Then try | Why |
|---|---|---|
| PARTIES | COLUMNS | PARTIES was the best everyday seven-letter opener in our tests. COLUMNS reuses only the S and adds C, O, L, U, M and N, so between them you have tested every one of the twelve most common letters except D. |
| SCARLET | KINGDOM | If you would rather keep the two rows fully separate. KINGDOM picks up I, N, O, D, G, M and K with no overlap at all. |
7-letter days: you get an extra guess
In Pinteza, five- and six-letter days give you six guesses. Seven-letter days give you seven. That extra row changes how you should play. You can afford to spend two full guesses on coverage and still have five left to place letters, so do not rush into a guess that only tests what you already know. The seven-letter days catch us out more than any hard five, and it is almost always because we started placing letters one row too early.
Repeated letters, and how they are scored
Repeats get more common as words get longer. At five letters they are the exception. At six, about half of our English answers repeat a letter, and at seven most of them do. E is the letter most often doubled. So once your opener pair has run its course, do not assume every letter appears only once.
Pinteza scores a guess in two passes. First, every letter in exactly the right spot turns green. Then, reading left to right, each remaining letter turns amber only if the answer still has an unclaimed copy of it, otherwise it goes grey. In practice:
- If the answer has one E and you type two, you get one coloured E at most. If one of them is in the right spot, that one is green and the other is grey, even when the grey E comes first.
- If neither E is in the right spot, the leftmost one turns amber and the other goes grey.
- A single green E never tells you the answer has only one E. You only learn about a second copy by typing a second copy.
A grey tile on a repeated letter means "no more of these", not "none of these". Check the rest of the row before you write the letter off.
Practise one length at a time
The daily gives you one word a day, which is a slow way to get a feel for seven-letter words. Practice mode lets you choose 5, 6 or 7 letters and play as many rounds as you like, or pick Surprise and get a random length. Settle on your openers there, so the daily is the day you use them, not the day you test them.
Habits that win more days
- Keep one opener per length. You stop dithering on row one, and you start to recognise what a "good" first row looks like.
- Use the follow-up even when row one went well. Two greens and an amber feel like a lead, but there are usually still too many words that fit. Ruling out five more letters often beats a hopeful guess.
- Watch the ending. Longer English words love -ER, -ED and -ING. If E and R or E and D light up, try those endings early.
- Read the keyboard, not just the grid. What is still lit up is your real list of options.
- When your streak is on the line, take information over a long shot. A guess that cannot be the answer but rules out four letters is often the safer move on the second-to-last row.
Try SATIRE on the next six-letter day
Pinteza gives you a new word every day, 5, 6 or 7 letters long, in English, European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese. Free, no ads, no account.
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What is the best starting word for 6 letters?
In our tests against Pinteza's English six-letter answers, SATIRE was the strongest everyday opener. Follow it with COLUMN: the two share no letters, and together they test eleven of the twelve most common letters in six-letter answers, everything but D.
What is the best starting word for 7 letters?
PARTIES, followed by COLUMNS. Between them they test every one of the twelve most common letters in our seven-letter answers except D. If you prefer two rows with no shared letters, SCARLET and then KINGDOM is a close second.
What is the best starting word for 5 letters?
SLATE is a dependable choice, followed by CORNY. TEARS scored slightly higher on its own in our tests, and CHILD is a good second word after it. AUDIO is weaker than its reputation, because it spends four slots on vowels.
How many guesses do you get on a 7-letter day?
Seven. Pinteza gives six guesses on five- and six-letter days and seven on seven-letter days, so you can afford two rows of pure letter-hunting before you start placing.
Is there a guaranteed way to win every day?
No. Some days the answer shares its pattern with a handful of other words and you simply run out of rows. Good openers and good habits raise your win rate, they do not make it perfect.
Keep reading: daily word games with 6 and 7 letters and how to keep a streak alive. Back to all guides.