WATER

Meaning

A substance (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gaseous form is steam.

“By the action of electricity, the water was resolved into its two parts, oxygen and hydrogen.”

WATER as a word-puzzle answer

WATER is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (A, E) and 3 consonants (W, T, R). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (A, T, E, R), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. Watch for the less-common letter W — saving a guess to test it once the vowels are placed is usually the fastest route.

WATER by the numbers

Across the 1,734 curated answers in the Wordocious bank, E appears in 50% of answers (the 1st most common letter), A appears in 40% of answers (the 2nd most common letter), R appears in 37% of answers (the 3rd most common letter). 12 other answers share the opening “WA-”, so two green tiles up front still leave real guessing to do.

Difficulty: 3/5 — moderate, because it uses at least one genuinely rare letter, and 6+ near-miss answers compete for the same greens.

Near misses

One letter away in the answer bank: WAFER, HATER, EATER, LATER, CATER, WAGER. Each of these turns four tiles green against WATER — the classic endgame squeeze where spending a guess on the differing letter beats burning attempts on hope.

Put it to use

Words like WATER are exactly what the daily puzzles throw at you. Warm up in Practice, race the clock in the Daily Challenge, or study the best starting words before your next run. New to the multi-board modes? The mode guides cover all nine.