Hangman strategy: which letters to guess first

The most common letters

This is the share of words that contain the letter at least once, across 31,175 words from 1,188 categories.

Vowels first, then the common consonants

The vowels in order are A (64%), E (63%), I (50%), O (49%), U (26%). Starting with them shows the shape of the word fast. Then try R, N, S, T, L, the most common consonants.

By word length

• 4 to 5 letters (3,919 words): start with A, E, O, I, R, S.
• 6 to 7 letters (6,328 words): start with A, E, R, I, O, N.
• 8 to 9 letters (6,967 words): start with A, E, R, O, I, N.
• 10 to 15 letters (13,961 words): start with E, A, R, I, N, O.

Short words are the dangerous ones. They have fewer letters to find, so a wrong guess costs you more, and rare letters such as Q, X, Z are far more likely to be the answer.

Where the words start

The most common first letters are S, C, B, P, T, M, A, G. If you are stuck on the first letter of a word, these are the safest bets.

Use the category

The category is a free clue. Pick a word list to see which letters are most common in it: a list of animals favours different letters from a list of countries. Then play a round and see how it works for you.

Questions

What is the best first letter to guess in hangman?

In the 31,175 words used by Hangillion, the letter A appears in the most words (64%), followed by E (63%) and R (53%).

Which letters are the rarest?

The rarest letters in the list are Q, X, Z, J, V, W. Guess them last, unless the category makes them likely, such as Z in a list of spooky words.

Does the category help?

A lot. Knowing the word is a country, an animal or a food narrows the letters far more than the length alone. Each of Hangillion’s word lists shows which letters are most common in that category.