Wordle game help: 5-letter words with ‘IK’

Even though Wordle‘s simplicity is part of the reason why it became so successful, it’s not always that easy to win without a good strategy. Sometimes, after a couple of guesses, you already know one or two letters from the answer, but you still don’t feel much closer to the actual answer.

If you’re feeling a little stuck after finding an “I” followed by a “K” somewhere in today’s word, check out the list and guide below for a few ideas of what to do next.

Five-letter words with ‘IK’ to try on Wordle

• ALIKE
• ARIKI
• BATIK
• BIKED
• BIKER
• BIKES
• BIKIE
• BRIKI
• BRIKS
• BUIKS
• CHIKS
• CLEIK
• DAIKO
• DHIKR
• DIKAS
• DIKED
• DIKER
• DIKES
• DIKEY
• EIKED
• EIKON
• FAIKS
• FIKED
• FIKES
• GLAIK
• GLIKE
• GOPIK
• GRIKE
• HAIKA
• HAIKS
• HAIKU
• HIKED
• HIKER
• HIKES
• HIKOI
• HOIKS
• IBRIK
• IKANS
• IKATS
• IKONS
• KAIKA
• KAIKS
• KAMIK
• KIKES
• KIKOI
• KLIKS
• LAIKA
• LAIKS
• LIKED
• LIKEN
• LIKER
• LIKES
• LIKIN
• MAIKO
• MAIKS
• MALIK
• MELIK
• MIKED
• MIKES
• MIKRA
• MIKVA
• MUJIK
• NAIKS
• NIKAB
• NIKAH
• NIKAU
• PAIKS
• PIKAS
• PIKAU
• PIKED
• PIKER
• PIKES
• PIKEY
• PIKIS
• PIKUL
• PULIK
• QAPIK
• RAIKS
• REIKI
• REIKS
• SHEIK
• SHTIK
• SIKAS
• SIKER
• SIKES
• SKRIK
• SMAIK
• SMEIK
• SPIKE
• SPIKS
• SPIKY
• TAIKO
• TIKAS
• TIKES
• TIKIS
• TIKKA
• TRAIK
• TRIKE
• TUPIK
• WIKIS
• YIKED
• YIKES
• YLIKE

Depending on where the “IK” is in the word, you can already cross out a big portion of the list. And, given the fact you know those two letters are together, you must also know where they are.

Your next step should be finding out what fills the remaining three spaces, and a good way to start is by crossing out all the words containing letters that came out gray in your guesses. That helps visualize your options a little better and make sure you avoid those letters going forward.

In a general manner, there are a few other letters you should avoid, which are the ones that don’t appear anywhere on the list (“X” and “Z”). Others, like “J,” “Q,” “V,” and “W,” only appear once in the entire list—”J” and “Q” with “IK” at the end, and “V” and “W” with “IK” as the second and third letters. If “IK” are not the second and third letters, nor are they the last two letters, you should avoid those four consonants as well.

With that in mind, make your way through as much of the alphabet as you can, starting from common letters like “L,” “R,” “S,” and other vowels beside the “I.”

You can either pick three of the most common letters you haven’t tried yet, using a word from the list, or form an entirely new word, like “SOLAR” or “REALS,” by setting aside the two letters you already know.

If you’re still unsure and don’t want to wait until Wordle resets at midnight local time, you can always look up the answer to today’s puzzle (which we update around 12am CT).