The short rule
Green matches are assigned first. Yellow clues are then limited to the number of unmatched copies of each letter still available in the answer.
This two-pass rule prevents one letter in the answer from creating several yellow clues in a guess. Treat every green or yellow tile as accounting for one real copy.
A worked duplicate-letter example
Suppose the hidden answer is APPLE and the guess is ALLEY. The first A is green. The first L is yellow because APPLE contains one L elsewhere. The second L is gray because that single L has already been accounted for. E is yellow, and Y is absent.
When the answer repeats
If the answer contains two copies, a guess can earn two colored clues—but only when it matches or can be assigned to both copies. One may be green while the other is yellow.
Do not assume that seeing one green letter rules out a second copy elsewhere.
When the guess repeats
A duplicate in your guess tests whether another copy exists. This is often useful after the board suggests a double letter, but an early repeated-letter guess usually checks fewer unique letters.
A gray duplicate can still coexist with a green or yellow copy of the same character.
Duplicate-letter solving checklist
- Lock all green positions first.
- Count every green and yellow occurrence of the repeated letter.
- Treat additional gray copies as unavailable unless another clue proves otherwise.
- Remember that the answer itself may contain a double letter.
- Use a repeated letter on the next guess only when it resolves a real ambiguity.
Repeated-letter FAQ
Can a daily five-letter answer contain repeated letters?
Yes. Each position is scored independently, so an answer may contain two or more copies of a letter.
Why did one copy turn yellow and another gray?
The yellow copy used the only unmatched occurrence available in the answer. The extra guessed copy therefore turned gray.
Are greens scored before yellows?
Yes. Exact-position matches are reserved first, preventing a misplaced duplicate from consuming a letter that should be green.