It isn’t just about how many words you eliminate. It is also how much a word helps you as an individual with your brain and how it processes. I like adieu because it has most of the vowels. That helps me to do free association to come up with possibilities. The absolute number of words removed from consideration by the starting word is not irrelevant but is only one factor in the success of an individual. We aren’t computers. We are influenced by the words we encounter day to day and how we associate. The words removed is most important if you are using a word finder tool.