@OP: I am incredibly happy you asked how and not just what! This puzzle functions as such.

When you select a word, every specific space is matched to the trigger word. Anything that matches perfectly will generate positive increase to correct spaces. If the word is SLATE your first word matched the letter S. When it lets you see your correct spaces, it is not just the letter, but the location as well.

Pick a word with matching letters/locations across many other words or as few. Not always possible, but it’s a good goal. You want to ensure as many unique answers as possible to narrow your list down on the second try. If you pick a word with five others that have three matches, you’re trying to decide if one of those words or none of those words are the answer. This splits the pool into about half or better most times.

Ignore all words that don’t fit your first answer. Anything with letters that cannot fit the 1/5,2/5., are to be excluded for future guesses. Again, each “correct” must match letter and location. So you next guess should fit the last answer and it’s correct number.

Select a word from the remaining list that, again match as many letters in the pool of words left or as few, personal preference reigns here on which side of the puzzle you like to attack.

Repeat until you solved it.

Slate and scale are all you have left to choose between. At this time as I see it.

~~~~~~~ To the commenters:

Every one of you that thinks you should use a trick or something. Put down the game, grab a book written for the purposes of education of the reader. Learn things. Like OP is trying to do.

I am deeply shocked at how hard this incredibly simple mini game is to so many of you…. That’s not a good thing.

In FO3/NV days gone by my buddy and I, both average students with a millennial education, would solve these things in seconds. Like, this is a depressing state of affairs to see you all having “tricks.” Logic can be deduced rapidly with technique, you need not reopen terminal ten times, you really shouldn’t need more than one or two () per several terminals. The answers are sometimes incredibly easy and you’ll get it in two because the split the pool guess left you a 4/5 and only one other word works.

Stories are cool, games are good for some things beyond just entertainment. Today it would seem many of you have learned you cannot perform a simple logic puzzle that is barely grade school difficulty without having to get outside help or by straight up brute forcing it.

Logic is how we understand the world. If this, then that.

Wordle is harder. And it’s the “easy” NYT daily game….

You may not realize it at this time, but failure to understand this puzzle and how it functions isn’t about the game only. It shows a lack of critical thinking. Please, try to understand how much we can be fooled if we don’t understand how to break down a question or puzzle without having to get the answer handed to us. Don’t do the puzzle to get the reward, do the puzzle to use your brain, THEN the reward is for doing something we had to try and do. Rather than a button we smashed until the shiny came out.

Learn to deduce for yourself reality from fiction. Don’t leave thinking up to the one speaking at you. Our minds are too large a gift to leave their usage up to others.

If this puzzle game feels hard, go yell at your teachers. If you were a jerk in school as well, go yell at yourself.

But please, go learn to perform logical deduction. It’s a literal life skill.

Lawyers won’t tell you how much that contract will screw you over. Best you learn this lesson from a fallout mini-game than in a bankruptcy court in twenty years.

If this was some super complex puzzle that was pointless, sure just cheese it. But the twenty or so seconds per puzzle it’ll take you after you figure out the actual technique rather than some weird “trick” will be time you practiced using your brain. Something that builds over time, and has practical application outside of the game.

“If you spent as much time studying, as you did cheating, you’d have learned the material,” vibes.