How the rank system works
Every guess gets a rank from 1 to the size of that day’s word list. Rank 1 is the answer itself. A low rank means your guess is close in meaning to the answer, even if the words don’t share a single letter — “shore” ranking near “ocean” is a good example.
Tips if you’re stuck
Start broad: guess a common, general word related to the likely category (a place, an object, an animal). Watch which of your guesses gets the lowest rank, then guess words related to that guess rather than starting over. The Hint button does exactly this automatically if you’d rather not think it through.