Repeated letters: why one tile is gray when the letter is in the word
Short answer: each letter in the answer can only be matched once. If you type the same letter more times than the answer has it, the extra copies turn gray (or slate in Wordawn).
How the colors are decided
- First, every letter in the right spot turns teal (green in many games).
- Then, for each remaining letter from left to right, it turns gold (yellow) only if the answer still has an unused copy of it.
- Everything else is gray.
Examples
- Answer ABIDE, guess SPEED: the first E is gold, the second E is gray, D is gold. The answer has only one E.
- Answer ABIDE, guess EERIE: the last E is teal and uses the only E, so the first two E's are gray.
- Answer HELLO, guess LLAMA: both L's are gold, because HELLO has two L's.
How to use this
A gray copy next to a colored copy tells you the exact count: the answer has that letter exactly as many times as it is colored in your guess.
FAQ
Is it a bug when a letter turns gray but is in the word?
No. It means the answer has fewer copies of that letter than your guess. The colored copy already used it up.
Which copy gets the color?
Exact matches are colored first. Then remaining copies are colored gold from left to right while the answer still has unused copies.
How can I tell if a word has a double letter?
Wordawn has an optional repeated-letter hint in Settings that marks a key with ×2 when a letter you found appears again.
Play with clear colors and a repeat hint: Wordawn (Google Play)