Editing Hangman (game) (section)

==Strategy==
The fact that the twelve most commonly occurring letters in the [[English language]] are [[Etaoin shrdlu|e-t-a-o-i-n-s-h-r-d-l-u]] (from most to least), along with other [[Letter frequency|letter-frequency]] lists, are used by the guessing player to increase the odds when it is their turn to guess. On the other hand, the same lists can be used by the puzzle setter to stump their opponent by choosing a word that deliberately avoids common letters (e.g., ''rhythm'', ''zephyr'', ''qi'', ''nth'') or one that contains rare letters (e.g., ''jazz'').

Another common strategy is to guess vowels first, as [[English language|English]] only has five vowels ([[a]], [[e]], [[i]], [[o]], and [[u]], while [[y]] may sometimes, but rarely, be used as a vowel) and [[English words without vowels|almost every word has at least one]].

According to a 2010 study conducted by Jon McLoone for [[Wolfram Research]], the most difficult words to guess include ''jazz'', ''buzz'', ''hajj'', ''faff'', ''fizz'', ''fuzz'' and variations of these.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.wolfram.com/2010/08/13/25-best-hangman-words/|title=25 Best Hangman Words|last=McLoone|first=Jon|date=13 August 2010|publisher=[[Wolfram Research]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815092214/http://blog.wolfram.com/2010/08/13/25-best-hangman-words/|archive-date=15 August 2010|url-status=live|access-date=14 March 2015}}</ref>