I think you have to use the letters you sussed out in your first guess in subsequent guesses or something like that. There’s a gear icon that lets you choose it.
I would think with 3, there is some luck involved. If I had not picked the right word to start, I definitely would not have gotten it in 3.
Three is definitely lucky but I wouldn’t call it “pure” luck. There are a few very good starting words that greatly increase your chances of hitting it in just three. Except for that one time I got lead down a garden path due to not knowing repeated letters were possible, I’ve never needed more than four. I recall twice so far that i had a 50-50 shot on my 4th try and both times I guessed right. The other five times I knew there was only one possible word that would fit.
I think doing it on hard mode usually will produce a lower try count. When I started playing, I was already doing it in ‘hard’ mode without turning on the setting, it just seemed obvious to me I should always use the full info provided by the incorrect guesses. Doing that definitely contributes to your “luck”.
So:
1 = pure dumb blind luck
2 = luck
3 = mostly luck, some skill
4 = mostly skill, some luck
5 = all skill, some bad luck
Should’ve got it in three.
Wordle 206 4/6
Got it in two, today.
Luck was by far the main factor. I started with my usual STERN.
Wow that is pretty good. Some luck, but quite a bit of skill too.
Never heard of this before, but it was fun! I tried it for the first time today, and got it in four, but it was hopeless until I got the ER consecutive pair. With all the already excluded letters, that was the clue that solved it on the next step.
Keep in mind, I’m only a dog, and not particularly bright! 
I think I was only a tiny bit lucky in my choice of 2nd word today, in which I used 4 of the remaining most common letters, and that narrowed things down to just one obvious choice for guess #3.
Wordle 206 3/6* Jan 11th
RATES
GRIND
DRINK
Wordle 205 3/6
Got it in 3.
My first 3! Wordle 206 3/6*
I’m convinced that a 3 is complete luck.
Wordle 206 5/6
Wordle 206 4/6
As before, I started with yesterday’s solution:
QUERY
RATIO ← keep the R, knock out the other vowels - only an I?
BRICK ← first cycloopean word I could think of… what else ends in K?
DRINK
@SunUp, BRINK and TRICK also end in K.
Some of this is luck, in guessing the right word.
Tears
Radio
Lucky
Drink
Does anyone play with the order of letters by typing them out? Or is that cheating?
Wordle 206 3/6*
STARE
ROUND
DRINK
Really, after the first two, there was only one reasonable guess for the third.
I’m not sure I follow, what do you mean?
Think of it as your Scrabble tray, a way to visualize your options other than mentally.
The way I figure, if the game’s design doesn’t prevent then it can’t be cheating.
I’m not sure what would constitute cheating other than looking up someone else’s results to find out what the word is in advance. Plus, you’d really only be cheating yourself.
Typing the existing letters on a separate page so I can rearrange them like I
do when I solve anagrams. 