I think I might change my starting word from STARE to PIANO for the rest of this round. When hitting 2 or 3 letters on STARE there are often many possible similar word options in play. (i.e DRAPE, GRAPE, GRADE, GRAVE...etc). STARE often gives lots of info, but many times it is not great deductive info.
I like the 3 vowel concept with PIANO and Nich seems to get stuck less often with multiple consonant options, though it happened today..
Plus, it might be neat to see how two different people approach the results of the same 1st word
I certainly don't play optimal strategy and the results indicate that. I enjoy just using random words and sometimes it works out, and that brings me joy.