dells - 0 swims - 1 gummy - 0 bract - 0 pique - 1 whoop - 2Lots of zeros here, so this shouldn't be too bad. Let's start by looking at each word that doesn't score zero.
swims scores 1, but we can knock out the s's from dells and the m from gummy. That leaves us with either w or i.
pique scores 1, but we can knock out the e from dells and the u from gummy. That leaves us with p, i, or q
whoop scores 2. Unfortunately, it doesn't share any letters with the words that score 0.
We are left with:
wi=1 piq=1 whoop=2If the word has an i, then it has no w (wi=1) and no p (piq=1). That gives us hoo=2, which is either ho or oo. This gives us two combinations: iho or ioo.
If the word doesn't have an i, then it has a w (wi=1) and either a p or a q (piq=1). If it's wp, then that takes care of whoop (whoop=2). If it's wq, then we need either an h or an o (whoop=2). This gives us three more combinations: wp, wqh, or wqo.
We now have five possible combinations. Since there is no u (gummy=0), it's unlikely that there is a q, so we can ignore those combinations. Also, if it's wp, then there would be no vowels (all of the vowels, including y, are eliminated by wp), so we can ignore that for now. That leaves us with just two combinations: iho or ioo.
Now, we make a list of the letters that aren't in any of the guesses. These (plus possible repetitions of letters we've already guessed) are what we need to fill out the word:
fjknvxzThe n jumps out right away, since it is the most common letter left. ioon looks promising, and, indeed, it gives the answer: onion.
kevin@aq.org