Another possible question is: What is the best strategy minimizing (at any point) _first_ the maximum number of tries, and second the EV (average number of tries over all possible words)? That's subtly different from either answer.
Another possible question is: What is the best strategy minimizing (at any point) _first_ the maximum number of tries, and second the EV (average number of tries over all possible words)? That's subtly different from either answer.