Strategy definitely works - I use first 2 words that have completely different letters and include most vowels. eg BARED then MOIST. If one of 4 words has 3 correct letters, I may work on it, but try to use unused letters where possible, sometimes leaving out a letter if I know it's in a word, and where it is. Also, letters are sometimes repeated is same word.
My results today:
5 9
8 6
Very addictive!