I mix up my starting word just based on what I feel like going with that day. Sometimes a word to get a bunch of vowels out of the way, sometimes more consonants or a mixture of both, and also using different words mixes up the order of the letters. It's pure luck/guesswork but sometimes it pays off (like today)
dance is my usual but sometimes I get bored and try something else which sometimes helps and sometimes hurts
I went with KNOWN first because yet again I keep assuming they won’t pick these words with such specific connotations and every day I’m wrong. I knew this would be the first comment.