extra E₁X₈T₁R₁A₁

EXTRA means something additional, such as a school activity beyond the curriculum or an added charge on a bill. It can also be a special newspaper edition, one of the senses of the noun. With the X in second place, it is a quick source of points in a short word.

EXTRA at a glance

• Five letters: E, X, T, R, A.
• Scrabble total is 12, and X accounts for 8 of those.
• Anagrams are RETAX and TAXER; no one-letter neighbours exist.
• Rank 1,080, count 38,335.

Is EXTRA a strong Wordle word?

It is a Wordle answer and an allowed guess. Five different letters, including the vowels E and A and the consonants T and R, make it a reasonable probe. The X adds little in most grids, since few answers contain it, so save it for a late guess when the other letters are placed.

With a green E and a yellow X, EXTRA is the likeliest candidate, because it is the only one of the three words that is a Wordle answer.

How does EXTRA score, and what do the anagrams do?

E1, X8, T1, R1 and A1 give 12. X holds two-thirds of the total, so the word is worth chasing for a premium square: under a double-letter tile it reaches 20.

RETAX and TAXER score 12 as well, since they use the same tiles. They are far less common than EXTRA, so check your game’s word list before using either one. Keep the X away from a spot where it opens a triple-word lane for your opponent, since an 8-point tile gives the reply a head start.

How rare is an E start for five-letter words?

Only 298 of 12,789 five-letter words begin with E, about 2 percent, and 660 end in A, about 5 percent. That narrow E start makes a pattern search quick. The -TRA tail matches ULTRA, ORCHESTRA, MANTRA, INTRA and CONTRA in spelling.