5-letter words with A as the 2nd letter and L as the 5th letter

With A fixed in the second spot and L closing the word, the pattern is _A__L. PANEL and LABEL are familiar matches; HAZEL is the top scorer. Collins includes 54 of the 55 words, while ENABLE includes 38, a difference worth checking for your game.

What stands out in this pattern

• Exactly 55 tournament-dictionary words match _A__L.
• C is the most common first letter, with 7 matches; B follows with 6.
• Only 15 matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
• The average score is 8.5; HAZEL leads at 17 points.
• Changing the second letter to O gives 69 matches while keeping L fifth.

Which matching words can you try in Wordle?

The Wordle answer list has 21 matching entries that also appear in a tournament dictionary, while the allowed-guess count is 55. PANEL, CANAL, FATAL, and BASIL are recognizable options among the examples. With A and L fixed, use guesses to test the three open positions instead of spending another turn on either known letter.

An accepted guess is not automatically an answer candidate: the 55 allowed guesses include words beyond the 21 answers. Only 15 matches rank among the most common English words, so a broad word list includes plenty of less familiar choices. Start with recognizable candidates when solving from everyday vocabulary, then consider rarer options if the pattern remains open.

How do scores and dictionary coverage compare?

Among 5-letter words with A as the 2nd letter and L as the 5th letter, HAZEL scores highest at 17 points. GAZAL and JAVEL each score 15, followed by JACAL at 14. Those less familiar words outscore everyday PANEL or LABEL on a plain-tile score, so a high total does not necessarily make a word easy to recognize or play.

Collins contains 54 matches, NWL2023 has 43, and ENABLE has 38; the overall list has 55 unique words because those dictionary totals overlap. A word accepted in one list may fail in another. Check your game's word list before relying on an obscure option such as GAZAL; matching the letter pattern alone does not guarantee cross-dictionary acceptance.