5-letter words ending in P

More than a third of this group has been a Wordle answer, which is a high rate and makes the P ending worth knowing before you start a game. S opens nearly a third of the words, which means ST-, SL- and SC- starts do most of the sorting. Four tails cover 45 words between them.

P-enders at a glance

• Word lists: 146 in Collins, 128 in NWL2023 and 120 in ENABLE.
• 56 were answers in Wordle, and only two words are barred as guesses.
• 36 belong to everyday English.
• EQUIP, UNZIP and MIXUP top the scores at 16 points.
• 47 begin with S, 22 with C and 14 with T.

Which P tails are the biggest?

-UMP and -OOP each have 12 words, -EEP has 11 and -AMP has 10. That is 45 of the 149, or about 30 percent.

Read them as four rhyme sets. TRUMP, STUMP, SLUMP and PLUMP rhyme in the first, SCOOP, TROOP, SNOOP and SWOOP in the second, SLEEP, SHEEP, STEEP and SWEEP in the third, and STAMP, SWAMP, CHAMP and CLAMP in the fourth. Learning the rhymes is quicker than learning the 45 words.

Why do P words come up so often in Wordle?

Answers make up 56 of the 149, or 38 percent. GROUP, SLEEP, TRUMP, CHEAP, SHARP, STRIP, SHEEP, STAMP, SETUP and STEEP head the list on everyday frequency. Two words in the group cannot be used as guesses.

Many open with S plus a consonant, as in STRIP, STAMP and STEEP. S, C and T together start 83 of the 149 words, with S alone starting nearly a third, so those three are the letters to test first. A fourth guess can then settle the vowel.

How do the top P words score?

EQUIP, UNZIP and MIXUP each reach 16, followed by WHOMP and WHUMP at 15 and CHAMP, CHIMP, CHUMP and CHOMP at 14. The plain -MP words win through the 3-point M and P together, which is why CHAMP at 14 outscores SLEEP at 7 by double.

Collins lists 146 of the 149, but ENABLE lists 120, so check your game's word list before playing WHUMP or JULEP. The common words are the safe route: GROUP, SHARP and STRIP need no defence. CHEAP is a useful yardstick at 12 points, since the C and H lift it above the 9.8 average.

Quick tip