5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and C as the 2nd letter

Fixing the first two tiles as IC leaves three slots open, and the list is short enough to learn in one sitting. The third letter splits the matches into tight clusters: ICH, ICT, and ICI each supply three words. Two matches are Wordle answers, ICILY and ICING, and no word here scores above 11 points.

Thirteen words, one opening pair

• 13 tournament-dictionary words open with the letters IC.
• ICH, ICT, and ICI each begin three matches; ICK starts two.
• ICKLE, ICKER, and ICHED tie for the top score at 11 points.
• ICILY and ICING are the Wordle answers; all 13 are allowed guesses.
• Collins lists all 13, while NWL2023 and ENABLE each list 8.

The IC- clusters and what fills them

Three clusters share the top of the list. ICH gives ICHOR, ICHES, and ICHED; ICT gives ICTUS, ICTAL, and ICTIC; ICI gives ICING, ICILY, and ICIER. The rest is thinner: ICK adds ICKLE and ICKER, and the lone ICE and ICO entries are ICERS and ICONS.

The list has few familiar entries. ICING, ICONS, and ICHOR are the easiest to recognise, which explains why the average score stays at 8.8 even though the leading words are ordinary enough.

5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and C as the 2nd letter

For 5-letter words with I as the 1st letter and C as the 2nd letter, the scoring ceiling is low. ICKLE, ICKER, and ICHED share the top at 11 points, and ICILY and ICHOR follow at 10, so no match reaches the mid-teens, which is rare for a five-letter set.

Dictionary coverage stays wide at the top but narrows lower down. Collins carries all 13 matches, while NWL2023 and ENABLE each list 8. That leaves five words, including ICKLE and ICHED, out of reach in games using the North American list.