5-letter words with O as the 2nd letter and T as the 5th letter

Every word in this group finishes on T, so the fifth square is solved before you start. The middle letter does the sorting instead: U leads at 16 words, ahead of I on 10 and A on 9, and that U group is the -OUNT, -OUST and -OUT family, home to COUNT, COURT, MOUNT, DOUBT and JOUST. C and R open 11 and 10 words, and 18 count as common English.

The O-second, T-fifth group in numbers

• 72 words, every one ending in T.
• The third letter is U in 16, I in 10 and A in 9.
• C opens 11 words and R opens 10.
• 25 are Wordle answers, about a third of the list.
• ZOIST, ROZET and ROZIT tie on 14; JOINT, JOUST and JOIST hit 12.

Inside the -OUNT, -OUST and -OUT cluster

The U group is the heart of the list. COUNT, COURT, MOUNT and DOUBT wrap the U in common consonant frames, while JOUST, ROUST and BOULT push past them. Add MOULT, POULT and FOUNT and the -OUNT and -OUST shapes alone carry 16 words.

Outside U, the shapes spread out. POINT, JOINT and HOIST run on I, COAST, ROAST and TOAST on A, and ROBOT, POSIT and COMET close on a plain T after a consonant. The odd spellings pile up at the edges, where ZOIST, DOCHT, ROZET and POYNT appear only in Collins.

Wordle answers in the -OT family

Twenty-five of the 72 have been Wordle answers, a rate close to one in three. The everyday ones are POINT, COURT, DOUBT, COAST, COUNT, JOINT, MOUNT, BOOST, ROBOT, TOAST, ROAST and COMET, all recognisable words rather than tournament curiosities.

That is a high hit rate for a mid-word pattern, and it comes with a catch. Twenty-seven entries exist only in Collins, so ROZET, ZOIST and POYNT will not play in every game.

Two fixed squares keep the scores low