5-letter words with P as the 2nd letter and E as the 3rd letter

The shape is _ P E _ _, and one letter dominates it: S begins 26 of the 36 matches. Speak, speed, spell, spend, sperm, spear and speck fill that cluster, while opera and opens are the rare openings that break it. Ten matches are Wordle answers and 11 count as common words.

The _PE_ pattern in numbers

• P second with E third covers 36 five-letter matches.
• S opens 26 of them, so more than two in three begin SPE.
• Ten are Wordle answers and 11 are common words.
• Speck and spewy tie at the top on 13 points.
• S closes eight matches, while K and T close five each.

Why S owns this pattern

S starts 26 of the 36 matches, which makes SPE an almost default shape. The cluster is packed with everyday words, since speak, speed, spend, spell, sperm, spear and speck all begin SPE.

Only ten matches start another way, and they split across four openings: A takes five, O three, E one and U one. Opera and opens are the two most recognisable of those strays.

The endings stay just as tight. S closes eight matches, K and T close five each, and D and L close four apiece. With so few branches, one confirmed ending often leaves only two or three SPE forms to weigh.

5-letter words with P as the 2nd letter and E as the 3rd letter

Ten matches are Wordle answers: opera, speak, spear, speck, speed, spell, spelt, spend, spent and sperm. Nine of them open with S, which leaves opera as the lone exception in the answer pool.

The endings are tight as well. S closes eight matches, and K and T close five each, so fixing the final letter alongside the SPE opening narrows the candidates almost at once, and the answer list rarely throws up a surprise.