5-letter words with R as the 1st letter and A as the 5th letter

The fixed letters narrow your search to words beginning with R and ending with A. RUMBA is a familiar example, while RIOJA and RAITA show how varied the middle letters can be. The matches appear across Collins, NWL2023, and ENABLE, but none ranks among the top 25,000 common English words.

R-at-the-start, A-at-the-end facts

• Exactly 20 five-letter entries start with R and finish with A.
• All 20 appear in Collins; 13 also appear in NWL2023.
• ENABLE includes 11 matches, so dictionary coverage differs.
• RIOJA leads the listed Scrabble scores at 12 points.
• None of these words falls within the top 25,000 common words.

Which R-first, A-last words score highest?

RIOJA scores 12 points, ahead of RHYTA at 11 and RUMBA at 9. Those three lead the scoring group, but their middle letters differ sharply: I-O, H-Y, and U-M give you distinct routes through the pattern.

RATHA and REGMA each score 8, while RAGGA, RECTA, REPLA, RUPIA, and RUSMA each score 7. For a familiar starting point, try RUMBA; for a higher tile total, RIOJA is the clear pick. The average score across the matches is 6.8.

The S…A pattern has 66 matches, and P…A has 53, compared with just 20 for R…A. If a clue leaves the first letter uncertain, testing S or P gives you a much larger candidate pool than sticking with R.

Can an R-first, A-last word work in Wordle?

For 5-letter words with R first and A fifth, exactly one matching entry is in the Wordle answer list and a tournament dictionary. The answer's identity is not specified here, so use the pattern and your revealed letters rather than assuming RUMBA or RIOJA is the answer.

The full set has 20 Wordle-allowed guesses, but that does not make every entry a likely everyday answer. In fact, zero qualify as common by the top-25,000 frequency measure. Check your game's word list before relying on a less familiar option.