5-letter words with R as the 3rd letter and K as the 4th letter

Both middle slots are locked, so the first, second and final letters do the sorting. Final S closes 42 of the 65 and Y adds 15 more, leaving only eight entries with any other ending. That S-and-Y habit explains why so many familiar matches look like plurals or adjectives: WORKS, PERKS, MURKY, JERKY.

Why do RKY endings score so well here?

Fifteen of the 65 matches share the RKY tail, and that suffix carries the pattern's best tiles: K is worth 5 and Y is worth 4, a nine-point floor before the opening letters are counted. JERKY reaches 19, while KERKY, JERKS and JARKS all sit at 16.

The average score across the set is 11.8, strong for a list with no Q or Z in the middle. MURKY, PERKY and PORKY each pay 14, and all three are everyday words rather than obscure tournament picks.

Five numbers worth knowing

• 65 five-letter words carry R in the third slot and K in the fourth.
• Final S accounts for 42 matches; Y accounts for 15 more.
• Ten entries count as common English words, and 50 have a definition.
• JERKY tops the score chart at 19, ahead of ZERKS at 18.
• B opens nine of the 65, the widest single starting letter.

5-letter words with R third and K fourth in Wordle

Where the list stops working

Sixteen of the 64 matches in Collins are missing from both ENABLE and NWL2023, so a pick such as ZERKS or KERKY may not be playable everywhere. ENABLE holds 42 of the 65 and NWL2023 holds 48. Test unusual entries against the word list your game runs before you build a plan around them.