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

That leaves only items, uteri, ctene and etens outside the STE- block, so the list behaves like one word family. Ten entries are Wordle answers and 12 are common words, yet a typical score is just 6.1 points, because T and E are one-point tiles.

How the STE- block shapes this list

• Thirty-four of the 38 matches open with the STE- string.
• Only items, uteri, ctene and etens sit outside that opening.
• Stead, steak, steal, steam, steed, steel, steep, steer, stein and stern are the ten answers.
• Stewy tops the scores at 11, the only double-figure entry.
• S closes eight matches, E five, and D and L four apiece, so the endings spread evenly.
• STE- is not the largest T-second pattern; the T-O family holds 54 matches.

Which STE- words are Wordle answers?

Ten of the 38 are answers, and every one opens STE: stead, steak, steal, steam, steed, steel, steep, steer, stein and stern. Each is an accepted Wordle guess, and all ten begin with the same three letters.

Nine of those ten also belong to the common-word group, with steed the lone exception. Items, stems and steps run the other way, familiar words that are only ever accepted guesses.

Why is the average score so low?

Stewy is the only match above 9 points, topping the list at 11. Steak and steek follow on 9, which leaves a typical word on 6.1. Stews lands on 8, while items, steps, steam, steep, stems and steem all sit on 7.

Collins carries all 38 matches. NWL2023 keeps 23 and ENABLE keeps 21, so ctene and etens, both Collins-only spellings, stay out of many games. The W and Y that push stewy to 11 are rare elsewhere in the set.

Confirm an unfamiliar spelling against your game's word list.