5-letter words with U as the 1st letter and T as the 5th letter

The UN- block reads like a list of undone states: UNFIT, UNCUT, UNSET, UNMET and UNLIT all describe something taken back. Only UPJET and UNKET break clear of 8 points, at 14 and 9, and the floor is 5. Six of the 17 are Wordle answers, a strong share for such a narrow shape.

What the U-first, T-fifth words share

• 17 five-letter words match U first and T fifth, and every one ends in T.
• Thirteen open UN-, three open UP- and URENT stands alone.
• Six are Wordle answers: UNCUT, UNFIT, UNLIT, UNMET, UNSET and UPSET.
• UPJET leads the scores at 14, and UNKET follows on 9.
• Only three words here, UNCUT, UNFIT and UPSET, are common enough for everyday use.
• Four appear in Collins alone: UNGET, UNKET, UPJET and URENT.

One prefix covers thirteen matches

UNCUT, UNFIT, UNLIT, UNMET, UNSET, UNAPT, UNHAT, UNLET, UNWIT and their neighbours all follow the same negation pattern, so the group comes as a block. The four outsiders are UPLIT, UPSET, UPJET and URENT.

Each word adds a single letter to a short stem. UNSET pairs with SET, UNCUT with CUT and UNLIT with LIT, while UNGOT and UNWET stretch further. Six of the thirteen close in -ET: UNGET, UNKET, UNLET, UNMET, UNSET and UNWET.

Which of these spellings are worth playing?

UPJET at 14 is the only word above 9, and UNKET at 9 comes next. Everything else lands between 5 and 8, including four of the six Wordle answers: UNCUT, UNFIT, UNLIT and UNSET.

The honest limit is scoring. This is a word-finding pattern rather than a point-scoring one, and six Wordle answers give it real value for solvers while a Scrabble player gains little beyond UPJET and UNKET. NWL2023 lists 13 of the 17 and ENABLE 12, so a handful of answers here are Collins-only anyway.