5-letter words with V as the 1st letter and G as the 3rd letter

V?G?? is a narrow frame of just 18 matches, and it reads as five stems: VAG, VEG, VIG, VOG and VUG. A vowel always fills the second square, so the seam between V and G never closes into a harsher cluster. Fourteen of the eighteen score exactly 9 points.

V?G?? at a glance

• Eighteen matches, every one with V first and G third.
• Five stems: VAG 3, VEG 5, VIG 4, VOG 2 and VUG 4.
• Fourteen score exactly 9, the flattest band here.
• VUGHY tops the list at 15, with VUGGY on 13.
• Five are Wordle answers and five are common words.

How the five V-G stems divide the 18 words

VEG supplies five matches, VEGAN, VEGAS, VEGES, VEGIE and VEGOS, and VIG supplies four: VIGIL, VIGOR, VIGAS and VIGIA. VAG holds three, VOG two, and the four VUG or VUGH words fill out the list.

Because every match spells the vowel before the G, the second tile is nearly free once the G turns green. The real branch is the first letter, where A opens 36 words and R 31, far ahead of the 18 that start with V.

Where the flat 9-point band breaks

Fourteen of the eighteen score exactly 9, because the frame leans on the plain tiles A, E, I and O. The four exceptions all start VUG: VUGHY on 15, VUGGY on 13, VUGHS on 12 and VUGGS on 10.

G doubles in VUGGS and VUGGY and pairs with H in VUGHS and VUGHY, which is exactly why those four escape the band. VUGHY is the lone Collins-only word at the top of the table.

Where the common list and the answer list part