5-letter words with W as the 1st letter and A as the 3rd letter

The pattern is unusually tight: just 30 tournament-dictionary words put W in the first slot and A in the third. Familiar picks include WHALE, WEARY, and WRATH, alongside less everyday entries such as WEALD and WHARE. Collins includes all 30, while NWL2023 and ENABLE each include 22, so the accepted set depends on your game's lexicon.

How many 5-letter words have W first and A third?

• The pattern is W?A??: positions two, four, and five remain open.
• WHACK scores 17, ahead of WHARF and WRACK at 14 apiece.
• Nine entries end in S, the most common final letter; E comes next with four.
• Seven matches are Wordle answers, while all 30 are allowed guesses.
• Collins has 30 matches; NWL2023 and ENABLE have 22 each.

Which W-and-A words score the most?

WHACK is the standout for board play: its 17-point score tops WHARF and WRACK, both at 14. WHAMO and WHAPS score 13, keeping the leading scores close together. Check the board before choosing: a word's base score does not include premium-square bonuses or an opponent's reply.

Familiar words offer quick anchors: WEARS, WHALE, WEARY, WRAPS, and WEAVE all fit the pattern. Less familiar WEALD, WHARE, WHATA, and WRANG appear too, which matters when a puzzle leaves you with few open slots. W sharply limits the search: the comparable S-first, A-third pattern has 249 matches.

How should you use this pattern in Wordle?

Seven of these words appear in Wordle's answer list, and all 30 matches are allowed guesses. Treat those as different pools: a legal guess is not automatically a possible solution. Lock in W and A first, then use your remaining clues to narrow the candidates.

For 5-letter words with W first and A third, dictionary coverage is the practical catch: Collins has eight more matches than NWL2023. A Collins-valid entry is not automatically valid in a North American game, so check your game's word list before playing an unfamiliar choice.