5-letter words with Z as the 1st letter and S as the 5th letter

A Z at the front and an S at the back leaves three free slots, and the words fill them with short runs like ZONES, ZEROS, ZOOMS, ZESTS and ZULUS. Second letters split almost evenly, with E taking ten words and O ten. None of the 37 is a Wordle answer, and only ZONES counts as a common word.

5-letter words with Z as the 1st letter and S as the 5th letter

• Z _ _ _ S accounts for 37 tournament words.
• Every word scores 14 or more, and ZEZES leads at 23 points.
• E and O each take ten words in the second slot.
• ZONES is the only entry that counts as common English.
• No Wordle answer uses the shape, though 36 of the 37 are accepted guesses.

Which letters sit in the middle?

E and O each fill the second slot ten times, so ZE- and ZO- account for 20 of the 37 words between them. I takes eight, A and U four each, and only ZYMES uses a Y. The third slot is the least predictable part: R and N carry five words apiece, and T, O, L and B three each.

The fourth letter is where the endings cluster. E appears seven times, in ZAXES, ZONES, ZYMES, ZEXES, ZEZES, ZINES and ZUKES, while K takes five, in ZERKS, ZONKS, ZOOKS, ZACKS and ZOUKS. A also covers five, so those three letters close 17 of the 37 words.

Which Z-S words score the most?

ZEZES is the highest entry at 23 points on two Z tiles, and ZAXES and ZEXES follow at 21 because each pairs a Z with an X. ZACKS and ZIFFS reach 20 on a doubled consonant, with ZYMES on 19. No entry drops below 14 points, so a Z-S word is rarely a speculative play.

The dictionary spread is wide below the top. Collins lists 35 of the 37, NWL2023 25 and ENABLE 21, so ZATIS and ZUKES are the kind of entries an app may refuse while accepting ZONES without a thought. Thirty-four of the 37 carry a definition, leaving only three bare tournament entries.

Hold both Z tiles and the pattern pays