6-letter words with A as the 3rd letter and Y as the 4th letter

The frame _ _ A Y _ _ is really the -AY- digraph plus an ending, and two endings swallow most of the list: 14 matches close -AYED, as in PLAYED, STAYED and PRAYED, and 10 close -AYER, as in PLAYER, PRAYER and SLAYER. Seven matches rank as common words. SHAYKH, on 19 points, is the one big tile play here.

What the -AY- pattern gives you

• 45 matches, and the -AY- core never moves.
• 14 end -AYED and 10 end -AYER, so 24 of the 45 share two endings.
• SHAYKH scores 19 and KHAYAL 16, both on K and Y tiles.
• S opens 15 matches, exactly a third of the list.
• Seventeen matches are Collins-only, among them CHAYAS, SPAYAD and STAYRE.
• No match other than SHAYKH beats 16 points.

Why do 6-letter words with A third and Y fourth end -AYED?

English builds past tenses and agent nouns the same way here: add -D or -R to a verb that ends in -AY. One rule explains 24 of the 45 matches, which is why the -AYED and -AYER forms read as a matched set rather than a random collection.

Past tenses close in D across 15 matches, while agent nouns close in R across 10. Six more end in S as plural nouns such as PLAYAS and ABAYAS.

Four verbs supply a pair each: PLAYED and PLAYER, PRAYED and PRAYER, SLAYED and SLAYER, STAYED and STAYER give eight of the 45 between them.

The limitation is dialect. Seventeen matches appear in Collins alone, so a spelling such as STAYRE, CRAYER or TRAYNE fails in an NWL2023 game, and only seven of the 45 count as common words.

Run both endings together