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

The pattern is _ _ F _ _ A: F occupies position three and A closes every match. Exactly 12 tournament-dictionary words qualify, yet none ranks among the top 25,000 English words by frequency. BIFIDA, RAFFIA, and MAFFIA show how different the opening letters can be, while the shared final A sharply narrows the search.

At a glance: the F–A pattern

• All 12 matches place F third, end in A, and have six letters.
• Three begin with B; I is the next most common initial with two.
• MAFFIA leads at 14 points; SIFAKA and KAFILA each score 13.
• Eight matches have definitions, and the average score is 11.6.
• Zero matches qualify as common under the top-25,000 frequency cutoff.

How many 6-letter words have F third and A sixth?

Exactly 12 tournament-dictionary entries meet both fixed positions. Three begin with B, two with I, and the other seven start with C, D, K, M, R, or S. That concentration makes B a sensible first letter to test when your clue leaves the opening tile unknown, but it does not rule out the less common initials.

Dictionary coverage is uneven: Collins includes 11 matches, NWL2023 includes 8, and ENABLE includes 6. Eight words have definitions recorded, but the common-word count is zero. Treat this as a specialist pattern, and check your game's dictionary before committing an unfamiliar entry.

Which matches score well, and how can you broaden the search?

MAFFIA leads at 14 points; SIFAKA and KAFILA each score 13. BIFIDA, RAFFIA, and TAFFIA each reach 12, while BEFANA, BEFLEA, CAFILA, and INFIMA score 11. Those are word scores before any board premium, so prioritize MAFFIA when your rack and placement allow it.

Lock F in the third slot and A at the end, then test the possible opening letters. If the last position is still unknown, the F-third/D-sixth pattern has 65 matches and the F-third/E-sixth pattern has 56, compared with just 12 here. The alternative endings expand the search, but only if your clue leaves that final tile open.