6-letter words with H as the 1st letter and S as the 3rd letter

The fixed letters leave four open positions, but the candidates vary sharply in familiarity and dictionary coverage. Only four matches rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency, so expect less familiar entries alongside everyday words such as hosted and hostel. Collins includes all 42 matches; the smaller counts for other tournament lists matter when you play with a specific word source.

6-letter words with H as the 1st letter and S as the 3rd letter

• 42 tournament-dictionary words have H first and S third.
• All 42 appear in Collins; 32 appear in NWL2023 and 29 in ENABLE.
• Only 4 are among the top 25,000 English words by frequency.
• HYSSOP and HUSKED tie for the highest score at 14 Scrabble points.
• S and D are the most frequent final letters, with 12 and 11 words respectively.

Which endings show up most?

Twelve of the 42 words end in S, and 11 end in D. That near tie makes the final letter a strong clue when you have one more crossing letter to work with.

HASHES, HISSES, and HUSHES illustrate the S ending; HOSTED, HUSHED, and HASHED finish in D. Together, those endings account for 23 matches. The rest end in R, E, L, Y, F, or G, so an unusual final letter can quickly narrow your search.

How should you use the fixed letters?

Start with H in the first square and S in the third, then test likely endings before scanning the full set. HOSTEL, HASTEN, and HASSLE give you familiar options to check against your crossing letters; HYSSOP and HUSKED stand out when score matters.

The score leaders are not necessarily the easiest plays: HYSSOP and HUSKED each score 14, while HUSHED and HASHED score 13. Collins has all 42 matches, compared with 32 in NWL2023 and 29 in ENABLE. Check your game's word list once before relying on an entry that appears only in some dictionaries.