6-letter words with I as the 3rd letter and K as the 5th letter

The pattern is _ _ I _ K _, so the two fixed tiles leave four positions open. THINKS, DRINKS, TRICKS, STICKS and BRICKS show how often a familiar consonant cluster fits; QUIRKY and WHISKY take a less predictable route. Fourteen entries rank among common English words, while 64 have definitions.

The pattern and its standouts

• 70 entries match the fixed third-position I and fifth-position K pattern.
• 49 end in S and 18 end in Y; only two finish in O and one in A.
• THINKS, DRINKS, TRICKS and STICKS are recognizable choices ending in S.
• QUIRKY leads the score list at 22 points; QUICKS follows at 21.
• Collins includes 68 matches, compared with 57 in NWL2023 and 52 in ENABLE.

Which common endings fit this I-K pattern?

Most matches end in S: 49 of 70 do, compared with 18 ending in Y. Just two finish in O and one in A, so an S or Y at the last position is a stronger first check than testing rarer endings. THINKS, DRINKS, STINKS and BLINKS are S-ending examples; TRICKY, STICKY and FRISKY show the Y pattern.

S is the leading first letter, with 18 entries; C and T follow with eight each. That makes S-led guesses especially productive when the first tile is still unknown. The neighboring pattern with E in fifth position has 544 matches, so fixing K narrows the search sharply.

Which matches score the most, and where do the lists differ?

QUIRKY scores 22 points before board bonuses, making its Q a striking fit for this pattern. QUICKS scores 21, while WHISKY and QUIRKS each score 19. The average score is 14.1, but the highest values cluster around Q and less common letter combinations rather than the everyday S-ending words.

The 70-match total pools entries found in at least one tournament dictionary; it does not mean every game accepts all 70. Collins has 68, NWL2023 has 57, and ENABLE has 52. Check your game's word list before relying on an unfamiliar entry such as WHISKY or QUIRKS.