6-letter words with M as the 2nd letter and A as the 6th letter

The pattern is _M___A, and every match ends in A. The opening letters are uneven: six words start with A, two with O, and just one each with E, I, or S. That makes the first letter a strong filter if your puzzle gives you another crossing clue.

The pattern at a glance

• Exactly 11 tournament-dictionary words fit the six-letter pattern.
• AMELIA, IMPALA, AMOEBA, AMRITA, AMARNA, and AMUSIA begin with A.
• OMERTA and OMENTA begin with O; EMPUSA is the sole E starter.
• IMPALA, AMOEBA, and EMPUSA share the top score of 10; AMELIA and AMRITA score 8.
• Collins includes all 11 matches; NWL2023 includes 9 and ENABLE includes 7.

6-letter words with M as the 2nd letter and A as the 6th letter

Six matches begin with A, two with O, and E, I, and S contribute one apiece. Start with A when your clue is open, then test the less common openings only if the board supports them. AMELIA and AMOEBA are recognizable choices; OMENTA and EMPUSA offer very different letter patterns.

Only one of the 11 matches counts as common by frequency, so familiarity is a poor guide to the full set. Ten have definitions, but that does not make every entry a likely everyday guess. For tournament play, check your game's word list once: Collins has the full set, while the North American NWL2023 list has fewer.

How does this pattern compare with nearby clues?

Changing the second letter from M to A, while keeping A in the sixth position, yields 191 matches. Keeping M second but changing the final letter to S yields 118.

By comparison, the M-and-A pattern has just 11. Keep both fixed positions in mind before searching broader letter combinations; one extra clue can shrink the field sharply.

For 6-letter words with M as the 2nd letter and A as the 6th letter, IMPALA, AMOEBA, and EMPUSA share the scoring lead at 10 points, and the average score is 8.8. AMELIA and AMRITA trail by two, so let the pattern decide first and use score as a tiebreaker rather than forcing the top scorer.