6-letter words with N as the 1st letter and O as the 4th letter

The pattern fixes the word shape as N _ _ O _ _, leaving the second, third, fifth, and sixth letters open. Collins recognizes all 21 matches, while ENABLE and NWL2023 each list 12. That split matters in tournament play: a match in one word list may not appear in another, so check your game's dictionary before committing an unfamiliar entry.

At a glance: 6-letter words with N first and O fourth

• Exactly 21 six-letter entries start with N and place O in slot four.
• Collins includes 21; ENABLE and NWL2023 each include 12.
• Only one entry falls in the common-frequency group.
• Thirteen matches end in S, making it the clear closing-letter pattern.
• NOBODY leads the Scrabble score ranking at 12 points.

Which matches are familiar, and which score highest?

NOBODY is a familiar anchor among the examples, and the frequency measure classifies just one match as common. NYLONS is another recognizable choice; NEROLI, NODOSE, and NEVOID are less likely to come to mind during a quick solve.

For Scrabble, NOBODY scores 12 points. NANOOK, NABOBS, and NEVOID each score 10, while NYLONS and NOYOUS score 9. Those totals reflect the tiles before premium squares change a play's value.

The average score is 7.8 points, and 13 of the 21 matches have definitions available. Several entries are obscure, so a valid tournament word is not necessarily an everyday answer.

How should you narrow this pattern?

For 6-letter words with N as the 1st letter and O as the 4th letter, lock those two tiles before testing the other four slots. That prevents a near-match with a different fourth letter from slipping into your candidate set.

If no candidate fits, changing only the fourth tile to I opens 53 matches, and E opens 42. Those are much larger searches than the O pattern's 21, so try them only after checking the fixed O.

Thirteen matches finish in S, but eight have another ending: E appears three times, while D, I, K, R, and Y appear once each. Test S first, but keep the less common endings in reserve.