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

The pattern is P-S-_-_-_-_: the first and third slots are fixed, while the second remains open. Seventeen of the 87 matches rank among the 25,000 most frequent English words. Familiar choices such as posted and passed share space with less familiar plays, so a revealed final letter can make the search much quicker.

Quick facts about the P-S pattern

• This six-letter pattern has 87 matches in the word lists.
• Seventeen matches rank among the 25,000 most frequent English words.
• Collins includes 85 matches, NWL2023 includes 70, and ENABLE includes 60; the lists overlap.
• S is the leading final letter, with 24 matches.
• The average tile score is 9.4 points.

Which P-S words might fit a clue?

Posted, passed, passes, pushed, and poster are recognizable options. Postal, pistol, pastry, pastel, and piston also match precisely: P opens each word and S occupies slot three. If the clue points to a familiar word, those examples are a sensible first check.

The last letter divides the candidates unevenly. Twenty-four end in S, 14 end in R, and 10 end in D. A known D at the end makes posted and pushed worth checking; an S ending puts passes and pushes among the possibilities.

Changing the third letter expands the search: six-letter words with P first and R third number 185, compared with 87 for S. Keeping the S fixed is a substantial constraint, not just a small variation.

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

Pashka and paskha lead the tile-score table at 15 points apiece before board bonuses. Peshwa and poshly score 14, while pushup earns 13. Posted and passed are more familiar, but the less obvious options have the higher face values.

Seventy-six of these words have definitions, yet only 17 rank among the most frequent English words. That gap makes an unfamiliar play a gamble if your opponent can challenge it. Check your game's word list before committing to a word you do not recognize.

Length changes the size of the same letter pattern, too: the five-letter version has 34 matches, while the seven-letter version has 132. For a six-letter clue, use any known ending to narrow this smaller group before weighing a high-scoring candidate.