6-letter words with Q as the 1st letter and A as the 5th letter

The pattern is Q___A_: the first letter is Q, the fifth is A, and positions two, three, four, and six remain open. The 11 matches include familiar QUASAR and QUOTAS alongside less everyday entries such as QINTAR and QORMAS. Only one of the 11 falls within the common-word cutoff, so expect an unusual set rather than a list of everyday choices.

At a glance: the Q___A_ pattern

• There are 11 six-letter matches with Q first and A fifth.
• QUEZAL is the top scorer at 24 points; QAWAL follows at 21.
• Q ends five words, R ends three, L ends two, and M ends one.
• The average score is 17.1, while only one entry meets the common-word cutoff.
• All 11 appear in Collins; six appear in NWL2023 and five in ENABLE.

Which Q___A_ words score the most?

QUEZAL leads this group at 24 points, with QAWAL next at 21 and QUIDAM at 18. Those three entries stand apart from the rest of the scoring list, where QIBLAS and QORMAS each score 17. For a tight board, check the exact word and your game's scoring rules before placing it.

The endings offer a quick way to narrow the possibilities: five words finish in S, three in R, two in L, and one in M. QUOTAS and QUASAR are recognizable S-enders; QINDAR is one of the R-enders. That skew is a better clue than assuming every Q-starting answer will finish with a familiar vowel.

Using 6-letter words with Q first and A fifth

For a word puzzle, lock in Q___A_ first, then test the ending against the remaining letters. QUASAR and QUOTAS are more recognizable anchors, while QIBLAS, QINTAR, and QUENAS broaden the possibilities if those guesses fail.

Dictionary coverage matters here: Collins contains all 11 matches, compared with six in NWL2023 and five in ENABLE. Those counts overlap, so they do not describe separate groups. If you are playing a North American tournament game, check NWL2023 rather than assuming a Collins entry will be accepted.