6-letter words with R as the 5th letter and N as the 6th letter

The pattern is _ _ _ _ R N: R occupies the fifth tile, and N closes every match. RETURN, MODERN, TAVERN, and CAVERN are recognizable starting points, but only 8 of the 39 words rank among the most common English entries. The list is small beside nearby patterns, so checking the first four letters matters more than guessing another ending.

6-letter words with R as the 5th letter and N as the 6th letter

• Exactly 39 tournament-dictionary words match the _ _ _ _ R N pattern.
• Every match ends in N; the fourth letter is the last open position before the fixed R-N ending.
• U leads 7 words, more than any other first letter; A and R each lead 5.
• Only 8 of the 39 matches are common English words by frequency.
• WYVERN and LUZERN tie for the top tile score at 15 points.

Which matching words score the most?

WYVERN and LUZERN lead at 15 points apiece; EXTERN follows at 13, then WIVERN at 12. CAVERN and COHORN each score 11, while GOVERN, DEHORN, and BICORN reach 10. If your rack has a W or Z, check the crossing squares before spending it: both top words share the same 15-point ceiling.

These are tile-point totals, not a promise of a premium-square result. MODERN scores 9 and may be easier to recognize, while WYVERN is the stronger raw-score play. The best choice depends on your rack and board, but a familiar word is not automatically the highest-scoring one.

The compact ending also narrows your search: once R and N are fixed, use the first four letters to test possibilities rather than repeatedly trying new final letters. RETURN, INTERN, and TAVERN show how different beginnings can still land on this same pattern.

Dictionary coverage and the narrow list

Collins accepts all 39, compared with 31 in ENABLE and 32 in NWL2023. That gap matters in tournament play: a word accepted in Collins is not automatically accepted in every game's word list.

The 39-word set is compact beside nearby endings: R fifth and S last has 586 matches, while O last has 31 and M last has 19. Only 35 matches have definitions and 8 are common, so expect unfamiliar entries. For 6-letter words with R as the 5th letter and N as the 6th letter, confirm the opening tiles before committing to an obscure candidate.