6-letter words with T as the 2nd letter and S as the 6th letter

The pattern is narrower than its familiar examples suggest: STATES, OTHERS, STATUS, STARTS, STRESS, STORES, and STANDS all fit, but only 37 of the 167 entries rank among the top 25,000 English words by frequency. Nearly four-fifths begin with S, while ETHICS and STAIRS show that the second-position T does not require an initial S.

6-letter words with T as the 2nd letter and S as the 6th letter

• 167 tournament-dictionary words fit T in position two and S in position six.
• 131 begin with S; the next-leading first letter, E, accounts for 12.
• Only 37 entries meet our common-word cutoff.
• Collins lists 165, NWL2023 lists 122, and ENABLE lists 116; these sets overlap.
• Average tile score is 7.9; PTYXES and PTYXIS lead at 18 each.

Why do so many matches begin with S?

Initial S dominates: 131 entries start with S, against 12 beginning E and 8 beginning A. That makes the familiar ST- group the obvious place to scan first, with STATES, STATUS, STARTS, STRESS, STORES, STANDS, STAGES, STYLES, STONES, STOCKS and STICKS providing recognizable anchors.

Still, don't lock the first tile to S. OTHERS and ETHICS begin with O and E, while STAIRS starts with S but follows a different vowel-consonant shape. The sharp limitation is that common vocabulary is a minority: only 37 entries meet our common-word cutoff, so obscure dictionary forms sit beside everyday plurals.

At seven letters, the same positional pattern has 29 matches, so adding one tile sharply narrows this six-letter search.

Which matching words score highest?

PTYXES and PTYXIS each score 18 points in Scrabble, six above the next group: STOCKS, STICKS, STACKS, STAFFS, STUFFS, STIFFS, STUCKS and ETHYLS each score 12. That makes the unusual PTY- pair the top-scoring answer, not an ordinary ST- plural.

Treat those 18-point entries as board-dependent potential, not guaranteed turn totals: premium squares and rack placement change a play's result. For a straightforward pattern solve, start with STATES, OTHERS or STATUS; for a score hunt, check PTYXES or PTYXIS in your game's word list. Collins has 165 entries versus 122 in NWL2023 and 116 in ENABLE, so acceptance depends on the dictionary your game uses.