7-letter words with C as the 3rd letter and A as the 6th letter

The pattern is _ _ C _ _ A _, so the third and sixth slots are fixed while four letters remain open. Only six matches rank among the most common English words, making familiar options like NUCLEAR, SECULAR and UNCLEAR stand out from a mostly less familiar group. The count combines words accepted by at least one of the tournament dictionaries, rather than entries from just one word list.

The C-and-A pattern at a glance

• There are 116 seven-letter matches for C in position three and A in position six.
• Collins includes 113, NWL2023 includes 88, and ENABLE includes 81; dictionary totals overlap.
• Only six matches are common by our frequency measure.
• PACKWAX leads the tile scores at 25 points, followed by JACKDAW at 24 and LOCKJAW at 23.
• The most frequent final letters are L, with 28 words, and S, with 24.

Which matches are easiest to recognize?

NUCLEAR, SECULAR and UNCLEAR are strong first checks when the clue looks like a familiar word. DECIMAL, RECITAL and FACTUAL also fit, and each gives you a different opening pair while keeping C and A locked in place.

The contrast between common vocabulary and the full count matters: just six of the 116 matches are common, while 92 have a definition. So a match that looks unusual is not automatically invalid; check the word list used by your game before rejecting it.

How should you work the fixed positions?

Start by writing the pattern as _ _ C _ _ A _. Then test known words such as NUCLEAR or DECIMAL against every slot, not just the two fixed letters. That prevents a near-match from slipping through when its A or C sits one place away.

For a word-game rack, PACKWAX, JACKDAW and LOCKJAW are the standout scoring choices, but they are less familiar than NUCLEAR or RECITAL. The average score across the matches is 13.1, so the highest scorers are exceptions rather than a typical result. Treat the score as a word-selection clue, then account for the board position separately.

The ending pattern can narrow a long search: L and S together account for 52 matches. If neither ending fits your clue, keep the middle fixed and use the remaining letters to filter the possibilities.