7-letter words with T as the 2nd letter and O as the 5th letter

The fixed pattern is _T__O__, with three open slots before the final two letters. These matches are sparse beside nearby patterns: shifting the second letter to R yields 135 words, while changing the fifth letter to I yields 144. That contrast makes each known crossing letter matter.

A quick read on this letter pattern

• Exactly 21 tournament-dictionary entries fit the seven-letter pattern.
• Eleven begin with S, more than any other first letter; E follows with five.
• Twelve end in S, so that ending is more concentrated than any other.
• Only one match falls within the top 25,000 English words by word frequency.
• stopoff scores 15, ahead of stenoky at 14 and ethmoid at 13.

How many 7-letter words have T second and O fifth?

There are 21 tournament-dictionary words with T in position two and O in position five. steroid, sterols, stolons, and stators all begin ST; ethmoid, etymons, and ethions begin ET. The S-starting group is the largest, but the pattern does not point to just one familiar opening.

The endings have a clear tilt: 12 matches finish in S, including sterols, stolons, stators, and stupors. Four finish in D, while the remaining five end in Y, A, E, or F. When a final S is ruled out, those four less frequent endings are worth checking rather than searching only for D.

Which words are worth checking first?

• Try an S at the start first: 11 matches begin there, though five start with E and three with A.
• For a high tile score, stopoff leads at 15; stenoky scores 14 and ethmoid scores 13.
• Collins includes all 21 matches; NWL2023 has 17 and ENABLE has 14, so acceptance varies by game.
• Treat the set as a constrained word-game search, not a bank of everyday vocabulary: only one entry is common by frequency.