STOKE

Meaning

To poke, pierce, thrust.

STOKE as a word-puzzle answer

STOKE is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (O, E) and 3 consonants (S, T, K). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (S, T, O, E), so a strong vowel-and-common-consonant opener tends to light up quickly. Watch for the less-common letter K — saving a guess to test it once the vowels are placed is usually the fastest route.

STOKE by the numbers

Across the 2,412 curated answers in the Wordocious bank, E appears in 48% of answers (the 1st most common letter), O appears in 29% of answers (the 4th most common letter), T appears in 29% of answers (the 5th most common letter). 68 other answers share the opening “ST-”, so two green tiles up front still leave real guessing to do.

Difficulty: 2/5 — approachable, because 7+ near-miss answers compete for the same greens.

Near misses

One letter away in the answer bank: STOLE, STOVE, SMOKE, SPOKE, STAKE, STORE, STONE. Each of these turns four tiles green against STOKE — the classic endgame squeeze where spending a guess on the differing letter beats burning attempts on hope.

Put it to use

Words like STOKE are exactly what the daily puzzles throw at you. Warm up in Practice, race the clock in the Daily Challenge, or study the best starting words before your next run. New to the multi-board modes? The mode guides cover all nine.