GROVE

Meaning

A small forest.

• verbTo cultivate in groves; to grow naturally so as to form groves.

GROVE as a word-puzzle answer

GROVE is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (O, E) and 3 consonants (G, R, V). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

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