CLOAK

Meaning

A long outer garment worn over the shoulders covering the back; a cape, often with a hood.

• verbTo cover as with a cloak.

CLOAK as a word-puzzle answer

CLOAK is a 5-letter word with 2 vowels (O, A) and 3 consonants (C, L, K). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (O, A), 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.