CHINK

Meaning

A narrow opening such as a fissure or crack.

• verbTo fill an opening such as the space between logs in a log house with chinking; to caulk.

CHINK as a word-puzzle answer

CHINK is a 5-letter word with 1 vowel (I) and 4 consonants (C, H, N, K). Every letter is distinct, so it rarely punishes a clean opening guess.

It leans on high-frequency letters (I, N), 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.