How to Win an English Word Chain: End on Y (Counted from 1,713 Words)
2026-10-27 · Vocab Learning
In an English word chain game, you lose at the same moment every time: the other player's word ends in a letter you cannot start a word with. So there is one way to win. End on letters that many words end with and few words start with.
This post finds those letters by counting all 1,713 words in WordMaster's games, everyday words of four to six letters. It is not a whole dictionary, which makes it closer to the words people actually reach for in a word chain.
Attack strength by last letter
"Strength" below is the number of words ending in a letter divided by the number starting with it. The higher it is, the more words you have to play and the fewer your opponent has to answer with.
| Last letter | Words ending in it | Words starting with it | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y | 118 | 9 | 13.1 |
| E | 396 | 72 | 5.5 |
| K | 87 | 18 | 4.8 |
| N | 121 | 35 | 3.5 |
| T | 232 | 98 | 2.4 |
| A | 29 | 100 | 0.3 |
| S | 49 | 226 | 0.2 |
Y is far ahead. 118 words end in Y; only nine start with it: YACHT, YARD, YEAR, YELL, YELLOW, YIELD, YOGA, YOUNG and YOUTH. End on S, on the other hand, and you hand your opponent 226 options.
Y-words come easily
Y works because words ending in it are easy to find: 22 end in -LY, 19 in -RY and 14 in -TY, words like BABY, BODY, CITY, COPY, DUTY, EARLY and HAPPY. If you need one fast, think of an adjective or an -LY adverb.
Y is also one of the rarest first letters in a full English dictionary. If your rules ban short words like YES, YET and YOU, the advantage grows.
X is a knockout; K and N wear them down
Six words end in X (INBOX, INDEX, RELAX, REMIX, SPHINX, VORTEX) and only XENON starts with it. You will not get to play one often, but when you do the game is usually over.
K (87 to 18) and N (121 to 35) are weaker than X but have plenty of words, so you can keep the pressure on. -CK and -OK endings like BACK, BOOK, CHECK and CLOCK are especially common.
Counter-punches: send the same letter back
If you are hit with K, answer with a word that starts and ends in K. In this list that is KAYAK, KICK, KNACK and KNOCK. For N there are NOON and NOUN.
E behaves differently. It ends the most words, 396 of them (23%), but plenty of words also start and end with E: EASE, EDGE, ELITE, ENGAGE, ENGINE. E is less an attack than a ping-pong ball.
Endings to avoid
Ending on S (49 to 226), A (29 to 100) or C (16 to 145) gives your opponent room. That is why a plural -S is the worst way to finish a turn.
Putting it together
- End on Y whenever you can. Think -LY, -RY, -TY.
- Learn a few Y-starters in advance (YEAR, YOUNG, YELLOW, YIELD). Your opponent may play the same game.
- Answer K with KICK or KNOCK.
- Do not end on a plural -S.
How this was counted: first and last letters across all 1,713 four- to six-letter answers the WordMaster games use. Ratios in a full dictionary will differ, but this compares everyday words with each other, which is closer to a real game.
To grow your stock of words, the 5-letter word list groups every answer by first letter with meanings, and the Daily Challenge adds one a day.