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Thirty six words hold T second and A third, and almost every one of them opens with S.
S takes thirty three of the thirty six, ninety two percent, and every one of those runs STA. The first box is effectively decided before you make a guess.
STATE, START, STAGE, STAND and STACK are the most common. STAFF, STARS, STAMP, STAKE and STAIN all come up constantly.
R takes it in seven of the thirty six, ahead of I and N on four each. But eighteen letters appear there in all, which is a lot for a group this size.
That is where the work sits. With the first box given and the fourth box scattered, this pattern pushes almost the whole puzzle into one position.
ATAXY is a loss of muscular coordination, ETAPE a day's march or the halting place at the end of it, and OTARY an eared seal.
None of them is guessable and all three are worth knowing for exactly that reason. If STA has been ruled out, one of these is the answer.
START tests the R, which leads the fourth box. STATE repeats the T and covers less of what the rest of the page uses.
STARE is the verb, STARK means bleak or absolute, and STARR is an old term for a Jewish deed or bond. All three share four letters.
A young horse, in Scots. STAUN, meaning to stand, comes from the same dialect and both sit at the obscure end of this page.