Enter criteria and click Find Words
V first and L third gives 38 words, and two of the branches take exactly the same share of the box between.
A and O each take about thirty two percent, with E at eighteen and I at thirteen. The two leading branches are dead level.
VALUE, VALID, VALVE, VALET and VALOR all sit on the A branch and share their first three letters.
VOLTS, VOLES and VOLTE carry the O branch, and it is much thinner in everyday words than its share of the count suggests.
So even though A and O tie on paper, an opening guess aimed at the A branch is the safer of the two.
VILLA, VILLE and VILLI all double the L into the fourth box.
That makes a second L the obvious test once an I turns up after the V, since the I branch is built almost entirely on it.
Nothing on the A or O branch doubles its L, so a second one is a reliable sign of where you are.
No. VOWEL puts O in the second box and W in the third. The L lands last, two boxes later than this pattern needs.
They share four letters and differ in the fourth box, so guessing one leaves a single question open.
Yes, V first and L third. It is the entry worth knowing on the E branch, which otherwise runs almost entirely to technical terms.