Words Ending in T

Words Ending in T: The Workhorse Consonant Ending

T is everywhere at the end of English words, and for good reason — it marks past tenses (WENT, KEPT, SLEPT), agent nouns (ARTIST, PIANIST), adjectives (QUIET, BRIGHT), and abstract nouns (DOUBT, THOUGHT). With nearly nine thousand entries, -T might be the single most useful consonant ending for crossword solvers. If you're staring at a grid with a blank final square and nothing to go on, T is statistically one of the best guesses you can make.

In Scrabble, T is worth just 1 point — the same as the most common vowels — but its real value is versatility. You can extend almost any -T word forward with -TH, -TED, -TING, or -TION. That makes T-ending words natural building blocks for longer plays. ABRUPT becomes ABRUPTLY. INVENT becomes INVENTIVE. DISTINCT becomes DISTINCTION. One pattern crossword solvers should memorize: many -CT words come from Latin past participles (ABSTRACT, CORRECT, DIRECT, EXACT), and their clues often signal this with "precisely" or "flaw-free" style wording. For word list exploration, check words starting with RE where RE- verbs frequently land on -T endings (REACT, REDIRECT, RESTRICT). Also compare with words ending in JET for a specific high-scoring subset.

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