EARTH to start as always. So bottom left could only be TEACH. That gave me the TAR for top right, so TARDY seemed to be the best move. Now I had H in the right spot, R and C additionally for top left. Needed a vowel, because E & A were out so it's gotta be CRUSH, right? Now I've got U in the middle of bottom right, I know there's a T but not at the start or 4th letter, know S is there but not 4th as well. STU seems certain because the English language is what it is, so it's just what's most likely for the end. I'm not wild about repeated letters for guesses, which will occasionally cost me but fortunately didn't here. So it's a choice, STUNG, STUNK or STUMP. And I guessed correctly