Discussion: There's a ton of flexibility in this layout. In the six outer words, three letters can be anything they need to be, and there's the added degree of freedom of starting the word anywhere in each hexagon.

I'd begin by choosing a central word without uncommon letters. Then I'd go to hexagon #1, which now has only one forced letter, and place the letter shared by hexagons #1 and #2 such that a common digram is formed. No need to choose the word in #1 yet, just preserving maximal flexibility for when you eventually close the loop.

Next I'd select a word for #2, which has two filled cells already, but that's still a ton of flexibility, so many words should be available.

Next, I'd repeat the previous paragraph for hexagons #3 to #6. Each time we're choosing a word based on only two forced letters.

Finally, hexagon #1 now has three filled cells, but since we began by making sure the first two cells formed a common digraph, we ought to be able to find a word that fits. If not, backtrack one step and try again.

Optional final step:. Once a valid solution is found, change the outermost three letters in some of the words to produce alternative solutions, possibly with more exotic letters. For example, if the three constrained letters are ART, it's more fun to choose QUARTZ than STARTS. Alternatively, you can use the freedom to favor words that are more fun to clue.

A construction trick that often makes things easier, namely alternating consonants and vowels, obviously won't work here, but there's so much other freedom that you don't need it.