5-letter words with U as the 3rd letter and S as the 5th letter

Every word in the set ends in S, which makes the pattern a plural machine, yet only 25 entries are common enough for everyday play. Four tails carry half the list, -UTS on 25 words, -URS on 19, -UMS on 17 and -UDS on 16. ZOUKS tops the scores at 18.

The U-third, S-fifth list at a glance

• 181 five-letter words match U third and S fifth, and every one ends in S.
• -UTS covers 25 words, -URS 19, -UMS 17 and -UDS 16.
• S opens 39 words, the most of any opening letter, with G on 14 and C on 13 behind it.
• Only 25 are common, while 26 carry no definition and 57 are Collins-only.
• ZOUKS tops the scores at 18, and JAUKS and JOUKS reach 16.
• TRUSS is the only Wordle answer in the whole set.

Four tails carry half the list

-UTS brings ABUTS, BOUTS, GLUTS, SHUTS and their neighbours to 25 words, while -URS supplies 19, among them FOURS, HOURS, POURS, TOURS and YOURS. -UMS adds 17 with CHUMS, DRUMS, PLUMS and SCUMS, and -UDS reaches 16 with SPUDS, THUDS, GAUDS and LAUDS.

Because the tail always ends in S, most of the list looks plural, and only 25 words are common. Beyond those, the set runs from BAUDS and DAUDS to WAUKS and YEUKS, spellings that live at the obscure end of the dictionaries.

Which rare letters do the heavy lifting?

Nine words carry J, Q, X or Z, and they take every score above 14: ZOUKS at 18, JAUKS and JOUKS at 16, and AQUAS, EQUES and JAUPS at 14. Under a tenth of the list produces most of its firepower.

Away from those letters the ceiling is low. CHUMS and CHUBS reach 12 and JOUGS 13, while the floor is 5, so the bulk of the 181 sits between 5 and 9.

The obscurity problem behind the list