7-letter words with L as the 1st letter and R as the 3rd letter

This fixed pattern leaves a compact set of candidates: every answer begins L-R in positions one and three, with five letters still to identify. Largest and largely share an opening run, while lurking points to a different cluster. The endings also lean heavily toward S, a useful narrowing clue when the final tile is known.

7-letter words with L as the 1st letter and R as the 3rd letter

• The pattern contains 64 seven-letter entries across the combined tournament lists.
• Twenty-five end in S; R closes 8, while G and N each close 7.
• Only 4 entries rank among the commonest English words by our frequency measure.
• Definitions are available for 52 entries, so most have a meaning to check.

Which words fit this L-R pattern?

Only 64 words fit this fixed pattern, far fewer than the 429 seven-letter words beginning with S and carrying R in third position. That contrast makes L a narrow starting-letter filter here, not a broad word family. Changing the third letter to P gives 52 matches, while S gives 63.

Several examples fall into easy-to-scan clusters: largest and largely share L-A-R-G, while lurking and lurkers share L-U-R-K. Lyrical and larceny offer different letter shapes, and lorries shows that the fourth letter need not be a vowel. These anchors beat trying to hold every candidate in memory.

The final-letter counts give another practical filter. S accounts for 25 of the 64 words, but eight end in R and seven each end in G or N. If your clue fixes the last letter, start with that group rather than testing every possible ending.

How do dictionary coverage and scores compare?

Collins lists 59 matches, compared with 47 in NWL2023 and 37 in ENABLE; those dictionary counts overlap, so they do not add up to the total. Four entries rank as common by frequency, but many candidates are less familiar. Check your game's word list before committing to an obscure answer, especially in tournament play.

LARKISH and LUREXES lead the score list at 14 points each. LURCHED follows at 13, while LURKING, LYRICAL, LARCENY, LURCHES, LURCHER, LARKING, and LARCHES score 12. Those are face-value totals, not guaranteed move scores; board multipliers change the result.

A useful search trick is to hold the shared stem still: largest and largely both begin L-A-R-G-E, then diverge in their last two letters. Once those first five tiles are fixed, testing endings is faster than restarting the pattern search.