7-letter words with M as the 1st letter and L as the 5th letter

The M-and-L frame is dominated by one shape: a stem, then -LES or -LED. Add the S and D endings together and you have 78 of the 153 words, so the last letter is the quickest filter you own. The rest are mostly adjectives and odd names.

The frame in five numbers

• 153 words fit, and only 9 are common English.
• S closes 48 words, D closes 30, and R closes 18.
• 129 carry a definition, and the average score is 11.9.
• The 6-letter frame with the same letters holds 90 words; the 5-letter frame holds 21.
• MUZZLED and MIZZLED share the top score of 28.

Which shapes repeat most?

Two suffixes carry the load: the -LES group are plurals and verb forms: MUSCLES, MARBLES, MODULES and measles. The -LED group is past tense: MANGLED, MINGLED, MUDDLED and muffled. Both share the same spine, a consonant-L-E block at positions 4 to 6, which you can use as a search anchor.

A smaller family takes R: MODULAR and macular end in -LAR, and muffler ends in -LER. Names stand apart, such as MATILDA and morales, and they rarely show up outside word lists. A rack with A, T and I already suggests the first of those.

Why do the six best words look alike?

They all double a Z. MUZZLED and MIZZLED score 28, while MUZZLES, MUZZLER, MIZZLES and MOZZLES score 27. Z is worth 10 and M is worth 3, so the two Zs supply 20 points of every score.

A standard bag holds one Z, so you need a blank to build any of them. That keeps them in the territory of puzzle solving rather than live play, and a solver with the M and L placed will find all six in seconds.

Which dictionary accepts what?