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

An R followed by any vowel and then G gives you four short stems: REG-, RAG-, RIG- and RUG-. REG- alone covers 53 of the 111 words, close to half. Pair that with a plural S ending, which closes 45, and most clues collapse in two guesses.

What the R_G frame contains

• 111 words match the frame, and just 10 are common English.
• 92 have a definition, and the mean score is 9.5.
• The second letter is E for 53 words, A for 28 and I for 16.
• A final S closes 45 words; E closes 11 and D closes 10.
• REGLAZE tops the scores with 17, and RAGWORK is next on 15.

Which stem should you try first?

REG- comes first. It gives REGULAR, REGIONS, REGARDS and regrets, and in total it supplies 53 words, or 48 percent of the list. Nearly every other entry starts with one of three vowel variants.

Then RAG- with 28, as in RAGTIME, ragdoll and ragweed, RIG- with 16, as in RIGHTLY and rigidly, and RUG- with 8, including rugrats. ROG- trails at 6, so only a clue that demands an O justifies the detour.

What does the last letter tell you?

S ends 45 of the 111, about 41 percent. Most are plurals, such as regions and regents, but REGRESS and regalia show that not every final letter is a suffix.

E closes 11 words and D closes 10, while T and Y share 7. A -LY ending signals an adverb, as in rightly and rigidly.

A word ending in G, such as rigging or ragging, is a present participle. Only 5 of the 111 close that way, so it is a late guess.

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