7-letter words with R as the 3rd letter and N as the 5th letter

Few frames split dictionaries as sharply as this one. Collins lists 168 of the 170 words, but ENABLE lists only 103. The clusters are the reason: STR-, SCR-, SHR-, SPR- and THR- openers fill the list with rarer words, and each cluster is worth learning separately.

Key numbers for the __R_N__ frame

• 170 words fit, and 16 are common English.
• 127 have a definition; the average score is 10.
• S ends 81 words, nearly half; C and E end 13 each.
• S opens 39 words and P opens 23.
• ZORINOS scores 16, with PHRENSY on 15.

Which consonant clusters are worth testing?

The R sits third because a two-letter cluster often precedes it. STR- gives STRANGE and strings, SCR- gives scrunch, and SHR- gives shrines and shrinks. THR- gives THRONES, and SPR- gives SPRINGS.

Without a cluster, the vowel route is PAR-, COR- and MAR-, as in PARENTS, PARTNER, coroner and marines. Every one of those openers is a real word-starter, so the cluster is the first thing a solver should write down.

Of the three-letter openers, PAR- and COR- have 9 words each, STR- has 8, SCR- has 7 and TYR- has 6.

What do the last letters tell you?

-NGS leads with 27, from springs and strings, then -NES with 20 for marines and shrines. -NIC has 13, led by CHRONIC and moronic, and -NTS and -NAS have 11 each.

Add the -NGE ending at 6, as in strange and syringe, and you have covered most of the common finishes. The second letter is A for 35 words, O for 26 and E for 22. The first letters help too: S opens 39 words and P opens 23, so those two cover over a third of the list.

Why the dictionaries disagree