7-letter words with U as the 1st letter and N as the 6th letter

N in sixth place sets up a two-letter finish. Eighteen of the words are -ING forms such as UNDOING and UNTYING, which makes the final three letters the quickest way into the list. Beyond that, a smaller cluster closes in -NT, and seven words share the -OUND ending.

The shape of the 75 words

• Of the 75, Collins lists 74, NWL2023 lists 45 and ENABLE lists 42.
• Everyday words: UNCANNY, UNITING and UPFRONT are the three in the top 25,000.
• Top scorers: UNTHINK and UNJOINT at 14, then UPSWING, UNFUNNY and UPFLING at 13.
• Endings by letter: G 25, S 15, T 14, D 10, E 6, Y 3.
• Mean score: 9.9 points, well below the 14 of the best two.

Which 7-letter words end in -ING with U first?

Eighteen do, including UNITING, UNDOING, UNDYING, UNTYING and UPSWING. Because the N-I-G close is fixed, a search on the last three letters finds them instantly.

The other seven G endings are -UNG or -ONG words, such as UNSLUNG, UNWRUNG, UPFLUNG, UNYOUNG and UPALONG. Together the 25 make up a third of the list, with S next at 15 and T at 14.

What about the -NT and -OUND groups?

The 14 words ending in T include UPFRONT, UNSPENT, UNBURNT, UNGUENT, UNJOINT and UNMEANT. Several end in -ENT or -ANT, such as UNSPENT and URINANT.

A separate group of seven shares the -OUND ending: UNROUND, UPBOUND, UPWOUND, UNBOUND, UNSOUND, UNWOUND and UNFOUND. If your rack holds O, U and D beside the N, that tail is worth testing before anything else, since its seven words all share one spelling beyond the first two letters.

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