7-letter words with U as the 2nd letter and D as the 3rd letter

The UD pair loves company. In 59 of the 156 words a second D follows straight away, which means UDD is the single most useful cluster to remember. MUD-, BUD- and AUD- supply most of the other openings, so a three-letter start usually settles the family.

The ?UD???? words in brief

• Collins holds 143, NWL2023 holds 115 and ENABLE holds 92.
• Eight words are common, including JUDGING, BUDGETS, PUDDING and AUDITOR.
• The average score is 11.9, and NUDZHED tops it at 21.
• S ends 63 words, R ends 17, D ends 16 and G ends 11.
• M opens 34 words, B opens 18, P opens 14 and R opens 13.

Why do so many of these words have a double D?

A short vowel plus D is the usual cue to double the consonant before an ending, and that habit builds many of these words from simple verbs. That produces BUDDIES, BUDDING, PUDDING, HUDDLED, CUDDLES and MUDDLED, and 59 of 156 is about 38 percent.

Next in line after UDD is UDG with 19 words, led by JUDGING, BUDGETS and NUDGING. UDI follows with 15, such as AUDIBLE and AUDITED.

Which openings should you check first?

MUD- is the giant at 34 words. BUD- adds 18, PUD- adds 14, RUD- adds 13 and SUD- adds 11.

At four letters, AUDI- has 10 words, RUDD- and MUDD- have 9 each, and PUDD- and BUDD- have 8. Once you have the first four letters in place, the shortlist is rarely longer than ten words. That makes a pattern this size far easier than the 156 count suggests.

Which words score best, and which dictionaries accept them?

NUDZHED scores 21 and NUDZHES 20, while JUDOKAS and JUDDERY reach 19. JUDDERY is valid in NWL2023 but not in Collins, which makes it an unusual case.

MUDPACK and JUDGING score 18 and 17 and pass everywhere. WUDJULA and MUDEJAR are Collins-only, so keep them for Collins games.