7-letter words with U as the 2nd letter and F as the 4th letter

Here F in fourth place can be a double (UFF), part of a root (SURF, SULF, TURF), or the tail of OUT-. The first group is the biggest, with 55 words. Eleven common words make this a practical pattern for everyday play.

Facts about the ?U?F??? words

• Collins has 128 of the 129, NWL2023 has 103 and ENABLE has 92.
• Eleven words are common, among them SURFACE, BUFFALO, FULFILL, OUTFITS and SUFFERS.
• An average word scores 13.8, and QUAFFED leads on 23.
• S opens 27 words, O opens 14, and M and T open 11 and 10.
• The last letter is S in 34 words, E, G and R in 13 each.

Which three F patterns cover the list?

The UFF double accounts for 55 words, 43 percent of the 129. The third letter is R in 20 words, T in 16 and L in 11. R and L give roots such as SURF and SULF, and T brings in the OUTF- group.

OUTF- is the biggest four-letter start with 14 words. SURF- has 8, SULF- has 7 and BUFF- has 7. A single glance at the third tile therefore rules out two of the three types.

What are the everyday words here?

SURFACE, BUFFALO, FULFILL, OUTFITS, SUFFERS, SURFING, GUNFIRE, SUFFICE, MUFFINS, SURFERS and SULFATE are the common ones. The fifth letter is I in 51 words, so I is the first vowel to test.

E follows I with 20 words and L with 18. SURFING and SULFIDE show the I pattern, and OUTFLOW shows the L one.

-ING ends 13 words and -ISH ends 8, such as SURFING, PUFFING and HUFFISH.

Which words score the most, and which fail in NWL2023?

QUAFFED and QUIFFED score 23, and QUAFFER and ZUFFOLI score 22. QUIFFED is valid only in NWL2023, and ZUFFOLI only in Collins.

Twenty-six of the 129 fail in NWL2023, including TUBFAST, TUBFISH and FUFFING. QUAFFED, QUAFFER, HUFFILY and HUFFISH pass every list.