7-letter words with U as the 2nd letter and G as the 6th letter

G in sixth place leaves a single tile to guess. Two families dominate: the -INGS plurals and the -AGE nouns. That makes the fifth letter the real clue, because N or A sits there in 42 of the 57 words, and the last tile follows from it.

The 57 words in brief

• ENABLE takes 35 of them, NWL2023 takes 40 and Collins takes 56.
• Three words are common: OUTRAGE, LUGGAGE and RULINGS.
• The mean score is 10.6, and QUAHOGS, QUAYAGE and QUOHOGS lead at 20.
• Final S appears in 34 words and final E in 18.
• The biggest first letters are O with 8 words and B with 7.

Which two endings cover most of the list?

-NGS ends 19 words, among them RULINGS, OUTINGS, MUSINGS, TUNINGS and TUBINGS. -AGE ends 16, including OUTRAGE, LUGGAGE, RUMMAGE, DUNNAGE and BURGAGE.

That is 35 of 57, or about three in five. The other S-endings include HUMBUGS, NUTMEGS, MUSKEGS and DUGONGS, which end in -UGS, -EGS and -NGS. RUMMAGE shows how a doubled consonant can still fit the -AGE frame.

Why do N and A matter in the fifth slot?

N and A each sit fifth in 21 words, so together they cover 42 of the 57, nearly three in four. N gives -NGS words and DUGONGS, and A gives the -AGE group.

The fourth letter is I in 13 words, R in 6 and B in 5. OUT- opens 5 words.

Which words score best, and which fail in NWL2023?

QUAHOGS, QUOHOGS and QUAYAGE score 20 each and pass in every list. HUMBUGS makes 15, and BULKAGE and MUSKEGS make 14. The 10-point Q is what lifts the first three, and plain RULINGS or OUTINGS earn only 8.

Seventeen of the 57 fail in NWL2023, including GUIDAGE, AULNAGE, FULLAGE and GUNNAGE. OUVRAGE is a Collins-only word worth 11.