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

The frame is _ U I _ _ _ _, and it is really a Q pattern in disguise. Q is the only first letter that matters here, because the QUI- start covers more than half the list. Once you hold a Q, a handful of endings finish the job.

The U-I opening at a glance

• Q opens 67 words, G opens 20, and C, B and S open 7, 6 and 6.
• S closes 38 words, ahead of E with 18 and D with 17.
• QUIZZED scores 35, with QUIZZES and QUIZZER at 34.
• 13 matches are everyday words, among them QUICKLY, BUILDER, CUISINE and TUITION.

Why do so many of these words start with Q?

Q needs a U beside it, and a vowel after that U is what makes QUI- so productive. 67 of the 125 words begin that way, which is more than half. G comes second with 20, mostly through GUI- starts such as GUIDING and GUITARS.

The non-Q starts are small but familiar: BUILDER and BUILDUP carry the BUI- opening, while SUITORS, RUINING and JUICING cover the SUI-, RUI- and JUI- starts. Treat Q as the default and G as the fallback.

Which endings finish these words?

Three endings stand out. -ERS gives 10 words, including QUIVERS, GUIDERS, JUICERS and RUINERS. -ING gives 8, among them GUIDING, RUINING, SUITING and QUITING, and -TED gives 7, such as QUILTED, QUITTED and QUIETED.

Check the S ending first when you are stuck. It closes 38 of the 125, so a plural is the best single guess. After that, E and D close 18 and 17, with QUIBBLE, QUICKIE and CUISINE on the E side and QUILTED and QUITTED on the D side.

Scoring tip for the Z words