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

The fourth-place N rarely stands alone. In the frame _ U _ N _ _ _ it is preceded by another N, an I, an R or an A in 125 of the 148 words, and each partner defines a family: UNN, UIN, URN and UAN. Pick the family and the word follows.

The U-N frame by the numbers

• Q opens 32 words, G opens 22, D opens 16 and T opens 15.
• S closes 62 words, E closes 16 and G closes 14.
• QUINZES and QUINZIE score 25, QUINCHE and QUONKED score 21.
• 19 matches are common words, from RUNNING and TURNING to FURNACE.

Which third letter defines each family?

N leads with 52 words: RUNNING, CUNNING, TUNNELS, GUNNERS, FUNNIER and BUNNIES. I follows with 30, R with 27 and A with 16. Together they make 125 of the 148, more than eight in ten.

The URN family brings TURNING, BURNING, TURNOUT, TURNIPS and FURNACE, and the UAN family brings QUANTUM and GUANINE. Most of what is left is a spread of single-word oddities.

Why is Q the biggest opening letter?

Q opens 32 of the 148, and QUIN- supplies 24 of those. QUINTET, QUININE, QUINOAS, QUINTAL, QUINCES and QUINZES are the best known, and the 25-point QUINZES and QUINZIE sit at the top of the scoring.

G is second with 22, helped by GUAN- words such as GUANACO and GUANINE, and by GUNNERS and GUNNIES. For the other consonants, T and D come next, which is where TURNING and DUNNING live.

Among the 19 common words, QUANTUM, NUANCED, NUANCES and GUINEAS show the other families, with RUINING, SURNAME and FURNISH rounding out the list.

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