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

In the frame _ U _ P _ _ _, the middle letter tells you the family. M gives JUMPING and PUMPKIN, P gives SUPPORT and PUPPIES, R gives PURPOSE and SURPLUS, and T gives the OUT- words. Four middles cover more than three quarters of the 149.

The U-P frame at a glance

• Openers: P and S lead with 23 each, then O with 18 and D with 12.
• Final tiles: S ends 47 words, G 20, R 16 and Y 12.
• JUMPOFF scores 24, and QUIPPED, JUMPILY and QUOPPED score 21.
• Everyday vocabulary is generous, with 19 common words such as SUPPORT, PURPOSE and JUMPING.

Which third letter leads?

M leads with 52 words, about a third of the list. P follows with 25, T with 19, L with 15 and R with 14. Those five hold 125 of the 149.

The UMP family gives JUMPING, PUMPING, DUMPING, BUMPING, JUMPERS and PUMPKIN. The UPP family gives SUPPORT, SUPPOSE, PUPPIES and PUPPETS.

The remaining third letters are small. S gives 8 words, including SUSPECT and SUSPEND, and I gives 6. Rare finds like QUIPPUS and QUIPPER sit in the I group.

What are the common endings?

-ING gives 20 words, -IES and -ERS give 11 each, and -IER gives 9. Five more end in -ILY, such as JUMPILY, and four end in -ORT, such as SUPPORT.

OUT- is the largest opening group at 18 words, which explains the O count. OUTPOST is the everyday member, with OUTPLAN and OUTPUSH among the less familiar ones.

Read the endings as a decision tree. If the last three tiles are I-N-G, you are in a group of 20. If they are E-R-S or I-E-S, you are in a group of 11 either way, and the third letter then separates the families.

Scoring note