7-letter words with U as the 3rd letter and A as the 6th letter

A sits one place from the end here, so the last letter is limited to a few options: S in 21 words, L in 19 and N in 14. That means -AS, -AL and -AN carry 54 of the 78, and the five common words all come from the -AL group or its neighbours.

What fits U 3rd and A 6th at a glance

• 78 words match: Collins 76, NWL2023 55, ENABLE 48.
• Five are common, among them JOURNAL, UNUSUAL, CRUCIAL and NEUTRAL.
• CHU- opens 6 words, CRU- opens 5, and TRU- opens 4.
• CHUKKAS and CHUKKAR score 20 each, and the average is 11.6.
• -IAS and -IAL end 7 words each.

Which -AL words fit this pattern?

JOURNAL, UNUSUAL, CRUCIAL and NEUTRAL are the everyday four, and DIURNAL, CRUSTAL, FLUVIAL, GLUTEAL and PLUVIAL are less frequent but still valid in every major list. Seven words share the -IAL tail: CRUCIAL, FAUCIAL, EXUVIAL, FLUVIAL, PLUVIAL, ELUVIAL and TRUCIAL.

The -AL group has 19 words, almost a quarter of the frame. Beside it, -AS adds 21 plurals, such as IGUANAS and NAUSEAS, and -AN adds 14, such as CRUCIAN, SAURIAN and PLUVIAN.

What are the unusual endings?

-EAU gives four French loans, NOUVEAU, ROULEAU, COUTEAU and TRUMEAU, all valid in every major list. -AE gives ALUMNAE and EXUVIAE, which are Latin plurals, and -AY adds BLUEWAY, SPURWAY and VOUVRAY.

CHUKKAS and CHUKKAR score 20 because of the two Ks, and BLUEJAY and KHUTBAH reach 19.

By opener, C leads with 16 words, more than double the 7 that A, P and S open each. CHU-, CRU- and TRU- are the busiest three-letter starts, built on CHUKKAS, CRUCIAL and TRUCIAL.

Check the dictionary before the odd plays