7-letter words with U as the 3rd letter and K as the 5th letter

The K here nearly always sits inside CK, NK or LK, and each pairing gives a recognisable family. CK has 18 words, NK has 20 and LK has 10, which together cover 48 of the 53. Pick the pair, then choose between -ED, -ER and -LE.

The U-K fifth list in brief

• Collins takes 52 of the 53, NWL2023 takes 43 and ENABLE takes 39.
• Four words are common: DRUNKEN, CHUCKLE, KNUCKLE and PLUCKED.
• Final letters: D ends 19 words, R ends 19, E ends 9, N and Y end 2 each.
• C opens 15 words, and S, B, T and F open 9, 7, 6 and 4.
• The average score is 15, the K being worth 5.

Which endings are most common in these 7-letter K words?

-KED has 19 words and -KER has 18. The -CKED group gives CHUCKED, PLUCKED, TRUCKED, SHUCKED and CLUCKED, and the -NKED group gives FLUNKED, PLUNKED, SKUNKED and CHUNKED.

-KER mirrors it: TRUCKER, CLUNKER, FLUNKER, PLUNKER and DRUNKER. -KLE is smaller at 5, with CHUCKLE, KNUCKLE and TRUCKLE leading it. Together the -KED, -KER and -KLE groups cover 42 of the 53 words.

What is special about the -LK- words?

Ten words use LK, and none of them is common: BAULKED, CAULKED, SKULKED, WAULKED and SCULKED, plus the -ER forms CAULKER, SKULKER and BAULKER. They are spelled with an L where the NK words have an N, so a stray L in your rack is the cue.

CHUKKAS, CHUKKER and CHUKKAR top the scoring at 20, equalled by KNUCKLY, while CHUCKED reaches 19 and CHUCKLE 18. Those three CHUKKA words are the only ones in the frame with a K in both fourth and fifth place.

Picking the family from the fourth letter