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

L in fifth place sets up three dependable tails: -LES with 14 words, -LED with 13 and -LER with 10. Add a handful of -LY adverbs such as USUALLY, EQUALLY and CRUELLY, and the frame sorts itself in seconds, leaving the Q words for last.

Facts about the U third, L fifth list

• Collins lists 64 of the 65, NWL2023 lists 47 and ENABLE lists 45.
• Seven words are common: USUALLY, EQUALLY, COUPLES, COUPLED, DOUBLED, DOUBLES and CRUELTY.
• Last letters: S ends 17, D ends 14, R ends 11, Y ends 6.
• S opens 16 words, C opens 13, and B and M open 6 and 5, so S and C together start nearly half the list.
• The average score is 11.4.

Which endings cover most 7-letter words with U 3rd and L 5th?

DOUBLED, DOUBLES, DOUBLER, COUPLES, COUPLED and COUPLER share their cores, and BAUBLES, ROUBLES and TOUSLED join them. A B or P in fourth place is the cue.

-LLY gives USUALLY, EQUALLY, CRUELLY and SQUALLY. The -LLS plurals worth knowing are SQUALLS and SQUILLS, both accepted in every major dictionary.

Pairs help when a guess fails. DOUBLED and DOUBLER differ only in the last letter, and so do COUPLED and COUPLER, so one wrong tail costs a single tile.

Where do the Q words fit?

Seven words open with SQ: SQUALID, SQUALLS, SQUALLY, SQUALOR, SQUELCH, SQUILLA and SQUILLS. SQUELCH is the best, at 21 points, while EQUALLY and SQUALLY earn 19 and SQUALID 17. That is about one word in nine.

CHUMLEY also scores 17 but is Collins-only, as are AQUILON, MOUSLED and NOUSLED. Treat those as risky unless your game uses Collins.

Adverb shortcut