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

Two final letters carry the frame: E ends 47 words and Y ends 46. The E group is mostly -LE nouns and verbs, and the Y group is mostly -LY adverbs. Pick whichever your clue suggests, then use the fourth and fifth letters to narrow it.

Counts for the U-L sixth frame

• Dictionary coverage: 122 words in Collins, 88 in NWL2023 and 83 in ENABLE.
• Eleven words rank as common, from USUALLY and EQUALLY to SMUGGLE.
• Last letters: E ends 47, Y ends 46, S ends 20 and A ends 8, as in ARUGULA and ACUSHLA.
• S opens 33 words, C opens 16, and G and A open 10 and 7.
• The average score is 12.5.

Which 7-letter words with U 3rd and L 6th end in -LY?

Ten end in -ILY, such as GAUDILY, SAUCILY and LOUSILY, while ROUGHLY, BLUNTLY, SOUNDLY, ROUNDLY and TOUGHLY use a plain -LY. USUALLY and EQUALLY lead the common ones.

Add -BLY words like CRUMBLY, GRUMBLY and STUBBLY, and the adverbs and adjectives reach 46, one fewer than the E group. Y is the stronger ending when the clue is descriptive.

What are the -LE words?

-BLE gives STUMBLE, CRUMBLE, GRUMBLE and STUBBLE, ten words in all, while -DLE gives six, including TRUNDLE. SHUTTLE, SCUTTLE, SHUFFLE, SNUFFLE and TRUFFLE come from the double-consonant group.

SNUZZLE is the points leader at 25, with two 10-point Zs. It is a Collins word only, so EQUABLY at 21 and KNUCKLY at 20 are the safer big plays.

The remaining S endings, 20 in all, are plurals like LAURELS and SQUEALS, and the 8 A-enders include ARUGULA.

Choosing between E and Y