7-letter words with U as the 3rd letter and M as the 4th letter

The fifth letter is the key. P gives 28 words, B gives 22 and a second M gives 20, so UMP, UMB and UMM between them handle most of the frame. Learn those three cores first, then add prefixes like PL- and CR- to cut the list down.

Key figures for U 3rd and M 4th

• Collins recognises 120 of the 122, NWL2023 recognises 94 and ENABLE recognises 88.
• DRUMMER, TRUMPET, PLUMBER, STUMBLE, CRUMBLE and SLUMBER are among the 7 common entries.
• R closes 22 words, D closes 20, E closes 19, S closes 17 and G closes 9.
• S begins 27, P begins 22, C begins 21 and G begins 12.
• A typical word scores 12.7, with FLUMMOX at the top.

Which cores dominate 7-letter words with U 3rd and M 4th?

-UMP- gives SLUMPED, STUMPED, THUMPED, TRUMPED, TRUMPET and CRUMPLE. -UMB- gives PLUMBER, STUMBLE, CRUMBLE, GRUMBLE and SLUMBER, and -UMM- gives DRUMMER, DRUMMED, PLUMMET and CHUMMED.

-PED is the commonest single ending at 12 words, ahead of -MER at 8 and -ING at 8. Tackling the tail after the core is the fastest route.

Three words show the cores side by side: TRUMPET for UMP, PLUMBER for UMB and DRUMMER for UMM. Whichever core you try, the fifth letter is the one to confirm first, because it splits the frame into groups of 28, 22 and 20.

What do the PL- and CR- openers add?

PLUM- starts 22 words, and PLUMBER, PLUMAGE, PLUMMET and PLUMPED are the familiar ones. CRUM- starts 12, including CRUMBLE, CRUMPLE and CRUMPET, and GRUM- starts 9, led by GRUMBLE.

Together those three prefixes account for 43 of the 122, about 35 percent. ST- and SL- add 7 words each.

Points and risks