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

The -US- core splits cleanly. I in fifth place gives 40 words, including the whole -USING family, and H gives 35, from BRUSHED to FLUSHES. The other 79 spread over T, E, S, A and a few rarer letters, and 20 of the 154 words are common.

Reading the U third, S fourth figures

• Coverage runs 148 words in Collins, 110 in NWL2023 and 96 in ENABLE.
• UNUSUAL, TRUSTED, CRUSHED, CLUSTER and COUSINS sit among the 20 common entries.
• Last letters: S 44, D 24, R 22, E 19 and G 18.
• First letters: C 21, S 17, and M and P with 16 each.
• Scrabble average: 10.1 points.

Which words follow the -USI- and -USH- cores?

-USI- carries 18 words that end in -ING (ABUSING, AMUSING, CAUSING, HOUSING, REUSING, ROUSING), plus ABUSIVE, ELUSIVE and ELUSION. -USH- carries BRUSHED, BRUSHES, CRUSHED, CRUSHES, FLUSHED and PLUSHLY.

Ten words end in -HED and ten end in -HES, and every one of them belongs to the -USH- group. An H in fifth place is therefore also a strong clue for the ending.

Between the two, the final three letters often settle the word. If you can place ING, HED or HES, you have already named the fifth letter.

What do T, E and S add in fifth place?

T gives 22 words (TRUSTED, CLUSTER, JOUSTED, BLUSTER, CRUSTAL), E gives 18 (ABUSERS, CAUSERS, ROUSERS) and S gives 15 (TRUSSES, MOUSSES, PLUSSES).

BRUSQUE scores 18, ARUSPEX 16, JOUSTED 15 and PLUSHLY 15. All four are valid in Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE, so they are safe plays in any game.

CLUSTER and BLUSTER differ by one opening letter, as do TRUSTED and CRUSTED, so the T group rewards a two-way guess at the first letter.

Quick decision rule