7-letter words with V as the 1st letter and R as the 6th letter

R sits right before the last letter, so this list is a catalogue of endings. The -ERS plurals make up nearly half, and -URE, -URS and -ORS add 14 more. The remaining words are scattered singletons like VAQUERO and VISCERA.

V-first, R-sixth words by the numbers

• Total: 52 words. Collins accepts all 52, NWL2023 43 and ENABLE 41.
• Common words: 7, which are VICTORY, VENTURE, VIEWERS, VAMPIRE, VENDORS, VECTORS and VULTURE.
• Final letters: S ends 36 words, E ends 6 and A and Y end 3 each.
• Top scorers: VAQUERO and VIZIERS at 19, then VALKYRS at 17.
• Average score: 11.6 points.

Why do so many end in -ERS?

25 of the 52 end in -ERS, nearly half. VIEWERS, VENDERS, VEILERS, VEINERS, VESPERS and VOICERS are typical, and most are agent nouns built from a verb stem like VIEW, VEIN or VOICE.

That makes -ERS the first thing to test whenever R is in sixth place. If it fails, the next tails are -URE with 5, -URS with 5 and -ORS with 4.

VEN- is the busiest opening, with 7 words: VENDERS, VENDORS, VENEERS, VENGERS, VENTERS, VENTURE and VENTURI. Combine VEN- with a known tail and you are usually down to one or two candidates.

What are the -URE, -URS and -ORS words?

-URE brings VENTURE, VULTURE, VERDURE, VESTURE and VOITURE. -URS holds VALOURS, VAPOURS, VELOURS and VIGOURS, and VALOURS, VAPOURS and VIGOURS use British spelling.

-ORS gives VECTORS, VENDORS, VIATORS and VICTORS. Two begin VE- and two begin VI-, which separates them quickly.

Singletons round out the list: VAQUERO, VISCERA, VIVERRA, VANWARD, VETTURA and VULTURN. None shares a tail with another word, so they only show up when a clue gives you the first letters.

Where do the high scores come from?