7-letter words with Y as the 2nd letter and P as the 3rd letter

In ?YP???? the opening letter does most of the sorting. H starts 18 words and T starts 13, so those two letters cover 31 of the 51. HYPOXIC and HYPOXIA, at 24 and 22 points, are the scoring peaks, while common words are scarce.

The YP pattern in five numbers

• 51 words fit; Collins accepts 49, NWL2023 accepts 38 and ENABLE accepts 34.
• H opens 18 words, T opens 13, G opens 8 and C opens 6.
• 22 words end in S; E ends six and A or D end four each.
• HYPOXIC scores 24, HYPOXIA 22 and HYPONYM 20; the average is 15.4.
• 4 are common words, among them TYPHOON, CYPRESS and TYPICAL; 45 have definitions.

Which prefixes drive the list?

HYP- is the big one: HYPOXIA, HYPOXIC, HYPHENS, HYPNOID, HYPONYM and HYPERON all start with it. TYP- adds TYPICAL, TYPHOON, TYPHOID, TYPESET and TYPISTS.

CYP- gives CYPRESS, CYPRIAN, CYPHERS, CYPRIDS and CYPRINE, and SYPHONS and BYPATHS fill in S and B. Three prefixes, HYP-, TYP- and CYP-, cover 37 of the 51 words.

Endings are easier still. S closes 22, among them HYPHENS, TYPISTS, CYPHERS, SYPHONS and BYPATHS, and E closes six, including BYPLACE, CYPRINE and TYPABLE.

Where do the points come from?

HYPOXIC and HYPOXIA reach 24 and 22 because X is worth 8. HYPONYM follows at 20, and HYPHENS and RYPECKS each score 18, though RYPECKS appears only in Collins. HYPONYM is in Collins and NWL2023 but not ENABLE.

The best everyday plays are TYPICAL and HYPHENS, since neither depends on a rare tile. The riskiest are the long-tail Collins words, so check your game's word list before using one: NWL2023 accepts 38 of the 51 and ENABLE accepts 34.

Where does Y rank in second place?