7-letter words with Z as the 3rd letter and L as the 5th letter

In ??Z?L?? the fourth tile is almost always another Z. Thirty-six of the 43 words have the double Z, and they are verbs like PUZZLED, DAZZLED and FIZZLED. That gives the pattern an average score of 25.7, with only two common words.

The ??Z?L?? list in five facts

• Collins holds all 43, NWL2023 holds 33 and ENABLE holds 31.
• S ends 21 words, D ends 13, R ends six and E ends two.
• M opens six words; P and S open five each.
• ZIZZLED scores 35 and ZIZZLES 34; four words tie on 29.
• PUZZLED and PUZZLES are the two common words.

Which verb endings dominate?

Eighteen words end in -LES, thirteen in -LED and six in -LER. DAZZLED, GUZZLED, MUZZLED, SIZZLED, NUZZLED and FIZZLED all sit in the -LED group, and DAZZLER, GUZZLER and SIZZLER give the -LER ending.

Only seven words lack the double Z: GAZELLE, HAZELLY, VIZSLAS, LAZULIS, POZOLES, LOZELLS and ROZELLE.

Which high scorers are safe?

FIZZLED scores 29 and PUZZLED 28, and both are accepted in all three dictionaries. MIZZLED and MUZZLED score 28 too, while DAZZLED, GUZZLED and MIZZLES reach 27.

FUZZLED and WUZZLED also score 29, but they are Collins-only, along with FUZZLES, WUZZLES and SOZZLES. NWL2023 takes 33 of the 43 and ENABLE 31, so check your game's word list before you play a rarity.

Z is worth 10, so two of them add 20 before any other tile, which is why DAZZLED, GUZZLED and MIZZLES reach 27 and the average sits at 25.7. A single Z tile and blanks mean a double-Z play usually scores less than the full number.

Where does it sit among its neighbours?