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94 words put B first and L third. A large share of them double a letter somewhere in the last two boxes, which is the detail most people miss.
A takes the second box in about thirty two percent of these, E in twenty two, then I at seventeen and O at sixteen. All four vowels stay live, which is unusual.
BILLS, BALLS, BELLY and BELLS all double the L into the fourth box. If you have B and L confirmed and the fourth box is still open, a second L is a far better bet here than it would be in most groups.
BELOW is the useful counterweight. It keeps the single L and ends on a W, so guessing it separates the doubled words from the rest in one move.
That makes it a better opener than it looks, since a miss tells you the answer almost certainly doubles a letter later in the word.
No. BLACK puts L in the second box and A in the third. The BL blend is a different pattern entirely from B first and L third.
Several are plurals, BILLS, BALLS, BELTS and BELLS among them. If the last box is already known to be S, that alone keeps a big slice of this group in play.
A large share of them, BILLS, BALLS, BELLS, BULLS and BELLY among others. Once L is confirmed in the third box, a second L in the fourth is the single best test available.