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M first and L third gives 87 words, and the four vowels split the box between them almost evenly.
A takes about twenty five percent, I twenty two, O twenty one and E seventeen. Four vowels within eight points of each other.
MALLS, MOLLY and MILLS all push a second L into the fourth box. That doubling is common enough here to be worth testing early rather than treating as a long shot.
MELON, MULTI and MOLDS all keep the single L and head somewhere else. Guessing one of those after a failed doubling attempt splits the group cleanly in two.
With the vowels this level, pick the word whose other letters you have not tested elsewhere in the puzzle. The vowel itself buys you roughly the same amount whichever one you choose.
Yes, M first, I second, L third. It is one of the few entries that follows the L with a K, which makes it distinctive once the common shapes are gone.
No. MEDAL puts D in the third box and the L last. The letters are all present, just not in the boxes this pattern needs.
English doubles a consonant after a short vowel very often, and all four vowels in this group are usually short, so the doubling stacks up naturally.