Medium1 player·10–30 min
NYT Spelling Bee
Find every word you can using just seven letters — including one mandatory letter.
The New York Times Spelling Bee is a daily word puzzle where players must find as many words as possible using seven letters arranged in a honeycomb pattern. Every word must be at least four letters long and must include the central "required" letter. Letters can be reused. The ultimate goal is "Genius" status — finding enough words to reach 70% of the maximum possible score — and the elusive "Queen Bee" achievement requires finding every single valid word.
How scoring works
- 4-letter words score 1 point each.
- Longer words score 1 point per letter.
- Pangrams — words that use all 7 letters — score a 7-point bonus on top of their length score. There is always at least one pangram each day.
Strategy tips
- Find the pangram early — it confirms all 7 letters are available for use and gives a psychological boost.
- Try common suffixes (-ING, -TION, -ED, -ER, -LY) applied to every combination of the available letters.
- The Spelling Bee dictionary is more permissive than Scrabble — it includes many obscure but valid English words. Don't give up on unusual combinations.
- Two-syllable words with the required letter repeated are commonly missed (e.g. if the required letter is A: ABRACADABRA patterns).