How to play
How to play Spelling Bee
Spelling Bee is the New York Times' daily word puzzle. To play Spelling Bee, make words from seven letters: every word must use the centre letter and be four letters or longer, and letters can be used more than once. Longer words score more, and a word that uses all seven letters, the pangram, scores most.
- One puzzle a day
- Seven letters
- Centre letter in every word
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- ✓ Right
Use the centre letter
Every word must contain the centre letter. With A in the centre, TACO counts.
- ✗ Not allowed
No centre letter, no word
A word without the centre letter does not count, however good it is. COLT has no A.
- ✗ Not allowed
Four letters or more
Words must be four letters or longer. CAT is too short.
- ✓ Right
Letters can repeat
A letter can be used as often as you like. LILAC uses the L twice and the A once.
Points by length
A four-letter word scores 1 point. A longer word scores 1 point per letter: TONAL is worth 5.
- ✓ Right
The pangram
A word with all seven letters is a pangram and earns 7 points more: LOCATION is 8 + 7 = 15. Every puzzle has at least one.
Where to play, and the controls
- Open nytimes.com/games/spelling-bee in a browser, or Spelling Bee in the NYT Games app.
- Type a word, or tap the letters, and press Enter.
- Shuffle moves the outer letters around; Delete takes back the last letter.
Tips that solve it faster
Hunt the pangram
Look for it early: it is usually a long, common word, and its 7 extra points move the rank more than anything else.
Work from the endings
Build from the endings the letters allow, such as -ION, -ING or -ED. ACTION, CATION and LOCATION came from one ending here.
One word leads to the next
Once you have a word, try its relatives: other forms, prefixes and compounds made of the same letters.
Go long for points
Four-letter words are worth only 1 point each. Past the first ranks, the points are in five letters and more.
Shuffle
Shuffle often. Letters in a new order suggest words the old order hid.
Know what counts
The game's own list decides which words count. Proper nouns and hyphenated words never do; very rare words often do not.
Questions
What is Spelling Bee?
A daily word puzzle from The New York Times: make words from seven letters, always using the centre one. Each puzzle has its own list of words to find.
What is a pangram in Spelling Bee?
A word that uses all seven letters at least once. It scores its length plus 7 points, and every puzzle has at least one.
How are points scored in Spelling Bee?
A four-letter word is 1 point; a longer word is 1 point per letter; a pangram adds 7.
What is Genius in Spelling Bee?
The ranks rise with your share of the puzzle's total points, from Beginner up to Genius. Finding every word is Queen Bee.
Can you reuse letters in Spelling Bee?
Yes. Any of the seven letters can appear more than once in a word.
Spelling Bee is a game by The New York Times. AWA GAMES is an independent site and is not affiliated with or endorsed by The New York Times. The boards on this page are our own.
Last updated .