How does the scoring work?

Four-letter words score one point. Longer words score one point per letter. A pangram — a word that uses all seven letters — earns a seven-point bonus on top, so it's the most valuable word in the puzzle.

What are the rules for a valid word?

Every word must be at least four letters long and must contain the center letter. Letters may be reused as often as you like, and proper nouns and hyphenated words don't count.

How do I reach Queen Bee?

Queen Bee means finding every word in the puzzle. Work the common endings (-ing, -ed, -er, -tion), find the pangram early for a points cushion, and reuse letters freely. Replaying past puzzles in the archive builds the pattern recognition that gets you there.

Is every answer a real dictionary word?

Yes. Each puzzle is fully solved against the dictionary, so every revealed answer is a genuine, valid English word. You can confirm any of them with the live dictionary lookup above.

Daily Practice

Today's Spelling Bee puzzle

An original honeycomb word game you can play right now — no copyrighted answers, just genuine practice. Find as many words as you can and reach for Queen Bee.

Beginner0 / 384 pts

type a word

You found 0 / 64

Tap any word to see its real dictionary definition.

Tap the letters to build words. Every word must use the center letter and be at least four letters long.

Rank ladder

Beginner0 pts
Good Start19 pts
Moving Up58 pts
Solid115 pts
Nice173 pts
Great230 pts
Amazing288 pts
Genius326 pts
Queen Bee384 pts

Check any answer in the dictionary

Not sure a word is real? Type it here for a live definition, pronunciation, and example sentences — the same verification we run on every puzzle answer.

How to play & how scoring works

Step 1

Use the center letter

Every valid word must contain the highlighted center letter at least once.

Step 2

Four letters minimum

Words must be at least four letters long. Letters may be reused as often as you like.

Step 3

Hunt the pangram

A pangram uses all seven letters and earns a big bonus. There's at least one in every puzzle.

Step 4

Climb the ladder

Your score unlocks ranks from Beginner up to Genius and Queen Bee.

Why we don't post the official NYT answers

Many sites simply copy and paste the day's official answer list. We take a different approach for two reasons. First, those word lists are part of a copyrighted puzzle, and republishing them violates both copyright and Google AdSense's content policies. Second — and more importantly — reading a list of answers teaches you nothing. The skill that helps you on every future puzzle is pattern recognition, and that only grows through practice.

Our daily puzzle is built from an original letter set with its own validated word list. You get the same satisfying hunt for words and pangrams, the same rank ladder from Beginner to Queen Bee, and real feedback that makes you a sharper solver — all in a way that's fully ours to share.

Strategy: how to find more words

Start with common endings

Suffixes like -ing, -ed, -er, and -tion often appear when the right letters are present. Lock the ending in your mind and try different beginnings.

Look for the pangram early

Scan all seven letters and ask which everyday word might string them together. Finding the pangram first gives you a confidence boost and a points cushion.

Reuse letters freely

Remember that letters can repeat. Words like level or bananashow how a small letter set can produce surprisingly long answers.

Frequently asked questions

How the daily practice puzzle works, how scoring is calculated, and how to improve.

No. This is an original practice puzzle generated from a public-domain English word list. We don't republish copyrighted puzzle answers — instead we give you the same kind of hunt for words and pangrams in a way that's fully ours to share.