Spelling Bee Helper
Enter today's center letter (gold) and the six outer letters.
Spelling Bee Tips and Strategy
The best way to approach Spelling Bee is to start with short words. Find all the 4-letter words first. They each score 1 point but there are usually many of them. Once you have the easy ones, move to 5 and 6 letter words.
The center letter is your anchor. Every valid word must contain it. When you are stuck, think about what common words use that letter heavily. If the center is R, think of words with -ER, -OR, -AR, -UR endings. If the center is N, look for -ING, -TION, -AN patterns.
For pangrams, look for compound root words. Many NYT pangrams use a common root plus a common suffix. If your letters include common suffix letters like -ING, -ED, -TION, or -NESS, look for 4-letter roots in your available letters and try adding those suffixes.
A Worked Spelling Bee Example
Take a puzzle with center letter E and outer letters A, B, C, F, G, H. Every valid word must contain E, may use only those seven letters, must be at least four letters long, and may repeat any letter as often as you like. That last rule is what separates Spelling Bee from Scrabble: BEACHHEAD is legal even though it uses A, E, and H more than once.
From that letter set you get short scorers such as EACH, ACHE, and BEACH, then longer finds like CABBAGE and HEADACHE, and BEACHHEAD as the pangram because it touches all seven letters at least once. Working that way — short words first, then hunt the pangram — is the fastest route to Genius.
How Spelling Bee Scoring Works
| Word length | Points |
|---|---|
| 4 letters | 1 point |
| 5 letters or more | 1 point per letter |
| Pangram (all 7 letters) | 1 point per letter plus a 7-point bonus |
Genius is 70 percent of the day's maximum score, and Queen Bee means finding every word. The counter above your results estimates both from the letters you entered.