Spelling Bee: today's hive, free

How to play Spelling Bee

Make words from the seven letters in the hive. Every word needs at least four letters and must use the centre letter; letters can repeat. Type on your keyboard or tap the hive, then press Enter. Four-letter words score 1 point, longer words score a point per letter, and a pangram — a word with all seven letters — scores seven extra. Your rank climbs with your points; find every word for Queen Bee. Full rules and a practice hive on the how to play page.

Stuck? The hints panel shows the words left by first letter and length, and can reveal a word in two steps. Want more? Unlimited Spelling Bee has 3,000 hives in three difficulties. Missed a day? Every past hive is in the archive with hints and answers.

Ranks

Spelling Bee strategy and tips: how to reach Genius every day

Genius is 70% of the day's maximum, not every word, and on Puzzlune's hives that is about 116.9 of 166.9 points from a list of about 38.3 words. You do not need the four-letter words to get there; you need the long ones. A word of four letters scores 1 point, five or more letters score their length, and a pangram, a word that uses all seven letters, scores its length plus 7. These are the habits that get you to Genius in a sitting, with numbers from 365 of our daily hives.

How do you get to Genius in Spelling Bee?

By finding the long words: the average hive has 38.3 words, 37% of them four letters long, and those 14 four-letter words together are worth only 14 points of 166.9. A single seven-letter pangram is worth 14, more than a dozen short words. Five-letter words are 27% of the list, six-letter 19%, seven or more 17%. Find the pangram and the six- and seven-letter words first; the fours can fill in the gap at the end, if there is one.

How do you find the pangram?

Write the seven letters in a line and look for a common ending among them: ING, ED, ER, EST, ION, LY. Every hive has at least one pangram (1.2 on average), and 33% of hives have a perfect one, exactly seven letters with no repeats, so try the seven letters each used once before you try longer. Letters can repeat, so a pangram can be eight or nine letters: an ING ending with a doubled consonant is a classic. If the hint grid shows a seven-letter column, the pangram is often there.

How do you use the Spelling Bee hint grid?

The grid counts the words you have not found by first letter and length, and the two-letter list counts them by their first two letters. The most common first letter holds about 42% of the words on a typical hive, so start there. A row with a single “1” under the 7-letter column is a pangram waiting; a two-letter pair with a count of 3 is three words sharing a start, which usually means one root word and its forms. The hints on Puzzlune are free and unlimited; they take nothing from your score.

Which word forms should you always try?

Every form of a word you have already found: if a word counts, its plural, its ING, ED and ER forms and its comparatives usually count too, as long as the letters are in the hive. Repeated letters are allowed, so try doubling: NOON, LULL, TOTTER. And every word must contain the centre letter, so words that look obvious but skip it are not on the list; that is where most “why isn't this a word” moments come from.

What is Bingo in Spelling Bee?

Bingo is finding at least one word starting with each of the seven letters; it is possible on about 34% of hives. It is not worth extra points here, but hunting for the missing first letter is a good way to find words you would otherwise miss, because it makes you say the hive's letters as starts instead of middles.

How does the rank system work?

Ranks are percentages of the day's maximum: Good start at 2%, Moving up at 5%, Good at 8%, Solid at 15%, Nice at 25%, Great at 40%, Amazing at 50%, Genius at 70%, and Queen Bee for every word. The thresholds are recomputed for every hive, so a hive with many long words has a higher Genius score. The rank ball under the board shows which rank you are on and how far to the next; reaching Genius brings the confetti, and the streak counts a day from Good Start.

Spelling Bee daily, Spelling Bee practice or the Spelling Bee archive: which should you play?

Play the daily when you have five minutes, practice when you want to get better, the archive when you want a worked example. The daily. One hive, the same for everyone, with free hints and up to three reveals. It is the only mode that counts for your streak, and the one to share.

Endless practice. Hives in three difficulties, as many as you like, with unlimited reveals. Nothing you do there spoils the daily.

The archive. Every past hive with the hint grid, the two-letter list, the rank thresholds and every answer. Every page has the full solution, so it doubles as a worked example when a technique from the strategy above hasn't clicked yet.

Spelling Bee FAQ

What is Spelling Bee?

Spelling Bee is a word game with seven letters in a hive. Make as many words as you can: each word must be at least four letters long, use only the seven letters (repeats are fine) and include the centre letter. Four-letter words score 1 point, longer words score one point per letter, and a pangram — a word that uses all seven letters — earns seven extra. Your rank climbs from Beginner to Genius as your points grow; find every word for Queen Bee.

Is this the New York Times Spelling Bee?

No. The NYT publishes one hand-edited hive a day and keeps its archive behind a subscription. Puzzlune's Spelling Bee uses the same rules with hives and word lists we build ourselves: a free daily hive, unlimited mode in three difficulties, live hints, a two-step reveal and a free archive with every answer. We are not affiliated with The New York Times.

Which words count?

Our list is built for real players: common English words are required and count towards the ranks; rarer but valid words are accepted as bonus words, marked with a star. Bonus words score points and push you along the rank bar, but they are not part of the puzzle's maximum, so Queen Bee only needs the common words. No hive contains the letter S, and no word list includes offensive terms or proper nouns.

How do the hints work?

The hints panel shows how many words you still have to find, split by first letter and length, plus the two-letter starts and how many pangrams are left — the same grid Spelling Bee players share every day, kept up to date as you find words. If you're really stuck, reveal a word in two steps: first its starting letter and length, then the word itself. Revealed words don't score. The daily hive allows three reveals; unlimited mode has no limit.

What is a pangram?

A word that uses all seven letters of the hive at least once. Every hive has at least one. It scores its length plus seven bonus points, and it's shown in bold in your list. A perfect pangram uses every letter exactly once.

Is this NYT Spelling Bee unlimited, or a Spelling Bee archive?

It is both, with our own hives: a free daily, unlimited mode in three difficulties, and an archive of every past day with hints and answers. People search for it as spelling bee unlimited, nyt spelling bee free, word hive game or spelling bee archive. Puzzlune is not affiliated with The New York Times.

Do I need an account?

No. Progress, streak and stats are stored in your browser. Your streak counts a day once you reach Good Start.