The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACGINPM

Friday, May 15, 2026

Words
50
Points
280
Genius
196
Pangrams
3

Official answers

Show the 50 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • aiming

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • amping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • anima

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • caiman

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • cami

    noun — A camisole.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • camp

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • campaign

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • campaigning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • camping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gamin

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • gaming

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • gamma

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • gimp

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • imaging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • imagining

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • imam

    noun — (usually capitalized) A Shi'ite Muslim leader.

    noun — One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • impinging

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • macing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • magi

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • magic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • magician

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • magma

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • maim

    noun — A serious wound

    verb — To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • maiming

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • main

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • mama

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    Appeared in 25 recorded puzzles.

  • mamma

    noun — The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. (plural: mammae)

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    noun — An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera

    Appeared in 25 recorded puzzles.

  • managing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • manga

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mania

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • maniac

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • manic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • manna

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 18 recorded puzzles.

  • manning

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • mapping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • mica

    noun — Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • mimic

    noun — A person who practices mimicry, or mime.

    verb — To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.

    adjective — Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.

    noun — An imitation.

    verb — To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

    adjective — Mock, pretended.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • miming

    verb — To act without words.

    verb — To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use of sound.

    noun — A performance in mime.

    verb — To mimic.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mincing

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • mini

    adjective — Miniature, tiny, small.

    noun — A miniskirt.

    noun — A minicomputer.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • minicam

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • minicamp

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • minim

    noun — A half note, drawn as a semibreve with a stem.

    noun — Anything very minute; applied to animalcula and the like.

    noun — A unit of volume, in the Imperial and U.S. customary systems, 1/60 fluid drachm. Approximately equal to 1 drop, 62 μL or 0.9 grain (weight) of water.

    noun — A short vertical stroke used in handwriting.

    noun — A little man or being; a dwarf.

    noun — A small fish; a minnow.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • minima

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 13 recorded puzzles.

  • mining

    noun — The activity of removing solid valuables from the earth.

    verb — To remove (ore) from the ground.

    verb — To dig into, for ore or metal.

    noun — Creation of new units of cryptocurrency by validating transactions and demonstrating proof-of-work

    noun — The activity of placing explosives underground, rigged to explode

    verb — To earn new units of cryptocurrency by doing certain calculations.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • naming

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • pampa

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • panama

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • pimp

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • pimping

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

camping is a perfect pangram — all seven letters, each used exactly once.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ai×1
  • am×1
  • an×1
  • ca×6
  • ga×3
  • gi×1
  • im×4
  • ma×18
  • mi×10
  • na×1
  • pa×2
  • pi×2

Words by first letter and length

45678911Σ
a ·12···· 3
c 2·111·1 6
g 121···· 4
i 1··1·2· 4
m 69553·· 28
n ··1···· 1
p 1111··· 4
Σ 1113118421 50

The numbers

Genius today takes 196 points of 280 available. The average answer runs 5.8 letters.

Total points vs. all 380 recorded puzzles
79th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
58th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17231 recorded answers

411 today34.6% all-time513 today22.8% all-time611 today19.9% all-time78 today12.1% all-time84 today6.3% all-time92 today2.6% all-time101.2% all-time111 today0.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Wednesday, May 13, 2026 Wednesday, May 6, 2026
c Tuesday, May 12, 2026 Tuesday, May 12, 2026
g Sunday, May 10, 2026 Saturday, May 2, 2026
i Thursday, May 14, 2026 Thursday, May 14, 2026
m ● Thursday, May 14, 2026 Sunday, April 19, 2026
n Tuesday, May 12, 2026 Thursday, May 7, 2026
p Saturday, April 25, 2026 Friday, February 27, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 41
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 28
  5. toot 28
  6. loll 27
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. cocoon 23
  10. nene 23
  11. acacia 22
  12. acai 22
  13. bill 22
  14. loon 22
  15. aria 21
  16. onto 21
  17. toon 21
  18. cancan 21
  19. canna 21
  20. neon 21
  21. none 21
  22. olio 21
  23. lilt 20
  24. till 20
  25. tilt 20

Valid words the Bee rejected

Dictionary words the Bee never takes

Legitimate words (per the ENABLE list) that fit the letters but aren't official answers — usually judged too obscure.