The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACDEHNG

Thursday, May 21, 2026

Words
35
Points
163
Genius
114
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 35 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

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

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ad×1
  • ag×2
  • ca×4
  • ch×2
  • da×1
  • ed×2
  • eg×4
  • en×4
  • ga×7
  • ge×1
  • gh×1
  • ha×2
  • he×3
  • na×1

Words by first letter and length

45679Σ
a 111·· 3
c 1221· 6
d 1···· 1
e 22231 10
g 5·31· 9
h 122·· 5
n ··1·· 1
Σ 1171151 35

The numbers

Genius today takes 114 points of 163 available. The average answer runs 5.4 letters.

Total points vs. all 378 recorded puzzles
29th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
25th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17142 recorded answers

411 today34.5% all-time57 today22.8% all-time611 today20.0% all-time75 today12.1% all-time86.3% all-time91 today2.5% all-time101.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Wednesday, May 20, 2026 Wednesday, May 20, 2026
c Wednesday, May 20, 2026 Tuesday, May 12, 2026
d Wednesday, May 20, 2026 Friday, April 24, 2026
e Tuesday, May 19, 2026 Saturday, March 21, 2026
g ● Friday, May 15, 2026 Saturday, May 2, 2026
h Monday, May 18, 2026 Monday, April 6, 2026
n Saturday, May 16, 2026 Thursday, May 7, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 41
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 28
  5. toot 27
  6. loll 27
  7. mama 24
  8. mamma 24
  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. anon 20
  24. lull 19
  25. lulu 19

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.