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.

  • adage

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • aged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • agenda

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • cadge

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cadged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cage

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • caged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • change

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • changed

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • dang

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • edge

    noun — The boundary line of a surface.

    verb — To move an object slowly and carefully in a particular direction.

    noun — A one-dimensional face of a polytope. In particular, the joining line between two vertices of a polygon; the place where two faces of a polyhedron meet.

    noun — An advantage.

    noun — The thin cutting side of the blade of an instrument, such as an ax, knife, sword, or scythe; that which cuts as an edge does, or wounds deeply, etc.

    noun — A sharp terminating border; a margin; a brink; an extreme verge.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • edged

    verb — To move an object slowly and carefully in a particular direction.

    adjective — That has a sharp planar surface.

    verb — To move slowly and carefully in a particular direction.

    verb — (usually in the form 'just edge') To win by a small margin.

    verb — To hit the ball with an edge of the bat, causing a fine deflection.

    verb — To trim the margin of a lawn where the grass meets the sidewalk, usually with an electric or gas-powered lawn edger.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • egad

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • egged

    verb — To throw eggs at.

    verb — To encourage, incite.

    verb — To dip in or coat with beaten egg.

    verb — To distort a circular cross-section (as in a tube) to an elliptical or oval shape, either inadvertently or intentionally.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • egghead

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • eggheaded

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • encage

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • encaged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • engage

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • engaged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • gadded

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • gaga

    adjective — Mentally senile.

    noun — A variant of dodgeball played inside a fenced area, usually a hexagon or octagon.

    adjective — Crazy.

    adjective — Infatuated.

    Appeared in 19 recorded puzzles.

  • gage

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • gagged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • ganache

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • gang

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • ganged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • gene

    noun — A theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms; a gene may take several values and in principle predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form (phenotype), such as hair color.

    noun — A segment of DNA or RNA from a cell's or an organism's genome, that may take several forms and thus parameterizes a phenomenon, in general the structure of a protein; locus.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • ghee

    noun — A type of clarified butter used in South Asian cooking; usli ghee.

    noun — Vegetable oil for cooking.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • hang

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • hanged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • hedge

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • hedged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • henge

    noun — A prehistoric enclosure in the form of a circle or circular arc defined by a raised circular bank and a circular ditch usually running inside the bank, with one or more entrances leading into the enclosed open space.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • nagged

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

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 408 recorded puzzles
30th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
26th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 18455 recorded answers

411 today34.5% all-time57 today22.9% all-time611 today19.9% all-time75 today12.0% all-time86.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101.3% 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 43
  2. naan 32
  3. nana 32
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 29
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 26
  8. mamma 26
  9. nene 25
  10. acacia 24
  11. acai 24
  12. olio 24
  13. cocoon 23
  14. loon 23
  15. neon 23
  16. none 23
  17. aria 22
  18. imam 22
  19. maim 22
  20. cancan 22
  21. canna 22
  22. bill 22
  23. mini 22
  24. minim 22
  25. lilt 21

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.