GamePlay: The Official Hints Page
Each day, the New York Times offers a new Spelling Bee puzzle. The Bee goes “live” at 3AM ET, and at the same moment, a new official “Hints” page is published that is specific to that day's puzzle.
This guide explains this "Hints" page: Where and how to find it, what essential information it includes, and how to use that information to become a better Bee solver.
on the New York Times Spelling Bee’s Official Hints page: the puzzle data, grid, and two-letter list, using examples from several actual Spelling Bee puzzles.
WHAT AND WHERE IS THE HINTS PAGE?
The Hints page is actually an article published in the New York Times each day when the Bee puzzle drops at 3AM ET. Though the Times refers to it as the Hints page, the daily article is always entitled "Spelling Bee Forum." (It might be better titled "Spelling Bee Hints and Bee Buddy," because though the article gives access to the forum, it is not the actual forum.)
All of these articles are archived here, with the current edition always at the top of the list: https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/spelling-bee-forum
Players may also find the Hints via a link within the Spelling Bee puzzle itself.
At the top right of the Spelling Bee puzzle page, a horizontal menu offers several resources, including “Hints.”
The little arrow next to "Hints" that points up and to the right indicates that clicking on "Hints" will open a new resource, in this case, the daily Hints page for that day's Bee, that is actually that day's article entitled "Spelling Bee Forum." (Yes, it's confusing.)
SPELLING BEE GRID
The puzzle information on the Hints page (shown in the image at right) is given under the title Spelling Bee Grid, which is misleading because the grid is only one of several elements presented. The order and layout is the same every day:
Puzzle data: This first section provides the essential information about the puzzle: The seven letters chosen for the day's Bee, with the center letter first and emphasized in bold, followed by the other six letters in alphabetical order (T A I L M N P; the numbers of words (56) and points (257); the number of pangram(s) (1) and an indication if any of the pangrams is "perfect" (yes) and an indication of whether the puzzle has the BINGO characteristic (yes). (For more on pangrams and BINGO, review our guide HERE.)
The Actual Grid: The "grid" organizes data about the numbers of words and the lengths of all the words in the day’s puzzle.
The numbers across the top row of the grid refer to the lengths of words in the puzzle (4 letters, 5 letters, etc.) This information will vary every day, because each puzzle has a unique number of words of different lengths. In the example shown, we see that this puzzle has words with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 letters. The bottom row shows the total numbers of words of each length. In the example shown, we see that the puzzle has 20 4-letter words, 11 5-letter words, 9 6-letter words, etc. The leftmost vertical column of the grid shows the starting letters of all the words in that day’s puzzle, in alphabetical order. When the puzzle is a BINGO puzzle (in which the solution set includes at least one word that begins with each of the seven letters), this column will display all seven letters. When it is not a BINGO puzzle, this column will show only the letters that are used to begin words. The example shown here is for a BINGO puzzle, with all seven letters shown in the leftmost column.
The rightmost vertical column of the grid shows the total numbers of words that begin with each letter. In the example shown, we see that there are four words that begin with the letter “A," three words that begin with the letter "I," four words that begin with the letter "L," etc.
Within each row, the cells show the numbers of words of a particular length that start with the corresponding letter in the leftmost column. In the example shown here, the numbers on the “L” line mean that of the four words that begin with “L,” two have four letters, one has five letters, and one has seven letters.
The Σ (sigma) symbols mean totals, as shown in the bottom row and in the right-most column. The Two-letter List
Beneath the grid, the two-letter list (2LL) shows the numbers of words that begin with the same first two letters. The 2LL always has one line for each of the initial letters; when the Bee is a BINGO puzzle (as is this example), the 2LL will have seven lines. In the example shown here, the information in the first line means that in the solution set, there is one word that begins with AL; one word that begins with AN; and two words that begin with AT.
The numbers across the top row of the grid refer to the lengths of words in the puzzle (4 letters, 5 letters, etc.) This information will vary every day, because each puzzle has a unique number of words of different lengths. In the example shown, we see that this puzzle has words with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 letters. The bottom row shows the total numbers of words of each length. In the example shown, we see that the puzzle has 20 4-letter words, 11 5-letter words, 9 6-letter words, etc. The leftmost vertical column of the grid shows the starting letters of all the words in that day’s puzzle, in alphabetical order. When the puzzle is a BINGO puzzle (in which the solution set includes at least one word that begins with each of the seven letters), this column will display all seven letters. When it is not a BINGO puzzle, this column will show only the letters that are used to begin words. The example shown here is for a BINGO puzzle, with all seven letters shown in the leftmost column.
The rightmost vertical column of the grid shows the total numbers of words that begin with each letter. In the example shown, we see that there are four words that begin with the letter “A," three words that begin with the letter "I," four words that begin with the letter "L," etc.
Within each row, the cells show the numbers of words of a particular length that start with the corresponding letter in the leftmost column. In the example shown here, the numbers on the “L” line mean that of the four words that begin with “L,” two have four letters, one has five letters, and one has seven letters.
The Σ (sigma) symbols mean totals, as shown in the bottom row and in the right-most column. The Two-letter List
Beneath the grid, the two-letter list (2LL) shows the numbers of words that begin with the same first two letters. The 2LL always has one line for each of the initial letters; when the Bee is a BINGO puzzle (as is this example), the 2LL will have seven lines. In the example shown here, the information in the first line means that in the solution set, there is one word that begins with AL; one word that begins with AN; and two words that begin with AT.
If you cite information from this LexiConnexxions report, please give credit and a link to this page. These reports and analyses are compiled and prepared by a human being, not a machine. Thank you.
ESSENTIAL SPELLING BEE RESOURCES
The Spelling Bee Puzzle
https://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee
The Spelling Bee Forumhttps://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/spelling-bee-forum
Glossary of Spelling Bee Termshttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/crosswords/spelling-bee-forum-introduction.html
Spelling Bee Buddyhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/upshot/spelling-bee-buddy.htmlAn interactive tool that provides personalized hints and statistics for your daily Spelling Bee solve.
New York Times Help page for Spelling Beehttps://help.nytimes.com/23675493312404-Spelling-Bee
Nw York Times Help page for all gameshttps://help.nytimes.com/360011158491-New-York-Times-Games
Suggest a word for Spelling BeeWithin the Bee puzzle, open the "More" dropdown and choose "Suggest a Word. This links to form by which players may suggest words to be included in the Bee. A direct link is here: https://nyti.ms/4pG5SOFPlayers may also email their suggestions to buzzwords@nytimes.com, especially if they wish to include more information than the form allows.
Provide feedback to the NYT about the Spelling Beehttps://iteratehq.com/nytimes/6776de5d8b6862943a0fb831
The Spelling Bee Forumhttps://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/spelling-bee-forum
Glossary of Spelling Bee Termshttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/26/crosswords/spelling-bee-forum-introduction.html
Spelling Bee Buddyhttps://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/upshot/spelling-bee-buddy.htmlAn interactive tool that provides personalized hints and statistics for your daily Spelling Bee solve.
New York Times Help page for Spelling Beehttps://help.nytimes.com/23675493312404-Spelling-Bee
Nw York Times Help page for all gameshttps://help.nytimes.com/360011158491-New-York-Times-Games
Suggest a word for Spelling BeeWithin the Bee puzzle, open the "More" dropdown and choose "Suggest a Word. This links to form by which players may suggest words to be included in the Bee. A direct link is here: https://nyti.ms/4pG5SOFPlayers may also email their suggestions to buzzwords@nytimes.com, especially if they wish to include more information than the form allows.
Provide feedback to the NYT about the Spelling Beehttps://iteratehq.com/nytimes/6776de5d8b6862943a0fb831