GamePlay: The Spelling Bee Puzzle Interface
The Spelling Bee puzzle page includes not only the puzzle itself, but several helpful guides and links to additional information.
Here’s a rundown of the many elements on the puzzle page, with links to more information.
The Spelling Bee puzzle page features a honeycomb with seven different letters; six of these letters are arranged around a seventh letter in the center.
Above the honeycomb, the space labeled “Type or Click” is where you will enter words as you find them. Use your keyboard, or tap the letters to entr them.
Below the honeycomb are three buttons. When you have typed a word and checked its spelling, tap or click on the “Enter” button on the right to enter your word. The “Delete” button on the left works as a backspace key, so that you can delete the last letter(s) you typed to correct typos or make other changes before tapping “Enter.” Between the “Delete” and “Enter” buttons is the “Shuffle” button, which you can tap or click to shuffle the six outer letters into a new arrangement. Shuffling will not affect the center letter, which will always remain in the center.
To the right of the honeycomb is a large blank space; when you enter correct words and they are accepted, they will appear here and will arrange themselves into an alphabetical list. The pangram(s) will be displayed in boldface type.
Above the word list, a thread with a golden indicator will track your progress through the scoring ranks from Beginner to Genius. (Read more about ranks and scoring here.)
The next image shows the puzzle screen for the completed Bee of September 7, 2026, for which the solution set included 41 words.
When, as in this case, the layout cannot accommodate the entire solution set, the last words in the list are shown on a subsequent screen, as shown here. When this happens, a series of dots at the bottom of the screen indicate the number of pages in the display, and a small right arrow appears; click or tap on that to see the next page. When the solution set is very large, a third screen may be added.
At the top right of the screen, a horizontal menu offers several resources.
At the top right of the screen, a horizontal menu offers several resources:
Stats In February 2024, the New York Times added a feature by which subscribed players can see their statistics gong back to August 1, 2023 (statistics for Bees before that date are not available). Players may review, for Bees August 1, 2023 and forward, the total number of puzzles played, numbers of words and pangrams found, numbers of times that Genius and Queen Bee were attained, and longest word found. Players may also see details of their Bee puzzles for the most recent two weeks. In October 2025, the New York Times added a variety of achievement badges to several puzzles, including Spelling Bee. These badges also display on the Statistics panel; more information about the badge system may be found at the New York Times Games Badges site.
Yesterday’s Answers Those who are still learning to play, or those who ended the game without reaching Queen Bee, may find it useful to review yesterday’s game to see what words were missed.
Hints The little arrow pointing up and to the right indicates that clicking on Hints will open a new page or tab. In this case, the little arrow links to the New York Times' daily article about the Spelling Bee. This is the official Hints page, which is confusingly titled "Spelling Bee Forum." (The actual Spelling Bee Forum exists in the comment section of that daily article.) This “Hints” page contains a standardized set of data and information about each day's Bee, with links to other resources and a connection to the daily Spelling Bee forum. Read more about the Official Hints page HERE, and read more about the Spelling Bee forum HERE.
Stats In February 2024, the New York Times added a feature by which subscribed players can see their statistics gong back to August 1, 2023 (statistics for Bees before that date are not available). Players may review, for Bees August 1, 2023 and forward, the total number of puzzles played, numbers of words and pangrams found, numbers of times that Genius and Queen Bee were attained, and longest word found. Players may also see details of their Bee puzzles for the most recent two weeks. In October 2025, the New York Times added a variety of achievement badges to several puzzles, including Spelling Bee. These badges also display on the Statistics panel; more information about the badge system may be found at the New York Times Games Badges site.
Yesterday’s Answers Those who are still learning to play, or those who ended the game without reaching Queen Bee, may find it useful to review yesterday’s game to see what words were missed.
Hints The little arrow pointing up and to the right indicates that clicking on Hints will open a new page or tab. In this case, the little arrow links to the New York Times' daily article about the Spelling Bee. This is the official Hints page, which is confusingly titled "Spelling Bee Forum." (The actual Spelling Bee Forum exists in the comment section of that daily article.) This “Hints” page contains a standardized set of data and information about each day's Bee, with links to other resources and a connection to the daily Spelling Bee forum. Read more about the Official Hints page HERE, and read more about the Spelling Bee forum HERE.
More The little downward-pointing carat next to the word "More" indicates that it is a drop-down menu.
Click the word or the carat to open the menu; click either one again to close it.
The three little arrows pointing up and to the right indicate that three of these resources are outside the puzzle interface.
We'll look at the "inside" information first.
How to Play Here are the New York Times' official instructions and “rules” for the Spelling Bee puzzle:
How to Play Spelling Bee
Create words using letters from the hive.
• Words must contain at least 4 letters.
• Words must include the center letter.
• Our word list does not include words that are obscure, hyphenated, or proper nouns.
• No cussing either, sorry.
• Letters can be used more than once.
Score points to increase your rating.
• 4-letter words are worth 1 point each.
• Longer words earn 1 point per letter.
• Each puzzle includes at least one “pangram” which uses every letter. These are worth 7 extra points!
Need more solving tips? This article can help.
New puzzles are released daily at 3 a.m. ET.
Think we missed a word? Email us at buzzwords@nytimes.com.
Have thoughts? Give us feedback.
For issues, contact us. [link to chat bot]
Rankings Each Spelling Bee puzzle has the same internal scoring ranks, ranging from Beginner to Genius (topped off by the hidden Queen Bee, never shown as an actual goal). Click on Rankings to see the point levels and scoring ranks for that day's game. While the rankings are the same each day, the numbers will vary depending on the number and length of words in each puzzle. This information may perhaps be of more interest to newer players, to those who do not play to Queen Bee every day, and to those who enjoy additional layers of gameplay with scores and ranks. (Read more about the Spelling Bee ranks and scoring system here.) (This image shows rankings for the Spelling Bee of August 12, 2024, which had 32 words worth 179 points; the Genius level was achieved at 125 points.)
Community The small arrow pointing up and to the right indicates that clicking here will open a new page. The link here always leads to the Spelling Bee forum for that particular day. The Community, also, called the Spelling Bee Forum, is the comments section that is attached to the Hints page described above (confusedly titled "Spelling Bee Forum"). This is where Bee solvers meet to share information, commiserate, complain, and create.
Past Puzzles Clicking here will take you to the Spelling Bee Hub, which contains only the current game for the day, and access to puzzles of the past ten days or so. Here, you may revisit Bee games from the past several days, to complete any you might not have had a chance to finish, or to gaze adoringly at those you did complete (that is, those for which you achieved Queen Bee). There is no other Spelling Bee archive. Suggest a Word In December 2025, the New York Times added an online form within the puzzle by which players may suggest that certain word be included in the Bee. Clicking on "Suggest a Word" will open a Google Docs form with a series of structured questions. The form is also available directly here: https://nyti.ms/4pG5SOF
Past Puzzles Clicking here will take you to the Spelling Bee Hub, which contains only the current game for the day, and access to puzzles of the past ten days or so. Here, you may revisit Bee games from the past several days, to complete any you might not have had a chance to finish, or to gaze adoringly at those you did complete (that is, those for which you achieved Queen Bee). There is no other Spelling Bee archive. Suggest a Word In December 2025, the New York Times added an online form within the puzzle by which players may suggest that certain word be included in the Bee. Clicking on "Suggest a Word" will open a Google Docs form with a series of structured questions. The form is also available directly here: https://nyti.ms/4pG5SOF
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 Puzzlehttps://www.nytimes.com/puzzles/spelling-bee
The Spelling Bee Forumhttps://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/spelling-bee-forum Glossary of Spelling Bee Terms from the New York Timeshttps://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 Beeehttps://help.nytimes.com/23675493312404-Spelling-Bee
New 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 about the Spelling Beehttps://iteratehq.com/nytimes/6776de5d8b6862943a0fb831
The Spelling Bee Forumhttps://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/spelling-bee-forum Glossary of Spelling Bee Terms from the New York Timeshttps://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 Beeehttps://help.nytimes.com/23675493312404-Spelling-Bee
New 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 about the Spelling Beehttps://iteratehq.com/nytimes/6776de5d8b6862943a0fb831