GamePlay: Solv-ING Strategies
Some Spelling Bee solvers dislike the Bees that include I+N+G or E+D, perhaps thinking that the are too easy, or not interesting enough. While it’s true that a solver can easily generate words by adding suffixes such as -ING or -ED (with words such as play, playing, played), the presence of these letter groups can also present some unique solving challenges. This is especially true when I+N+G is in the letter set, because to solve an “ING” Bee, a solver must think “outside” the Bee, in three important ways.
The Spelling Bee of 2026-10-04, with letter set G H I N O P W, is a good example for exploring how thinking “outside” the Bee can help a solver complete the puzzle.
In this Bee, 40 of 51 words (78.43%) in the solution set ended with the -ING suffix, as shown here:
In this Bee, 40 of 51 words (78.43%) in the solution set ended with the -ING suffix, as shown here:
Only five of those 40 words were formed by simply appending “ING” to a root verb that was present in the Bee, without alteration:
gong / gonging gown / gowning ping / pinging pogo / pogoing wing / winging
The other 35 ING words – all essential to solving this Bee – were formed by thinking “outside” the Bee. How?
FIRST: Imagine the Invisible E: First, when the letter set includes I+N+G but no letter E, the solution set will very likely include the participles of root verbs that are spelling with an E (e.g., in this example, hone, which cannot be in this Bee, and honing, which is in this Bee). That is, a player must think abstractly of root verbs that end with an E in order to form participles from which the E is dropped before adding -ING. Thus, a player must imagine words that can’t be found in that particular Bee (no E!) in order to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee. The Bee shown here included twelve words of this type:
hinging honing hoping opining owing phoning pining piping whinging whining wining wiping
SECOND: Imagine Impossible Short Words: Second, the solution set may include words formed by adding the -ING suffix to root verbs that are only two or three letters long, none of which can appear in a puzzle that requires all words to be at least four letters long (e.g., in this example, hop and hopping). That is, solvers must remember to think of shorter verbs that can’t be in the Bee in order to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee. The Bee shown here included seventeen words of this type:
gigging ginning going hogging hopping inning [staying in an inn] nipping ongoing owing owning pigging pinning popping wigging winning wooing wowing
(There is some overlap between these groups, of course, such as with owing, whose root owe is just three letters long and ends with E.) THIRD: Imagine Impossible Words Without the Center Letter: Third, the solution set may include present participles of root verbs that are not in the solution set at all, because those root words do not include the mandated center letter. (Some Bee solvers refer to these as "donut" words because they use letters around the circle of the puzzle.) That is, solvers must remember to think of words without the center letter that can't be in the Bee in order to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee. The Bee shown here included seven words of this type: present participles of root verbs that did not include the center letter G:
hooping pinioning pooping whipping whooping whopping winnowing
The remaining six words were words other than verbs, or verbs for which the participle form was not used:
goon goop high nigh noggin pong
Within this this 51-word Bee, then, 40 words ended with the -ING suffix. But only five of those forty words were formed by simply affixing the -ING suffix to an unaltered root verb. All the rest could be found only by thinking “outside” the Bee.
gong / gonging gown / gowning ping / pinging pogo / pogoing wing / winging
The other 35 ING words – all essential to solving this Bee – were formed by thinking “outside” the Bee. How?
FIRST: Imagine the Invisible E: First, when the letter set includes I+N+G but no letter E, the solution set will very likely include the participles of root verbs that are spelling with an E (e.g., in this example, hone, which cannot be in this Bee, and honing, which is in this Bee). That is, a player must think abstractly of root verbs that end with an E in order to form participles from which the E is dropped before adding -ING. Thus, a player must imagine words that can’t be found in that particular Bee (no E!) in order to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee. The Bee shown here included twelve words of this type:
hinging honing hoping opining owing phoning pining piping whinging whining wining wiping
SECOND: Imagine Impossible Short Words: Second, the solution set may include words formed by adding the -ING suffix to root verbs that are only two or three letters long, none of which can appear in a puzzle that requires all words to be at least four letters long (e.g., in this example, hop and hopping). That is, solvers must remember to think of shorter verbs that can’t be in the Bee in order to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee. The Bee shown here included seventeen words of this type:
gigging ginning going hogging hopping inning [staying in an inn] nipping ongoing owing owning pigging pinning popping wigging winning wooing wowing
(There is some overlap between these groups, of course, such as with owing, whose root owe is just three letters long and ends with E.) THIRD: Imagine Impossible Words Without the Center Letter: Third, the solution set may include present participles of root verbs that are not in the solution set at all, because those root words do not include the mandated center letter. (Some Bee solvers refer to these as "donut" words because they use letters around the circle of the puzzle.) That is, solvers must remember to think of words without the center letter that can't be in the Bee in order to form words that must be found in order to solve the Bee. The Bee shown here included seven words of this type: present participles of root verbs that did not include the center letter G:
hooping pinioning pooping whipping whooping whopping winnowing
The remaining six words were words other than verbs, or verbs for which the participle form was not used:
goon goop high nigh noggin pong
Within this this 51-word Bee, then, 40 words ended with the -ING suffix. But only five of those forty words were formed by simply affixing the -ING suffix to an unaltered root verb. All the rest could be found only by thinking “outside” the Bee.
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ESSENTIAL SPELLING BEE RESOURCES
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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 New York Times about 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
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 to the New York Times about Spelling Beehttps://iteratehq.com/nytimes/6776de5d8b6862943a0fb831