Spelling Bees with I+N+G and/or E+D
Updated 2026-08-07
The presence of the E+D and I+N+G letter combinations in the Spelling Bee delights some solvers and annoys others. Some enjoy the unique challenges, others find it mindless and rote to add these suffixes to other words.
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How often do I+N+G and/or E+D appear in the Spelling Bee?
Do I+N+G and E+D ever appear together in the same Bee?
Pretty often.
In 2025, the letters I+N+G (suffix -ING) appeared in 63 of 365 puzzles (17.25%).
In 2024, I+N+G appeared in 52 of 366 puzzles (14.21%).
In 2025, the letters E+D (suffix -ED) appeared in 61 of 365 puzzles (16.71%).
In 2024, E+D appeared in 54 of 366 puzzles (14.76%).
LexiConnexxions records and reports the occurrence of I+N+G and E+D in our monthly and annual summary reports on changes to the Spelling Bee lexicon, which are available HERE.
Yes, but only very rarely. Only 17 Spelling Bees have included those five letters (D E G I N) together, and these pangrams are rarely recycled:
2026-08-07 G D E I N P X [recycled from 2023-09-19]
2026-07-28 M D E G I N P
2026-06-28 V D E G L I N2025-10-20 H D E G I N U2025-08-23 V D E G H I N2024-11-01 V A D E G I N2024-09-15 M D E G I L N2024-07-19 W D E G I L N2024-07-07 F D E G I L N2024-05-04 V C D E G I N2023-09-19 P D E G I N X2023-06-18 K A D E G I N [recycled from 2021-04-10]2022-12-14 F D E G I N O2022-03-14 B D E G I N T2021-09-03 F A D E G I N2021-08-28 I D E F G N Y2021-04-10 A D E G I K N
A real rarity: I+N+G with center letter E
PANGRAMS with I+N+G that do not end in -ING
Players are familiar with the pleasure (or torment) of an I+N+G Bee that does not include the letter E, because to solve the Bee, one has to think of specific words that cannot be in that puzzle (e.g., root verbs that end with E, such as LINE) in order to identify their E-less gerunds in the solution set (e.g., LINING). It’s fun. Or a torment.
What about when the Bee includes I+N+G and also E? That’s rare: Fewer than 100 Bees have had this letter combo, which can allow inclusion of both roots and gerunds in the solution set (depending on the entire letter set, of course)
To date, of the Bees that have the letters E+I+N+G, only 16 have had E as the center letter. 2026-02-06 E A C G I M N2025-11-20 E G I N T U Y2025-06-21 E C G H I K N2025-03-30 E C G H I N O2024-11-21 E A G I L N Z2024-11-09 E B G I N O Y2024-10-08 E G H I N W Z2024-01-11 E A G I K N P2023-11-11 E F G I L N O2023-05-29 E G I K N O V2022-11-28 E C G I L N X2022-02-05 E B G I K N P2022-01-18 E A G I M N Z2021-03-14 E G H I L N W2020-11-19 E G I N P U X2020-09-11 E G I M N O W
Having E in the center utterly transforms the BEE+ING experience, in that the solution set will include far fewer gerunds than players have come to expect from -ING Bees. This can be tricky, challenging, and fun.
What about when the Bee includes I+N+G and also E? That’s rare: Fewer than 100 Bees have had this letter combo, which can allow inclusion of both roots and gerunds in the solution set (depending on the entire letter set, of course)
To date, of the Bees that have the letters E+I+N+G, only 16 have had E as the center letter. 2026-02-06 E A C G I M N2025-11-20 E G I N T U Y2025-06-21 E C G H I K N2025-03-30 E C G H I N O2024-11-21 E A G I L N Z2024-11-09 E B G I N O Y2024-10-08 E G H I N W Z2024-01-11 E A G I K N P2023-11-11 E F G I L N O2023-05-29 E G I K N O V2022-11-28 E C G I L N X2022-02-05 E B G I K N P2022-01-18 E A G I M N Z2021-03-14 E G H I L N W2020-11-19 E G I N P U X2020-09-11 E G I M N O W
Having E in the center utterly transforms the BEE+ING experience, in that the solution set will include far fewer gerunds than players have come to expect from -ING Bees. This can be tricky, challenging, and fun.
When players see a letter set that includes I+N+G, many will safely assume that the pangram(s) will end with the -ING suffix. But that’s not always the case; in fact, the Bee lexicon contains several dozen pangrams that include I+N+G but do not end with -ING. Here they are:
allegiance angelic angelica angrily annoyingly bilingual billabong campaign cardigan chagrin chimichanga diagonal dizzyingly enlighten finagle gainful gallivant gazillion glaringly goodnight guardian highland hooligan immigrant inaugural indignation ineffective inelegance ingenuity intelligence intelligible inveighed lifelong magazine mignonette migrant mingled mulligan navigation pityingly telegenic unhinged vigilant whiningly
Being aware of these tricksy pangrams can help a solver find simple pangrams that might be hiding behind the assumptions of the -ING suffix. Of course, when the center letter is I, N, or G, these pangrams will generate words that end with -ING.
allegiance angelic angelica angrily annoyingly bilingual billabong campaign cardigan chagrin chimichanga diagonal dizzyingly enlighten finagle gainful gallivant gazillion glaringly goodnight guardian highland hooligan immigrant inaugural indignation ineffective inelegance ingenuity intelligence intelligible inveighed lifelong magazine mignonette migrant mingled mulligan navigation pityingly telegenic unhinged vigilant whiningly
Being aware of these tricksy pangrams can help a solver find simple pangrams that might be hiding behind the assumptions of the -ING suffix. Of course, when the center letter is I, N, or G, these pangrams will generate words that end with -ING.