Spelling Bees with Letter S
Updated 2026-05-29
Spelling Bee fans were surprised when the letter S made its first-ever appearance in the Bee on March 12, 2025. That début, which occurred to mark the 2500th issue of the Spelling Bee, is documented here.
At the time, it was assumed that that celebratory Bee and its fabulous S was a one-off. But the inclusion of S in the Bee of September 2, 2025 indicated that use of that elusive letter might be expected again, and on May 29, 2026 (the birthday of Bee editor Sam Ezersky), Bee solvers were treated to the third "S" Bee.
As long as the letter S remains a rarity in the Bee, LexiConnexxions will track and report all instances of its use here, along with stats that will be of interest to Bee players who are interested (or concerned about) the effect that the S has on the introduction of new words and the extent to which it introduces simple plurals and third-person-singular verbs. We will also include basic stats on Bees with S in our rare letter (JQSXZ) report HERE.
At the time, it was assumed that that celebratory Bee and its fabulous S was a one-off. But the inclusion of S in the Bee of September 2, 2025 indicated that use of that elusive letter might be expected again, and on May 29, 2026 (the birthday of Bee editor Sam Ezersky), Bee solvers were treated to the third "S" Bee.
As long as the letter S remains a rarity in the Bee, LexiConnexxions will track and report all instances of its use here, along with stats that will be of interest to Bee players who are interested (or concerned about) the effect that the S has on the introduction of new words and the extent to which it introduces simple plurals and third-person-singular verbs. We will also include basic stats on Bees with S in our rare letter (JQSXZ) report HERE.
If you cite information from any LexiConnexxions report, please give credit and a link to the relevant page. These reports and analyses are compiled and prepared by a person, not a machine. Thank you.
Spelling Bees with Letter S
2025-03-12F L O S U A B
Pangram: FABULOUSFirst Spelling Bee to include the letter S, to mark the 2500th Spelling Bee
(Read more about that special puzzle HERE.)
43 – total words23 – number of words with S53.49% – words with S as proportion of the solution set
24 – total new words [new to the Spelling Bee lexicon]23 – number of new words with S95.83% – proportion of new words with S as % of all new words12 of the 23 (52.17%) – new words that are plurals or third-person singular verbs
43 – total words23 – number of words with S53.49% – words with S as proportion of the solution set
24 – total new words [new to the Spelling Bee lexicon]23 – number of new words with S95.83% – proportion of new words with S as % of all new words12 of the 23 (52.17%) – new words that are plurals or third-person singular verbs
2026-05-29A E K Q S U Y
Pangram: SQUEAKY
Third Spelling Bee to include the letter S, presumably in honor of the May 29 birthday of Bee editor Sam Ezersky
41 – total words36 – number of words with S87.80% – words with S as proportion of the solution set 38 – total new words [new to the Spelling Bee lexicon]36 – number of new words with S94.74% – words with S as proportion of all new words22 of the 38 (57.89%) – new words that are plurals or third-person singular verbs
41 – total words36 – number of words with S87.80% – words with S as proportion of the solution set 38 – total new words [new to the Spelling Bee lexicon]36 – number of new words with S94.74% – words with S as proportion of all new words22 of the 38 (57.89%) – new words that are plurals or third-person singular verbs
2025-09-02B C H K L O S
Pangrams: SCHOOLBOOK, SCHOOLBOOKS
Second Spelling Bee to include the letter S, presumably (because of the pangrams) to mark the beginning of the academic year
40 – total words25 – number of words with S62.50% – words with S as proportion of the solution set 25 – total new words [new to the Spelling Bee lexicon]25 – number of new words with S100% – proportion of new words with S as % of all new words15 of the 25 (60%) – new words that are plurals or third-person singular verbs
40 – total words25 – number of words with S62.50% – words with S as proportion of the solution set 25 – total new words [new to the Spelling Bee lexicon]25 – number of new words with S100% – proportion of new words with S as % of all new words15 of the 25 (60%) – new words that are plurals or third-person singular verbs