NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Start with the shape of the puzzle, reveal only the help you want, and open the full list when you are ready.

ABDIRZ L
31Answers
1Pangrams
121Maximum
85Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

A3
B11
D3
L8
R6

Words by length

416
53
66
71
85

Two-letter starts

AI1
AL1
AR1
BA4
BI4
BL2
BR1
DI2
DR1
LA5
LI3
RA3
RI3

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

8 letters · 15 points

First and last letters

B … D

Letter pattern

B••••••D

Z × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

blizzard

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

A 3

  • airball
  • alibi
  • aril

B 11

  • bail
  • bald
  • ball
  • ballad
  • bilabial
  • bill
  • billiard
  • biradial
  • blab
  • blizzardPangram
  • bridal

D 3

  • dial
  • dill
  • drill

L 8

  • labia
  • labial
  • laid
  • lair
  • lard
  • liar
  • lira
  • lizard

R 6

  • radial
  • rail
  • railbird
  • rial
  • ribald
  • rill

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Hard at 73/100, compared with 133 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons