NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Saturday, May 16, 2026

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

EHNOPT A
64Answers
3Pangrams
286Maximum
201Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

A10
E2
H10
N10
O2
P20
T10

Words by length

426
512
611
79
84
92

Two-letter starts

AE1
AN6
AP1
AT2
EA1
ET1
HA4
HE6
NA4
NE5
NO1
OA2
PA10
PE4
PH3
PO3
TA3
TE3
TH4

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

8 letters · 15 points

First and last letters

P … N

Letter pattern

P••••••N

N × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

pantheon

Pangram 2
Length

7 letters · 14 points

First and last letters

P … N

Letter pattern

P•••••N

No repeated letters

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

phaeton

Pangram 3
Length

7 letters · 14 points

First and last letters

P … E

Letter pattern

P•••••E

No repeated letters

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

phonate

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

A 10

  • aeon
  • annatto
  • annotate
  • anon
  • ante
  • antenna
  • antennae
  • apnea
  • atone
  • atop

E 2

  • eaten
  • ethane

H 10

  • happen
  • hate
  • hath
  • hatha
  • heap
  • heat
  • heath
  • heathen
  • henna
  • heptane

N 10

  • naan
  • nana
  • nape
  • natant
  • neap
  • neat
  • neaten
  • neath
  • neonate
  • notate

O 2

  • oaten
  • oath

P 20

  • paean
  • pane
  • panettone
  • pant
  • pantheonPangram
  • papa
  • pate
  • patent
  • patentee
  • path
  • peahen
  • peat
  • pennant
  • pentane
  • phaetonPangram
  • phat
  • phonatePangram
  • poppa
  • potato
  • potentate

T 10

  • tapa
  • tape
  • tattoo
  • teapot
  • teat
  • tenant
  • than
  • thane
  • that
  • theta

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Easy at 20/100, compared with 136 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons