NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

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

BCDKOR A
51Answers
3Pangrams
229Maximum
161Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

A9
B18
C13
D4
K1
O2
R4

Words by length

421
515
66
72
83
93
111

Two-letter starts

AB4
AC1
AD1
AR3
BA12
BO4
BR2
CA5
CO5
CR3
DA1
DO2
DR1
KA1
OK1
OR1
RA2
RO2

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

9 letters · 16 points

First and last letters

B … D

Letter pattern

B•••••••D

B × 2, A × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

backboard

Pangram 2
Length

8 letters · 15 points

First and last letters

B … R

Letter pattern

B••••••R

O × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

backdoor

Pangram 3
Length

9 letters · 16 points

First and last letters

C … D

Letter pattern

C•••••••D

O × 2, R × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

corkboard

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

A 9

  • aback
  • aboard
  • abracadabra
  • abroad
  • accord
  • adobo
  • arbor
  • arco
  • ardor

B 18

  • baba
  • babka
  • back
  • backboardPangram
  • backdoorPangram
  • baobab
  • barb
  • barback
  • barbacoa
  • bard
  • bark
  • barrack
  • boar
  • board
  • boba
  • bookrack
  • brad
  • broad

C 13

  • cacao
  • carb
  • card
  • cardboard
  • carob
  • cobra
  • coca
  • cocoa
  • coda
  • corkboardPangram
  • crab
  • crack
  • croak

D 4

  • dark
  • doodad
  • dorado
  • drab

K 1

  • kabob

O 2

  • okra
  • orca

R 4

  • rack
  • radar
  • road
  • roar

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Moderate at 38/100, compared with 140 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons