NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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

ABCIKL E
46Answers
1Pangrams
187Maximum
131Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

A3
B15
C10
I1
K4
L13

Words by length

419
512
69
72
83
91

Two-letter starts

AB1
AL2
BA5
BE5
BI4
BL1
CA5
CE4
CL1
IC1
KA1
KE2
KI1
LA4
LE2
LI7

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

9 letters · 16 points

First and last letters

C … E

Letter pattern

C•••••••E

C × 2, L × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

clickable

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

A 3

  • able
  • alike
  • allele

B 15

  • babble
  • babe
  • babel
  • bake
  • bale
  • beak
  • beck
  • belie
  • bell
  • belle
  • bible
  • bike
  • bile
  • billable
  • bleak

C 10

  • cabbie
  • cable
  • cackle
  • cake
  • callable
  • celeb
  • celiac
  • cell
  • celli
  • clickablePangram

I 1

  • icicle

K 4

  • kale
  • kebab
  • keel
  • kibble

L 13

  • label
  • labile
  • lace
  • lake
  • leak
  • leek
  • liable
  • libel
  • libelee
  • lice
  • likable
  • like
  • likeable

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Tricky at 53/100, compared with 146 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons