Introduction

Ever stare at that honeycomb of letters and just... blank? You're not alone. Thousands of people open the NYT Spelling Bee every morning, get stuck after four or five words, and start hunting for help. That's exactly what this page is for.

If you landed here from todayspellingbeeanswers.com, you already know the drill — full word lists, the pangram, and enough context to actually understand why each answer counts. Let's get into today's puzzle and walk through everything you need to solve it or double-check your score.

What Today's Puzzle Looks Like

Today's letters are D, G, H, N, O, R, U, with O sitting in the center. That means every valid word has to include an O, and the rest of the letters can be mixed in however they fit. The puzzle allows a maximum score of 95 points across 23 words, and one of those words is a pangram worth extra credit. If you're chasing Genius or trying for Queen Bee, this is the letter set you're working with today.

The honeycomb format hasn't changed in years, and that's part of why it's stuck around. It's simple to look at but genuinely tough to crack once you get past the obvious four-letter words. A lot of solvers get to seven or eight answers and then hit a wall — that's usually where a hint or a full list saves the day instead of forcing you to guess blindly for twenty minutes.

The Complete Word List

Here's the full breakdown, sorted by word length so you can scan for whatever you're missing.

4-letter words (10 total, 1 point each): dour, drug, dung, guru, hour, hung, noun, rung, udon, undo

5-letter words (6 total, 5 points each): dough, dunno, gourd, hound, rough, round

6-letter words (4 total, 6 points each): dugong, ground, unhood, unhung

7-letter words (1 total, 7 points): nunhood

8+ letter words (2 total): groundhog (16 points, this is the pangram), unground (8 points)

That's 23 words and 95 points on the table. If you found groundhog, congratulations — that's the pangram, meaning it uses all seven letters at least once, and it's worth the biggest single chunk of points in the entire puzzle.

Understanding the Pangram

Today's pangram is groundhog, and it's a good example of why pangrams often hide in plain sight. You've got all seven required letters — D, G, H, N, O, R, U — packed into one everyday word, but it's easy to overlook because your brain isn't scanning for compound words first thing in the morning. Pangrams always score the word's letter-count in points plus a flat seven-point bonus, which is why finding one early can completely change your pace through the rest of the puzzle.

Some days there are two pangrams hiding in the same letter set, though that's less common. Either way, once you spot one, it's worth pausing and asking whether any obvious prefixes or suffixes could turn it into a second, related word — like how "ground" led naturally into "unground" here.

How Scoring and Ranks Actually Work

If you're new to the puzzle, the scoring system trips people up more than the words themselves. Four-letter words are flat — one point, no matter which four letters you use. Once you hit five letters, the word's length becomes its point value, so a five-letter word is five points, a six-letter word is six points, and so on.

The New York Times built the ranking system — Beginner, Good Start, Moving Up, Good, Solid, Nice, Great, Amazing, Genius, and Queen Bee — around percentages of the maximum possible score, not a fixed point total, which is why max scores shift from day to day depending on how many valid words exist.

Queen Bee is the rare one. It's not about hitting a percentage threshold — it means you found every single valid word the puzzle has, pangram included. Most regular players are thrilled just to hit Genius, which usually sits somewhere around 70% of the max score. Today, that would put Genius around 67 points, which lines up with what's shown on the puzzle stats above.

What to Do If You're Stuck

Getting stuck on the Spelling Bee is normal, honestly — it happens to nearly everyone past the easy words. A few things tend to help. First, run through common prefixes like "un-" and suffixes like "-ing" or "-ed" against your letters; today's puzzle alone has "unhood," "unhung," and "unground," all built off the same root idea. Second, don't ignore repeated letters — the rules let you reuse any letter as many times as needed, so words like "dunno" or "noun" that double up on a letter are completely fair game.

If you'd rather not brute-force it, a dedicated solver or a hint page can narrow things down without just handing you the answer outright, which keeps the puzzle feeling like a puzzle instead of a lookup exercise.

Missed Yesterday's Puzzle?

It happens — busy mornings, forgotten browser tabs, whatever the reason. Yesterday's Spelling Bee puzzle and its full word list don't just disappear once the clock hits 3:00 AM Eastern and a new set of letters goes live.

You can still go back, see what you missed, and figure out why certain words counted and others didn't. That's especially useful if you're trying to build a mental library of the kinds of words the puzzle tends to accept, since the Times has some unwritten rules about which obscure words make the cut.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a pangram in the Spelling Bee?

A pangram is a word that uses all seven letters of the day's puzzle at least once. It earns the usual word-length points plus a seven-point bonus. Most days have exactly one, though two isn't unheard of.

How is the NYT Spelling Bee scored?

Four-letter words are worth one point flat. Anything five letters or longer scores points equal to its length. Pangrams stack a seven-point bonus on top of their word score.

What does Queen Bee mean?

It's the top rank in the game, and it only happens when you've found every valid word in that day's puzzle — not just enough to hit a high percentage. Most players stop at Genius, which is already a solid achievement.

When does the puzzle reset?

Every day at 3:00 AM Eastern Time, a brand-new set of seven letters replaces the old one, and the previous puzzle shifts into the archive.

Is the Spelling Bee free to play?

Playing it directly through the New York Times Games app or site requires a subscription. Free answer pages, hint sites, and archives exist separately and don't require any login.

What's a "Bingo" in Spelling Bee terms?

It's an unofficial bonus challenge some players set for themselves — finding at least one word that starts with each of the seven letters in a single puzzle. The Times doesn't track it, but plenty of solvers do.

Conclusion

Today's puzzle, built around D, G, H, N, O, R, and U, gave solvers 23 words worth 95 total points, with groundhog as the standout pangram.

Whether you got there on your own or needed a nudge from the list above, the daily rhythm of this game is part of what makes it stick — new letters, same honeycomb, a fresh reason to check back tomorrow morning. If today wasn't your day, there's always another puzzle at 3 AM Eastern, and yesterday's answers aren't going anywhere either.