Answers for May 23, 2026

Complete verified solutions for the May 23, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. All 61 words, pangrams, and point totals included below.

Last updated: May 23, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST

B

Quick Answer Summary

The puzzle on 2026-05-23 had 61 words worth 307 points total. Pangram(s) included cyanide. You needed 215 points (70%) to reach Genius rank.

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πŸ“Š Today's Puzzle Insights

How today's puzzle compares to all-time Spelling Bee history

πŸ“ˆ View All-Time Stats Hub
Difficulty Score
233 Medium
63th percentile
Total Words
61
82th percentile
Total Points
307
90th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.61
All-time avg: 5.3
🎯
215
Genius Threshold
70% of max points
πŸ‘‘
307
Queen Bee Score
100% β€” all words
πŸ…±οΈ
No
Bingo Status
Not all letters start
πŸ“ˆ
29
GN4L Value
Words after Genius
2️⃣
14
Unique 2L Starts
Two-letter openings
⏱️
61m
Est. Solve Time
To reach Genius

πŸ“Š Words by Length

14 words
4L 14
16 words
5L 16
16 words
6L 16
12 words (Pangram)
7L 12⭐
1 word
8L 1
2 words
9L 2

πŸ…±οΈ Words Starting with Each Letter

C
20
A🐝
15
D
14
N
7
I
4
E
1
Y
0
Metric Today Average Record High Record Low
Total Words 61 ~44.2 77 16
Total Points 307 ~205.15 406 60
Avg Word Length 5.61 ~5.42 6.689655172413793 4.578947368421052
Pangram Count 1 ~1.49 4 1

πŸ“… Previous Puzzles with This Pangram

This is the first time this pangram has appeared in our archives.

🧩 Pangram Pattern Analysis

Today's featured pangram is CYANIDE. It consists of 7 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 43% (3 vowels and 4 consonants).

  • ⚑ Structure: Perfect pangram (uses each letter exactly once)
Understanding spelling bee pangram patterns helps players identify long, high-scoring words early in their daily solving run.

πŸ“š Etymology & Word Origins

Greek CYANIDE

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Greek vocabulary, evolving through classical Hellenic phonetic clusters and structural roots.

Germanic/Old English ACCEDED

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Germanic/Old English vocabulary, evolving through traditional Anglo-Saxon suffixes and base structures.

Latinate ADDENDA

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Latinate vocabulary, evolving through latin-derived prefixes and suffixes.

Linguistic history study helps in spotting letter clusters in the spelling bee glossary based on classical word origins.

🚫 Rejected Word List

These valid English words can be formed with today's letters but were not accepted by the NYT editor:

aani acacian acaciin acacin acacine acad acadia acadian acadie acaena acana acca accadian acce accedence
NYT Spelling Bee rules exclude proper nouns, hyphenated terms, offensive words, and highly obscure vocabulary at the editor's discretion.

Pangram

cyanide (14 pts)
Click to Reveal Pangram

4-Letter Words14 words

acai
aced
acid
acne
aide
cane
cyan
dead
dean
dyad
idea
naan
Click to Reveal 14 4-Letter Words

5-Letter Words16 words

acidy
added
aided
caddy
candy
caned
canid
canna
canny
daddy
dance
dandy
Click to Reveal 16 5-Letter Words

6-Letter Words16 words

acacia
accede
acidic
addend
caddie
cancan
candid
canine
canned
cicada
danced
deaden
Click to Reveal 16 6-Letter Words

7-Letter Words12 words

acceded
addenda
adenine
caddied
cadence
candied
cayenne
cyanide
deadeye
decayed
indicia
nannied
Click to Reveal 12 7-Letter Words

8-Letter Words1 words

deadened
Click to Reveal 1 8-Letter Words

9-Letter Words2 words

candidacy
decadence
Click to Reveal 2 9-Letter Words

About Today's Spelling Bee Puzzle

Today's NYT Spelling Bee features A as the center letter, with 61 words worth 307 points total. The pangram is "cyanide" β€” a 7-letter word that uses all seven hive letters.

You need 215 points to reach Genius rank. Want to solve it yourself first? Our hints page gives you two-letter lists without revealing the full answers.

New to Spelling Bee? Check out our complete rules guide or beginner's guide to learn the basics.

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