NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 4, 2026

Monday, May 4, 2026

The NYT Spelling Bee for Monday, May 4, 2026 puts L in the center, with T, I, G, F, H, Y around it. There are 37 valid words. It plays like a Very Hard puzzle.

Try the hive yourself first if you want, then use the list below to catch what you missed. Every word includes L. Tap a word for a short definition.

37Words
173Points
121Genius
2Pangrams
Very Hard★★★★★

NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Tap a hive letter to show words that start with it. Tap it again to clear. Every word includes L.

Pangrams

2

4-letter words

14

5-letter words

10

6-letter words

4

7-letter words

5

8-letter words

1

9-letter words

2

10-letter words

1

Puzzle Breakdown

Center letterL
Vowels1
Rare lettersY
Words37
Points173
Pangrams2
Longest word10
Average length5.4

Rank Calculator

Enter the score you reached on this hive. Genius is 121 points. Queen Bee is 173.

Genius · 52 points to Queen Bee
Beginner0
Good Start3
Moving Up9
Good14
Solid26
Nice43
Great69
Amazing87
121Genius121
Queen Bee173

Letter Distribution

How many words start with each letter. Tap a letter to mark those words in the list above.

Points by Word Length

Where the 173 points of this puzzle sit. Tap a row to open that length in the answer list.

Pangram Breakdown

FLIGHTILY
9 letters 16 points 2 vowels 7 consonants

Repeated letters: L ×2, I ×2

FLIGHTY
7 letters 14 points 1 vowels 6 consonants

How This Puzzle Compares

Measured against the 380 puzzles in our archive.

Word count 8th percentile
Total points 9th percentile
MetricThis puzzleArchive averageHighestLowest
Words3774.715418
Points173359.189260
Pangrams22.08131

This Puzzle in Context

The May 4, 2026 hive put L in the center with T, I, G, F, H, Y around it. Queen Bee needed all 37 words (173 points). Genius sat at 121.

Pangrams on this date: FLIGHTILY, FLIGHTY. Top starting letters: F (11), L (7). Longest accepted word: 10 letters. Difficulty: Very Hard.

FAQs for May 4, 2026