NYT Spelling Bee Answers for June 16, 2026

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

The NYT Spelling Bee for Tuesday, June 16, 2026 puts Y in the center, with V, E, A, L, N, I around it. There are 54 valid words. It plays like a Medium puzzle.

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

54Words
257Points
180Genius
2Pangrams
Medium★★★

NYT Spelling Bee Answers

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

Pangrams

2

4-letter words

16

5-letter words

15

6-letter words

13

7-letter words

6

8-letter words

4

Puzzle Breakdown

Center letterY
Vowels3
Rare lettersV Y
Words54
Points257
Pangrams2
Longest word8
Average length5.4

Rank Calculator

Enter the score you reached on this hive. Genius is 180 points. Queen Bee is 257.

Genius · 77 points to Queen Bee
Beginner0
Good Start5
Moving Up13
Good21
Solid39
Nice64
Great103
Amazing129
180Genius180
Queen Bee257

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

Pangram Breakdown

NAIVELY
7 letters 14 points 3 vowels 4 consonants
VENIALLY
8 letters 15 points 3 vowels 5 consonants

Repeated letters: L ×2

How This Puzzle Compares

Measured against the 390 puzzles in our archive.

Word count 27th percentile
Total points 31th percentile
MetricThis puzzleArchive averageHighestLowest
Words5473.815418
Points257354.789260
Pangrams22.06131

This Puzzle in Context

The June 16, 2026 hive put Y in the center with V, E, A, L, N, I around it. Queen Bee needed all 54 words (257 points). Genius sat at 180.

Pangrams on this date: NAIVELY, VENIALLY. Top starting letters: L (13), V (10). Longest accepted word: 8 letters. Difficulty: Medium.

FAQs for June 16, 2026