NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 18, 2026

Monday, May 18, 2026

The NYT Spelling Bee for Monday, May 18, 2026 puts P in the center, with A, C, Z, T, H, U around it. There are 28 valid words. It plays like a Hard puzzle.

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

28Words
115Points
81Genius
2Pangrams
Hard★★★★

NYT Spelling Bee Answers

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

Pangrams

2

4-letter words

13

5-letter words

7

6-letter words

4

7-letter words

3

8-letter words

1

Puzzle Breakdown

Center letterP
Vowels2
Rare lettersZ
Words28
Points115
Pangrams2
Longest word8
Average length5.0

Rank Calculator

Enter the score you reached on this hive. Genius is 81 points. Queen Bee is 115.

Genius · 34 points to Queen Bee
Beginner0
Good Start2
Moving Up6
Good9
Solid17
Nice29
Great46
Amazing58
81Genius81
Queen Bee115

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

Pangram Breakdown

CHUTZPA
7 letters 14 points 2 vowels 5 consonants
CHUTZPAH
8 letters 15 points 2 vowels 6 consonants

Repeated letters: H ×2

How This Puzzle Compares

Measured against the 390 puzzles in our archive.

Word count 4th percentile
Total points 3th percentile
MetricThis puzzleArchive averageHighestLowest
Words2873.815418
Points115354.789260
Pangrams22.06131

This Puzzle in Context

The May 18, 2026 hive put P in the center with A, C, Z, T, H, U around it. Queen Bee needed all 28 words (115 points). Genius sat at 81.

Pangrams on this date: CHUTZPA, CHUTZPAH. Top starting letters: P (14), C (9). Longest accepted word: 8 letters. Difficulty: Hard.

FAQs for May 18, 2026