NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 22, 2026

Friday, May 22, 2026

The NYT Spelling Bee for Friday, May 22, 2026 puts O in the center, with L, N, A, H, I, T around it. There are 120 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 O. Tap a word for a short definition.

← May 21, 2026

May 23, 2026 →

120Words

626Points

438Genius

4Pangrams

Medium★★★

NYT Spelling Bee Answers

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

Pangrams

4-letter words

5-letter words

6-letter words

7-letter words

8-letter words

9-letter words

10-letter words

11-letter words

12-letter words

Puzzle Breakdown

Center letterO

Vowels3

Rare lettersNone

Words120

Points626

Pangrams4

Longest word12

Average length5.9

Rank Calculator

Enter the score you reached on this hive. Genius is 438 points. Queen Bee is 626.

Your score Genius · 188 points to Queen Bee

Beginner0

Good Start13

Moving Up31

Good50

Solid94

Nice157

Great250

Amazing313

438Genius438

Queen Bee626

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

Pangram Breakdown

ANNIHILATION

12 letters 19 points 6 vowels 6 consonants

Repeated letters: A ×2, N ×3, I ×3

HALATION

8 letters 15 points 4 vowels 4 consonants

Repeated letters: A ×2

INHALATION

10 letters 17 points 5 vowels 5 consonants

Repeated letters: I ×2, N ×2, A ×2

INHALATIONAL

12 letters 19 points 6 vowels 6 consonants

Repeated letters: I ×2, N ×2, A ×3, L ×2

How This Puzzle Compares

Measured against the 390 puzzles in our archive.

Word count 94th percentile

Total points 94th percentile

Metric	This puzzle	Archive average	Highest	Lowest
Words	120	73.8	154	18
Points	626	354.7	892	60
Pangrams	4	2.06	13	1

This Puzzle in Context

The May 22, 2026 hive put O in the center with L, N, A, H, I, T around it. Queen Bee needed all 120 words (626 points). Genius sat at 438.

Pangrams on this date: ANNIHILATION, HALATION, INHALATION, INHALATIONAL. Top starting letters: T (23), L (21). Longest accepted word: 12 letters. Difficulty: Medium.