Spelling Bee Answers for Thursday, May 04, 2023
May 04, 2023, Thursday Spelling Bee Answers for the T, E, N, I, G, L, H honeycomb (center letter H) feature 62 words, a 416-point total, 5 Pangrams (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 12-letter longest word: ENLIGHTENING, HIGHLIGHTING.
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Thursday, May 4, 2023 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
10/10
Very Hard95th percentile
Avg Word Length
6.68
Long wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
93/100
Very RareRarer than 93% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
68 minutes
Longer than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
12
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: IAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
30
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 291 ptsVowel Split
32%
Consonant-heavy puzzle134 vowels · 280 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start21 PTS
- 15%Moving Up62 PTS
- 25%Good104 PTS
- 40%Solid166 PTS
- 50%Nice208 PTS
- 60%Great250 PTS
- 65%Amazing270 PTS
- 70%Genius291 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee416 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 62 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Thursday, May 4, 2023. The answers are organized by word length and point value, along with today's pangram. Prefer a spoiler-free approach? Try the spelling bee hints for today or browse the full list of NYT spelling bee words.
Common openings
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Puzzle Letters
Pangrams
Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution
Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
12-Letter Words 2 words
11-Letter Words 2 words
10-Letter Words 5 words
9-Letter Words 5 words
8-Letter Words 7 words
7-Letter Words 9 words
6-Letter Words 5 words
5-Letter Words 16 words
4-Letter Words 11 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 62 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 62 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 62 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 416 ranks in the 99th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-05-03.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 62 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 92nd percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2023-05-03.
- The highest number of answers in any puzzle is 80, on 2026-02-01.
- The lowest number of answers in any puzzle is 16, on 2023-03-27.
- This puzzle ranks among the Very Hard puzzles, based on overall difficulty scoring.
- Compared to recent puzzles, today’s challenge is harder than average.
- The letter set in this puzzle is considered Low, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2023-05-02.
- The estimated solve time of 58–78 min is slower than typical puzzles.
- Players can expect a grind-heavy solving experience.
Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List
Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:
- ehlite
- eigh
- eightling
- elhi
- enlight
- ethel
- etheling
- ethene
- ethine
- gehlenite
- genthite
- gheg
- ghent
- ghetti
- ghillie
- gith
- gittith
- hehe
- heigh
- heighth
- heil
- heiling
- hein
- hele
- helen
- helenin
- heling
- hellelt
- hellen
- hellene
- helling
- heng
- hennin
- hent
- henting
- heth
- hettie
- hieing
- higgle
- higgling
- highline
- hight
- highth
- highting
- hile
- hili
- hillel
- hilting
- hine
- hing
- hingle
- hithe
- hittite
- ihleite
- illighten
- illth
- inlighten
- lehi
- leigh
- leith
- lethe
- lgth
- lighttight
- lilith
- lith
- neth
- nighing
- nighting
- nihil
- nithing
- tehee
- teth
- theelin
- thegn
- thein
- theine
- thetine
- thig
- thigging
- thill
- thinglet
- thlinget
*Every word here uses only the hive's seven letters, includes the center letter, and appears in our dictionary, but it was never published in the NYT's official answer list.