Spelling Bee Answers for Monday, May 08, 2023
May 08, 2023, Monday Spelling Bee Answers for the L, A, K, F, B, I, C honeycomb (center letter C) feature 34 words, a 173-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: BLACKBALL.
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Monday, May 8, 2023 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
2/10
Easy17th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.59
Typical lengthAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
11/100
CommonRarer than 11% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
23 minutes
Quicker than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
15
Typical spreadUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
Yes
All 7 coveredAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
18
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 121 ptsVowel Split
35%
Consonant-heavy puzzle67 vowels · 123 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start9 PTS
- 15%Moving Up26 PTS
- 25%Good43 PTS
- 40%Solid69 PTS
- 50%Nice87 PTS
- 60%Great104 PTS
- 65%Amazing112 PTS
- 70%Genius121 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee173 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 34 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Monday, May 8, 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
Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.
Puzzle Letters
Pangrams
Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution
Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
9-Letter Words 1 word
8-Letter Words 6 words
7-Letter Words 1 word
6-Letter Words 4 words
5-Letter Words 14 words
4-Letter Words 8 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 34 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 34 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 34 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 173 ranks in the 39th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-05-07.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 34 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 26th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2023-05-07.
- 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 Easy puzzles, based on overall difficulty scoring.
- Compared to recent puzzles, today’s challenge is easier than usual.
- The letter set in this puzzle is considered Medium, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2023-05-07.
- The estimated solve time of 20–26 min is faster than typical puzzles.
- Players can expect a steady solving experience.
Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List
Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:
- abac
- abaca
- acca
- alcaic
- alicia
- alick
- alkalic
- backfall
- biblic
- bick
- bifacial
- bilic
- billback
- blackback
- blick
- caaba
- caba
- cabalic
- cabbala
- cabiai
- caca
- cack
- caff
- caffa
- cafila
- calaba
- calc
- calcic
- calcific
- calif
- calk
- calli
- cicala
- cill
- claik
- facia
- fack
- falcial
- fica
- filical
- filicic
- flic
- flicflac
- kcal
- kiack
- killcalf
- killick
- klick
- laccic
- licca
*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.