December 12, 2023, Tuesday

Spelling Bee Answers for Tuesday, December 12, 2023

Dec 12, 2023, Tuesday Spelling Bee Answers for the V, A, L, N, I, B, E honeycomb (center letter N) feature 59 words, a 261-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 11-letter longest word: INALIENABLE.

Get Hints FREEPractice Online Launch Solver

Spelling Bee hive for December 12, 2023 with center letter N and surrounding letters V,A,L,I,B and E

Get Daily Answers by Email

We send the complete answer list to your inbox as soon as each puzzle is published. No spam, ever.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.

Difficulty

6/10

Hard

57th percentile

Avg Word Length

5.42

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

39/100

Uncommon

Rarer than 39% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

57 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Typical spread

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Yes

All 7 covered

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

1×11L1×10L1×9L4×8L5×7L10×6L4×5L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 183 pts

26 words1×11L1×10L1×9L4×8L5×7L9×6L5×5L

Vowel Split

48%

Vowel-heavy puzzle

155 vowels · 165 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start13 PTS
15%Moving Up39 PTS
25%Good65 PTS
40%Solid104 PTS
50%Nice131 PTS
60%Great157 PTS
65%Amazing170 PTS
70%Genius183 PTS
100%Queen Bee261 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 59 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Tuesday, December 12, 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

22%

17%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2023-12-11

Today's AnswersGo to Today

Pangrams

Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution

The Center letter is highlighted in Yellow.

Other days with this pangram

2025-12-14(B)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

22 words

15 words

10 words

5 words

4 words (Pangram)

1 word

10L

1 word

11L

Share of 59 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

59 words

100%

42 words

71%

41 words

69%

39 words

66%

34 words

58%

22 words

37%

18 words

31%

Share of 59 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

22 pts

75 pts

60 pts

35 pts

39 pts (Pangram)

9 pts

10 pts

10L

11 pts

11L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

1322%

1017%

712%

610%

35%

Share of 59 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 261 ranks in the 78th percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-12-11.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 59 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 88th percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2023-12-11.
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 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 Medium, compared to typical puzzles.
Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2023-12-04.
The estimated solve time of 48–66 min is slower than typical puzzles.
Players can expect a challenging solving experience.

Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List

Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:

abbevillian
abelian
abilene
aeaean
aileen
alain
alan
alane
alani
alanin
alanine
albainn
alban
albania
albanian
albian
albin
albinal
alen
alevin
aliene
alienee
aline
allan
allen
allene
alvin
alvina
alvine
anabaena
anan
anana
anba
anele
anil
anile
anilin
aniline
anna
annabel
anne
annie
anniv
avania
avellan
avellane
avenalin
avenin
avenine
avine
babine
bain
balan
balian
ballan
balneal
bana
banaba
banba
bani
bania
banian
baniva
bavian
bavin
bein
bena
benben
bene
beni
benin
benn
benne
benni
bien
biennale
bienne
bilaan
bilin
binal
bine
bini
binna
bivalvian
bivane
blain
blaine
blan
eben
eileen
elaenia
elain
elaine
elean
elian
ellen
elne
elvan
enbibe
enlive
enveil
evan
evelina
eveline
evene
iban
ilian
inable
inia
inial
inline
inne
inveil
inviable
invile
ivan
laban
laen
laine
lana
lavinia
leban
lebban
leben
lena
lenaea
lene
lenin
levana
leven
levin
liana
liane
lienable
lienal
lienee
lilian
lina
linable
linea
lineable
linin
linn
linnaean
linne
livian
nabal
nabe
nabla
naevi
naib
nain
nale
nane
nannie
neal
nebalian
nebel
neele
neil
nell
nellie
neve
nevel
neven
nevi
neville
niall
nibbana
nielli
nieve
nile
nill
nina
nival
valine
vanille
vanilline
veena
veinal
vena
venae
venene
veniable
venin
vennel
venville
vienna
villan
villanella
villein
vina
vinal
vinalia
vineal
vivian

*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.