Spelling Bee Answers for Thursday, December 28, 2023

Dec 28, 2023, Thursday Spelling Bee Answers for the Y, E, V, A, U, G, L honeycomb (center letter A) feature 51 words, a 218-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 8-letter longest word: LALLYGAG.

Spelling Bee hive for December 28, 2023 with center letter A and surrounding letters Y,E,V,U,G and L

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Thursday, December 28, 2023 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

8/10

Hard

77th percentile

Avg Word Length

5.08

Short words

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

79/100

Very Rare

Rarer than 79% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

49 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

12

Few pairs

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

No

Missing: Y

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

26

words to Genius
1×8L3×7L11×6L11×5L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 153 pts
26 words1×8L3×7L7×6L15×5L

Vowel Split

47%

Vowel-heavy puzzle

122 vowels · 137 consonants

Score Milestones

  • 0%Beginner0 PTS
  • 5%Good Start11 PTS
  • 15%Moving Up33 PTS
  • 25%Good55 PTS
  • 40%Solid87 PTS
  • 50%Nice109 PTS
  • 60%Great131 PTS
  • 65%Amazing142 PTS
  • 70%Genius153 PTS
  • 100%Queen Bee218 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 51 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Thursday, December 28, 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

G
27%
L
22%
V
22%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2023-12-27
Today's AnswersGo to Today

Pangrams

Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution

The Center letter is highlighted in Yellow.

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

8-Letter Words 1 word

7-Letter Words 3 words

6-Letter Words 11 words

4-Letter Words 16 words

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

16 words
4L
16
20 words
5L
20
11 words
6L
11
3 words (Pangram)
7L
3
1 word
8L
1

Share of 51 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

A
51 words
100%
L
40 words
78%
E
33 words
65%
G
31 words
61%
V
24 words
47%
U
16 words
31%
Y
10 words
20%

Share of 51 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

16 pts
16
4L
100 pts
100
5L
66 pts
66
6L
28 pts (Pangram)
28
7L
8 pts
8
8L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

G
1427%
L
1122%
V
1122%
A
1020%
U
36%
E
24%

Share of 51 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

  • Today’s score of 218 ranks in the 61st percentile among all puzzles.
  • The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-12-27.
  • The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
  • The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
  • With 51 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 72nd percentile overall.
  • The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2023-12-27.
  • 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 2023-12-25.
  • The estimated solve time of 42–56 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*:

  • aegle
  • agag
  • agal
  • agau
  • agee
  • aglee
  • agley
  • agly
  • aguey
  • alae
  • alala
  • alay
  • alea
  • alee
  • algy
  • allee
  • allyl
  • alula
  • alulae
  • aula
  • aulae
  • aval
  • avale
  • ayllu
  • egal
  • egall
  • egally
  • elayl
  • ella
  • eval
  • gaea
  • gael
  • galea
  • galeae
  • galeage
  • galee
  • galega
  • galey
  • galgal
  • galla
  • gally
  • gaul
  • gayal
  • geal
  • glave
  • gleave
  • guayule
  • gugal
  • gula
  • gulae
  • gullage
  • gyal
  • lall
  • lally
  • laulau
  • lavalava
  • lavy
  • leal
  • leally
  • leavy
  • legua
  • leva
  • luella
  • lula
  • lulav
  • lullay
  • lvalue
  • ullage
  • ulua
  • ulva
  • uvala
  • uveal
  • vagally
  • valva
  • valvae
  • valval
  • valvula
  • valvulae
  • valvule
  • valyl
  • vayu
  • vealy
  • vega
  • vela
  • velal
  • velella
  • vellala
  • yagua
  • yale
  • yalla
  • yava
  • yaya
  • yuga

*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.

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