Spelling Bee Answers for Tuesday, May 20, 2025
May 20, 2025, Tuesday Spelling Bee Answers for the T, A, O, L, I, N, Y honeycomb (center letter Y) feature 45 words, a 289-point total, 6 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 11-letter longest word: NATIONALITY, NOTIONALITY.
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Tuesday, May 20, 2025 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
8/10
Hard81st percentile
Avg Word Length
6.09
Typical lengthAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
83/100
Very RareRarer than 83% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
43 minutes
Typical solveTo reach Genius
2LL
19
Typical spreadUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: YAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
21
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 202 ptsVowel Split
35%
Consonant-heavy puzzle95 vowels · 179 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start14 PTS
- 15%Moving Up43 PTS
- 25%Good72 PTS
- 40%Solid116 PTS
- 50%Nice145 PTS
- 60%Great173 PTS
- 65%Amazing188 PTS
- 70%Genius202 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee289 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 45 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Tuesday, May 20, 2025. 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
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Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
11-Letter Words 2 words
10-Letter Words 2 words
9-Letter Words 2 words
8-Letter Words 4 words
7-Letter Words 6 words
6-Letter Words 4 words
5-Letter Words 16 words
4-Letter Words 9 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 45 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 45 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 45 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 289 ranks in the 87th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2025-05-19.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 45 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 54th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2025-05-16.
- 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 Low, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2025-05-19.
- The estimated solve time of 37–49 min is comparable 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*:
- alanyl
- alay
- aliya
- aliyot
- allyl
- allylation
- anality
- anatoly
- anility
- antony
- atony
- atty
- ayin
- ayont
- illoyal
- illoyalty
- ilya
- inly
- inyala
- italianity
- italianly
- italy
- lally
- lanny
- latinity
- lilly
- linalyl
- liny
- lionly
- llyn
- lolly
- lynn
- lyon
- lytta
- naily
- natally
- natantly
- nitty
- noily
- nonloyal
- nonny
- nonoily
- nonyl
- nyala
- nyaya
- oilily
- oyana
- taiyal
- talayot
- tantony
- tanya
- taoyin
- tattily
- tilly
- tilty
- tinnily
- tinty
- titanyl
- titty
- tolly
- tolyl
- totty
- toty
- toyo
- toyon
- toyota
- yali
- yalla
- yana
- yanan
- yati
- yaya
- yill
- yilt
- yoni
- yont
- yoyo
*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.