Spelling Bee Answers for Thursday, December 18, 2025
Dec 18, 2025, Thursday Spelling Bee Answers for the U, B, N, F, E, L, I honeycomb (center letter I) feature 34 words, a 148-point total, 2 Pangrams (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 8-letter longest word: LIFELINE, UNBELIEF.
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Thursday, December 18, 2025 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
1/10
Easy7th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.18
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
4/100
CommonRarer than 4% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
23 minutes
Quicker than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
13
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
Yes
All 7 coveredAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
14
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 104 ptsVowel Split
45%
Balanced mix80 vowels · 96 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start7 PTS
- 15%Moving Up22 PTS
- 25%Good37 PTS
- 40%Solid59 PTS
- 50%Nice74 PTS
- 60%Great89 PTS
- 65%Amazing96 PTS
- 70%Genius104 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee148 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 Thursday, December 18, 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
Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.
Puzzle Letters
Pangrams
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Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
8-Letter Words 2 words
7-Letter Words 4 words
6-Letter Words 6 words
5-Letter Words 8 words
4-Letter Words 14 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 148 ranks in the 26th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2025-12-08.
- 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 2025-12-08.
- 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 Low, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2025-12-17.
- 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*:
- befile
- bein
- belibel
- beliefful
- belli
- belluine
- beni
- benin
- benni
- bibb
- bibble
- bibi
- bibl
- bien
- bienne
- biffin
- bilbie
- bilin
- billie
- bine
- binful
- bini
- biune
- bluebill
- blueline
- buffi
- buffin
- buibui
- bulbil
- effie
- eiffel
- eileen
- enbibe
- enfile
- enif
- feil
- fiel
- fifie
- fili
- fini
- finn
- fluellin
- fulfil
- fullfil
- ieee
- infeeble
- infile
- infin
- inline
- inne
- inulin
- lenin
- libellee
- lief
- lienee
- lifeful
- lifen
- lile
- lill
- linin
- linn
- linne
- neif
- neil
- nellie
- nielli
- nife
- niff
- nifle
- nile
- nill
- niue
- ubii
- unfeline
- unfile
- unfill
- unfine
- unfulfil
- unfulfill
- unible
- unline
*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.