Spelling Bee Answers for Friday, May 08, 2026

May 08, 2026, Friday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, O, I, G, L, Y, C honeycomb (center letter C) feature 48 words, a 248-point total, 3 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 11-letter longest word: ILLOGICALLY.

Spelling Bee hive for May 8, 2026 with center letter C and surrounding letters A,O,I,G,L and Y

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Friday, May 8, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

7/10

Hard

66th percentile

Avg Word Length

5.73

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

65/100

Rare

Rarer than 65% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

46 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

12

Few pairs

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

No

Missing: O, Y

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

21

words to Genius
1×11L2×10L3×9L2×8L5×7L7×6L1×5L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 174 pts
21 words1×11L2×10L3×9L2×8L5×7L4×6L4×5L

Vowel Split

41%

Balanced mix

112 vowels · 163 consonants

Score Milestones

  • 0%Beginner0 PTS
  • 5%Good Start12 PTS
  • 15%Moving Up37 PTS
  • 25%Good62 PTS
  • 40%Solid99 PTS
  • 50%Nice124 PTS
  • 60%Great149 PTS
  • 65%Amazing161 PTS
  • 70%Genius174 PTS
  • 100%Queen Bee248 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 48 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Friday, May 8, 2026. 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

C
54%
L
23%
I
10%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2026-05-07
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.

11-Letter Words 1 word

10-Letter Words 2 words

9-Letter Words 3 words

8-Letter Words 2 words

7-Letter Words 5 words

6-Letter Words 7 words

5-Letter Words 12 words

4-Letter Words 16 words

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

16 words
4L
16
12 words
5L
12
7 words
6L
7
5 words
7L
5
2 words
8L
2
3 words (Pangram)
9L
3
2 words (Pangram)
10L
2
1 word (Pangram)
11L
1

Share of 48 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

C
48 words
100%
L
40 words
83%
A
34 words
71%
I
28 words
58%
O
28 words
58%
Y
17 words
35%
G
12 words
25%

Share of 48 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

16 pts
16
4L
60 pts
60
5L
42 pts
42
6L
35 pts
35
7L
16 pts
16
8L
34 pts (Pangram)
34
9L
27 pts (Pangram)
27
10L
18 pts (Pangram)
18
11L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

C
2654%
L
1123%
I
510%
A
36%
G
36%

Share of 48 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

  • Today’s score of 248 ranks in the 73rd percentile among all puzzles.
  • The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-05-07.
  • The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
  • The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
  • With 48 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 64th percentile overall.
  • The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-05-07.
  • 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 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 2026-05-05.
  • The estimated solve time of 39–53 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*:

  • acalycal
  • acca
  • accloy
  • accoll
  • accoy
  • acologic
  • acology
  • acyclically
  • acyl
  • acylal
  • agcy
  • agogic
  • alcaic
  • alco
  • algic
  • algological
  • algologically
  • alicia
  • alicyclic
  • allylic
  • alogical
  • alogically
  • caca
  • cacology
  • calc
  • calcic
  • caliga
  • caligo
  • caliological
  • caliology
  • calli
  • calloo
  • calo
  • ccoya
  • cicala
  • ciliola
  • cill
  • clag
  • claggy
  • clio
  • cloacal
  • cloggily
  • cloggy
  • coala
  • coaly
  • coccal
  • coccic
  • cocco
  • coccygalgia
  • coco
  • coggly
  • colalgia
  • coli
  • colical
  • coll
  • colla
  • collocal
  • colly
  • colocolic
  • colocolo
  • colog
  • coly
  • coocoo
  • cooly
  • cyclicly
  • cyclo
  • gallic
  • galyac
  • glaciologic
  • glaciological
  • glycocoll
  • glycol
  • glycolic
  • glycollic
  • glycolyl
  • glycyl
  • illocal
  • illocally
  • laccic
  • laccol
  • lacily
  • laically
  • licca
  • loca
  • oologic
  • oological
  • oologically
  • yacal
  • yacca
  • yocco
  • yogic

*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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