Spelling Bee Answers for Tuesday, May 12, 2026
May 12, 2026, Tuesday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, B, M, N, O, T, C honeycomb (center letter C) feature 38 words, a 201-point total, 2 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 12-letter longest word: NONCOMBATANT.
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Tuesday, May 12, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
3/10
Medium29th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.71
Typical lengthAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
25/100
UncommonRarer than 25% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
31 minutes
Quicker than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
8
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: A, MAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
19
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 141 ptsVowel Split
38%
Balanced mix83 vowels · 134 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start10 PTS
- 15%Moving Up30 PTS
- 25%Good50 PTS
- 40%Solid80 PTS
- 50%Nice101 PTS
- 60%Great121 PTS
- 65%Amazing131 PTS
- 70%Genius141 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee201 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 38 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Tuesday, May 12, 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
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Puzzle Letters
Pangrams
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Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
12-Letter Words 1 word
9-Letter Words 1 word
8-Letter Words 1 word
7-Letter Words 5 words
6-Letter Words 13 words
5-Letter Words 7 words
4-Letter Words 10 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 38 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 38 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 38 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 201 ranks in the 53rd percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-05-05.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 38 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 36th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-05-05.
- 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 Medium 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 2026-05-10.
- The estimated solve time of 26–36 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*:
- abac
- abaca
- abacot
- acana
- acca
- acct
- acoma
- acta
- acton
- ancon
- ancona
- atacaman
- attacca
- attacco
- bact
- banca
- banco
- bobac
- boca
- bocca
- caaba
- caama
- caba
- caban
- cabman
- cabob
- cabomba
- cabot
- caca
- cacana
- cacoon
- camaca
- camacan
- caman
- camb
- cana
- canaan
- cann
- cantab
- canto
- cantoon
- caoba
- catboat
- coact
- coan
- cobb
- cocama
- cocamama
- cocco
- coco
- cocomat
- cocona
- coman
- combattant
- comm
- commata
- commo
- commot
- conant
- conn
- cont
- conto
- coocoo
- coom
- coomb
- coon
- cooncan
- cotman
- coto
- cotonam
- cott
- cotta
- macaca
- macaco
- macana
- macao
- macco
- maco
- macon
- mancono
- mataco
- moca
- moco
- mocoa
- monacan
- monaco
- monact
- monocot
- nomocanon
- nonact
- noncombat
- noncon
- noncontact
- nontobacco
- octan
- octoon
- onca
- otomaco
- tabacco
- tacan
- tacana
- tacanan
- tacoma
- tambac
- tobaccoman
- toco
- tombac
- totonac
- totonacan
- totonaco
*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.