May 16, 2026, Saturday

Spelling Bee Answers for Saturday, May 16, 2026

May 16, 2026, Saturday Spelling Bee Answers for the E, H, N, O, P, T, A honeycomb (center letter A) feature 64 words, a 286-point total, 3 Pangrams (2 Perfect Pangrams perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: PANETTONE, POTENTATE.

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Spelling Bee hive for May 16, 2026 with center letter A and surrounding letters E,H,N,O,P and T

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Saturday, May 16, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

8/10

Hard

82nd percentile

Avg Word Length

5.36

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

79/100

Very Rare

Rarer than 79% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

62 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Typical spread

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Yes

All 7 covered

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

2×9L4×8L9×7L11×6L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 200 pts

26 words2×9L4×8L9×7L11×6L

Vowel Split

45%

Balanced mix

155 vowels · 188 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start14 PTS
15%Moving Up43 PTS
25%Good72 PTS
40%Solid114 PTS
50%Nice143 PTS
60%Great172 PTS
65%Amazing186 PTS
70%Genius200 PTS
100%Queen Bee286 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 64 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Saturday, May 16, 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

31%

16%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2026-05-15

Today's AnswersGo to Today

Pangrams

Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution

The Center letter is highlighted in Yellow.

Other days with this pangram

2023-12-26(O)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

26 words

12 words

11 words

9 words (Pangram)

4 words (Pangram)

2 words

Share of 64 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

64 words

100%

49 words

77%

45 words

70%

42 words

66%

30 words

47%

23 words

36%

19 words

30%

Share of 64 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

26 pts

60 pts

66 pts

77 pts (Pangram)

39 pts (Pangram)

18 pts

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

2031%

1016%

23%

Share of 64 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 286 ranks in the 86th percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-05-15.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 64 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 94th percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-05-15.
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 2026-05-15.
The estimated solve time of 53–71 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*:

aeaean
aetat
aheap
ahtena
anan
anana
ananta
anapnea
anat
anatta
anatto
anent
anet
anethene
anna
annat
anne
annet
annette
annona
annotto
anoa
anotta
anta
antae
antaean
antennate
anton
aotea
apheta
aphtha
aphthae
apnoea
apoop
appetent
appt
aptote
atap
aten
athena
athenaea
atnah
atopen
atophan
atta
attent
attentat
attentate
attn
eath
enate
enthean
entheate
eoan
epha
ephah
etape
ethan
etna
etnean
etta
haen
haet
haha
hanap
hanna
hano
hant
hapten
haptene
hatt
heaten
heptanone
honan
nahane
nane
nannette
napa
napaea
napaean
naphtha
naphthene
napoo
nappa
nappe
nate
nathan
nathe
nato
natt
nepa
nepenthean
nepeta
nhan
noah
nona
nonanaphthene
nonane
nonheathen
nonnat
nontan
nontenant
nota
oenanthate
onan
opah
opata
optant
optate
paeon
paepae
paha
paho
pahoehoe
panathenaea
panathenaean
panna
panne
panoan
panthea
panto
panton
pantothenate
paopao
pape
pata
patana
patao
paten
pathan
pato
patt
patta
patte
pattee
patten
pean
penna
pennae
pennate
penta
pentanone
pentaptote
pentatone
peptonate
petnap
pettah
phaethon
phane
phenate
photophane
poha
poonah
popean
pottah
taha
tahona
tana
tane
tanha
tanna
tannate
tano
tanoa
tanoan
tanto
tapet
tapeta
tapete
tappa
tappen
tappet
tappoon
tate
tath
tathata
tatoo
tatta
tean
teathe
teetan
teopan
tepa
tepetate
thana
thanah
thea
theah
theat
toat
toatoa
toea
tonophant
toona
topato

*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.