Spelling Bee Answers for Sunday, May 17, 2026
May 17, 2026, Sunday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, C, D, O, R, T, L honeycomb (center letter L) feature 54 words, a 212-point total, 2 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: ALLOCATOR.
NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 17, 2026Get Daily Answers by Email
We send the complete answer list to your inbox as soon as each puzzle is published. No spam, ever.
Sunday, May 17, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
6/10
Hard58th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.06
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
57/100
RareRarer than 57% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
52 minutes
Longer than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
16
Typical spreadUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
Yes
All 7 coveredAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
22
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 148 ptsVowel Split
37%
Balanced mix101 vowels · 172 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start11 PTS
- 15%Moving Up32 PTS
- 25%Good53 PTS
- 40%Solid85 PTS
- 50%Nice106 PTS
- 60%Great127 PTS
- 65%Amazing138 PTS
- 70%Genius148 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee212 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 54 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Sunday, May 17, 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
Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.
Puzzle Letters
Pangrams
Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution
Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
9-Letter Words 1 word
8-Letter Words 3 words
7-Letter Words 5 words
6-Letter Words 5 words
5-Letter Words 15 words
4-Letter Words 25 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 54 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 54 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 54 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 212 ranks in the 58th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-05-14.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 54 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 78th 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 easier than usual.
- The letter set in this puzzle is considered Low, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2026-05-16.
- The estimated solve time of 44–60 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*:
- acarol
- accoll
- acocotl
- acold
- adoral
- alala
- alar
- alco
- alcor
- aldol
- allo
- allod
- alloo
- alod
- arolla
- artal
- atlatl
- attal
- calc
- calcar
- callat
- calloo
- callot
- calo
- caracal
- caracol
- cardol
- carl
- carlo
- carlot
- carotol
- carroll
- catacorolla
- catalo
- cataractal
- catocala
- cattalo
- clar
- clara
- claro
- clart
- clat
- cloacal
- coala
- coccal
- colada
- coll
- colla
- collat
- collator
- collocal
- colocolo
- colorado
- coloroto
- coralla
- coralroot
- cordal
- corol
- craal
- crool
- crotal
- ctrl
- dardaol
- dotal
- laccol
- lactol
- lall
- lalo
- lata
- loca
- lola
- lollard
- lolo
- loord
- lora
- loral
- lota
- loto
- lotta
- odal
- olla
- orlo
- ortol
- rall
- ratal
- rollo
- rool
- roral
- rotal
- rotl
- rottolo
- taal
- tala
- talao
- talar
- tallol
- tlaco
- tola
- tolt
- toral
*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.