Spelling Bee Answers for Monday, May 18, 2026
May 18, 2026, Monday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, U, H, C, T, Z, P honeycomb (center letter P) feature 16 words, a 60-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 8-letter longest word: CHUTZPAH.
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Monday, May 18, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
0/10
Easy2nd percentile
Avg Word Length
5.00
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
9/100
CommonRarer than 9% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
11 minutes
Quicker than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
7
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: A, U, H, ZAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
6
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
No
No exact comboNo subset sums to the Genius target
Vowel Split
31%
Consonant-heavy puzzle25 vowels · 55 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start3 PTS
- 15%Moving Up9 PTS
- 25%Good15 PTS
- 40%Solid24 PTS
- 50%Nice30 PTS
- 60%Great36 PTS
- 65%Amazing39 PTS
- 70%Genius42 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee60 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 16 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Monday, May 18, 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
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Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
8-Letter Words 1 word
7-Letter Words 3 words
5-Letter Words 3 words
4-Letter Words 9 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 16 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 16 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 16 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 60 ranks in the 0th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-03-27.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 16 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 0th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on —.
- 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 Medium, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2026-05-14.
- The estimated solve time of 8–14 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*:
- acapu
- acpt
- aphtha
- appt
- atap
- capa
- capataz
- caph
- caput
- caup
- chapt
- chutzpa
- hapu
- hupa
- huppah
- hutzpa
- hutzpah
- paca
- pacha
- pacht
- pacu
- paha
- papua
- pata
- pataca
- patt
- patta
- patu
- paua
- pazazz
- phpht
- phut
- tappa
- tapu
- tataupa
- upcut
- upupa
*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.