May 23, 2026, Saturday

Spelling Bee Answers for Saturday, May 23, 2026

May 23, 2026, Saturday Spelling Bee Answers for the C, D, E, I, N, Y, A honeycomb (center letter A) feature 61 words, a 307-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: CANDIDACY, DECADENCE.

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Spelling Bee hive for May 23, 2026 with center letter A and surrounding letters C,D,E,I,N and Y

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Saturday, May 23, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

7/10

Hard

69th percentile

Avg Word Length

5.61

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

53/100

Rare

Rarer than 53% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

59 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Few pairs

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Missing: Y

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

2×9L1×8L12×7L16×6L1×5L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 215 pts

32 words2×9L1×8L12×7L13×6L4×5L

Vowel Split

44%

Balanced mix

152 vowels · 190 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start15 PTS
15%Moving Up46 PTS
25%Good77 PTS
40%Solid123 PTS
50%Nice154 PTS
60%Great184 PTS
65%Amazing200 PTS
70%Genius215 PTS
100%Queen Bee307 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 61 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Saturday, May 23, 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

33%

25%

23%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2026-05-22

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

2023-06-02(Y)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

14 words

16 words

12 words (Pangram)

1 word

2 words

Share of 61 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

61 words

100%

46 words

75%

38 words

62%

38 words

62%

35 words

57%

24 words

39%

15 words

25%

Share of 61 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

14 pts

80 pts

96 pts

91 pts (Pangram)

8 pts

18 pts

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

2033%

1525%

1423%

711%

47%

12%

Share of 61 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 307 ranks in the 91st percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-05-22.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 61 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 91st percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-05-22.
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 2026-05-22.
The estimated solve time of 50–68 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*:

acacian
acaciin
acacin
acacine
acad
acadia
acadian
acana
acca
accadian
accedence
accend
accidence
accidia
accidie
acedia
acedy
acini
acinic
acned
adad
adai
adance
aday
adda
addice
addie
addn
addy
aden
adenia
adin
aeaean
aecia
aecidia
aedine
aeneid
aidance
aidenn
anadenia
anan
anana
ananda
ancience
anciency
anda
ande
andean
andi
andine
andy
anend
anicca
anna
anne
annie
ayen
ayin
caca
cacana
cace
caddice
cade
cadee
cadenced
cadency
cadi
cadie
cadinene
cady
caeca
caid
cain
cainian
cana
canaan
canada
canadian
canadine
cananaean
cand
candace
candida
candide
canicide
cann
cannie
cany
cayenned
ceca
cicad
cicadae
cicadid
cnida
cnidae
cyanean
cyanic
cyanid
cyanided
cyanidin
cyanidine
cyanin
cyanine
cycad
cycadean
dace
dacian
dada
dade
dain
dana
danaan
danae
danaid
danaide
danaine
dancy
dand
danda
dandie
dane
dani
danian
danic
dannie
danny
dayan
deady
deaned
decad
decadency
decadic
decan
decane
decani
decennia
decenniad
decian
dedan
dedenda
deia
denay
diacid
diacidic
diadic
diana
diane
dicyanide
didna
dyadic
ecad
ecanda
ecca
edana
edda
eddaic
ediya
edna
encaenia
encina
eniac
enneadic
idaean
idaic
ideaed
idean
inca
incaic
incan
indan
indane
india
indian
indiana
indianan
indianian
indican
inia
nace
naid
nain
nance
nancy
nanda
nandi
nandina
nandine
nane
nannie
neanic
neyanda
nicad
nicaean
nicenian
nidana
nina
nyaya
nydia
yacca
yade
yana
yanan
yaya
yday
yean
yeaned

*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.