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Today's NYT Spelling Bee Hints & Answer for Sun, May 18, 2025

Unlock the Pangram and reach Genius with our spoiler-free hints and grid, view the full answers, or search the archive.


Today's NYT Spelling Bee Hints

Pangram Hint(s)

Reveal Hint for Pangram 1

Reveal Hint for Pangram 2

Today's NYT Spelling Bee Answers

alfalfa
fail
failing
fall
falling
fang
fanning
faun
fauna
faunal
fifing
filial
filing
fill
filling
finagling
final
finial
fining
flag
flagging
flail
flailing
flan
flanging
fling
flinging
fluff
fluffing
flung
fugu
fulfill
fulfilling
full
fungal
fungi
gaff
gainful
guff
gulf
infill
infilling
luff
lungful
naif
unfailing
unflagging
unfulfilling

NYT Spelling Bee Answers Archive

How to Use Our Spoiler-Free NYT Spelling Bee Hints

Trying to reach Genius without spoiling the fun? Most players work through the hints in stages—starting with overall stats, then narrowing things down by letter groups, and only revealing full answers if they get stuck.

1
Puzzle Stats and the Pangram Hint

The "Puzzle Stats" section shows the Genius score and total number of answers. If you want a nudge, "Reveal Pangram Hint" gives a clue that points toward the pangram without giving it away.

2
Grid, Two-Letter List, and Long Word Hint

When you're down to a few missing words, the "Two-Letter List" helps identify unused starts like CA-2 or CO-3. You can also try "Hint for a Long Word", which offers a definition-style clue for one longer answer.

3
Answers Grouped by Starting Letter

In "Today's Spelling Bee Answers", words are organized by starting letter—A words, B words, and so on. The group that includes the pangram is marked with a Pangram label.

4
Seeing the Full Solution

If you’re ready to see everything, "Reveal All Answers" expands every letter group and displays the complete list in alphabetical order, with the pangram highlighted.

FAQ

The page is kept spoiler-free by default. You can start with Puzzle Stats to see where the Genius score sits. The Two-Letter List (like CO-2) is helpful for spotting missing word starts. If you need more, the Answers section is grouped by starting letter, so you can reveal only what you want.

Hints update every day shortly after 3:00 AM ET, around the same time the official New York Times Spelling Bee goes live. We usually have the grid, pangram hints, and full answers posted within a few minutes.

4-letter words are worth 1 point. Longer words score 1 point per letter (for example, a 6-letter word earns 6 points). Pangrams get an extra 7-point bonus on top of their letter total, which makes them a big boost toward Genius.

Each entry (such as CO-2 or DE-4) shows how many valid words begin with that letter pair. For example, 'CO-2' means there are exactly two words starting with 'CO'. It’s a way to narrow things down without giving answers away.

A pangram is a word that uses all seven letters from the puzzle at least once. Every Spelling Bee has at least one. In the answer list, pangrams are marked with a Pangram label.

So you don’t see anything by accident. Answers stay hidden behind a Click to Reveal setup, letting you uncover a single hint, a group of words, or everything at once using the 'Reveal All Answers' button.

Yes. The Archive section at the bottom of the page lets you look up hints and answers for puzzles from the past year.