Answers for May 16, 2026
Complete verified solutions for the May 16, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. All 64 words, pangrams, and point totals included below.
Last updated: May 16, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST
Looking for Spelling Bee Answers Today? (2026-09-15)
📊 Today's Puzzle Insights
How today's puzzle compares to all-time Spelling Bee history
📊 Words by Length
🅱️ Words Starting with Each Letter
| Metric | Today | Average | Record High | Record Low |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Words | 64 | ~44.2 | 77 | 16 |
| Total Points | 286 | ~205.15 | 406 | 60 |
| Avg Word Length | 5.36 | ~5.42 | 6.689655172413793 | 4.578947368421052 |
| Pangram Count | 3 | ~1.49 | 4 | 1 |
📅 Previous Puzzles with This Pangram
This is the first time this pangram has appeared in our archives.
🧩 Pangram Pattern Analysis
Today's featured pangram is PANTHEON. It consists of 8 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 38% (3 vowels and 5 consonants).
- ⚡ Structure: Standard pangram (features letter repetition)
- ⚡ Repeated letters: N (x2)
Today's featured pangram is PHAETON. It consists of 7 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 43% (3 vowels and 4 consonants).
- ⚡ Structure: Perfect pangram (uses each letter exactly once)
Today's featured pangram is PHONATE. It consists of 7 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 43% (3 vowels and 4 consonants).
- ⚡ Structure: Perfect pangram (uses each letter exactly once)
📚 Etymology & Word Origins
The word displays linguistic traits typical of Greek vocabulary, evolving through classical Hellenic phonetic clusters and structural roots.
The word displays linguistic traits typical of Greek vocabulary, evolving through classical Hellenic phonetic clusters and structural roots.
Contains the root phon, which is from the Greek "phone", meaning "sound" or "voice".
🚫 Rejected Word List
These valid English words can be formed with today's letters but were not accepted by the NYT editor:
Pangrams
4-Letter Words26 words
5-Letter Words12 words
6-Letter Words11 words
7-Letter Words9 words
8-Letter Words4 words
9-Letter Words2 words
About Today's Spelling Bee Puzzle
Today's NYT Spelling Bee features A as the center letter, with 64 words worth 286 points total. The pangram is "pantheon" — a 8-letter word that uses all seven hive letters.
You need 200 points to reach Genius rank. Want to solve it yourself first? Our hints page gives you two-letter lists without revealing the full answers.
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