How to play
- Use four letters or more. Three-letter words do not count.
- Every word must contain the centre letter. It is the coloured one in the middle of the hive. A word made only from the outer six does not count.
- Letters can be reused. ONION and COTTON are both fine, even though each letter is shown once.
- Only these seven letters. No other letter may appear anywhere in the word.
- Find the pangram. Every puzzle hides at least one word that uses all seven letters, and it is worth a large bonus.
How the scoring works
| Word | Points |
|---|---|
| Four letters | 1 point |
| Five letters or more | 1 point per letter — a six-letter word scores 6 |
| Pangram (uses all seven letters) | Its length, plus a 7 point bonus |
Your rank is your share of the points available that day, so a puzzle with more words does not make the ladder harder to climb — it just has more rungs of the same height.
The ranks
| Rank | Share of the day | Today |
|---|---|---|
| Just Landed | 0% | 0 points |
| Warming Up | 2% | 2 points |
| Buzzing | 5% | 6 points |
| In the Hive | 8% | 10 points |
| Busy Bee | 15% | 18 points |
| Honey Maker | 25% | 30 points |
| Word Keeper | 40% | 48 points |
| Hive Star | 50% | 60 points |
| Word Wizard | 70% | 84 points |
| Spelling Champion | 100% | 120 points |
Today’s puzzle
Today’s letters are C · I · J · N · O · T · U, and every word must use N. There are 22 words to find, worth 120 points altogether. 3 of them are pangrams, 9 of them are four letters long, and the longest runs to 11 letters. No answers here — that would spoil it.
Five ways to find more words
- Start from the centre letter. Say it first, then second, then third — CO-, -OC-, --OC. Most people only ever try it in one position.
- Run the endings. -ING, -ION, -ENT, -ANT, -ILY, -OON. Then the beginnings: UN-, RE-, IN-, OUT-, NON-.
- Double the letters. A repeated letter is free here, and it is the easiest thing to forget: COTTON, ONION, BALLOON.
- Shuffle when you get stuck. Seeing the same arrangement for two minutes fixes your eye. The shuffle button exists for exactly this.
- Hunt the pangram deliberately. Write all seven letters out and look for a word that must use each one. It is worth more than four ordinary words.
For teachers and parents
Open the leaderboard and choose Challenge your class. You get a link; everyone who opens it plays the same seven letters, and their scores land on one board. It works as a five-minute warm-up, an early-finisher task, or something to send home on a Friday.
Nobody signs in and nobody types a name. Players are given a handle by the game — SwiftOtter, CleverHeron — and nothing about a child is stored, which is what makes it safe to hand to a whole class. The words come from a dictionary filtered for words children have actually met, so the answers are real vocabulary rather than Scrabble filler.
Questions
How do you play the spelling bee puzzle?
Make words of four letters or more using only the seven letters shown. Every word must include the letter in the middle, and letters can be used as many times as you like. Each word you find adds points and moves you up the rank ladder.
How is the spelling bee puzzle scored?
A four-letter word scores one point. Longer words score one point per letter, so a six-letter word is worth six. A pangram — a word that uses all seven letters — scores its length plus a seven point bonus.
What is a pangram in a spelling bee puzzle?
A pangram is a word that uses every one of the seven letters at least once. Every puzzle has at least one, and finding it is usually the single biggest jump in your score.
Why are there no words with the letter S?
The letter S never appears in the seven letters. Without it, a puzzle would fill up with plurals — every noun twice — and finding words would stop being interesting. Leaving S out keeps every answer a different word.
Can I use a letter more than once in a word?
Yes. Letters can be repeated as often as you like, which is how words such as ONION and COTTON count even though each puzzle shows a letter only once.
Is there a new spelling bee puzzle every day?
Yes. A new set of seven letters appears every day. Your words are kept in your own browser, so you can close the tab and come back to the same puzzle later that day.
Can teachers share the puzzle with a class?
Yes. Open the leaderboard and choose Challenge your class to get a link. Everyone who opens that link plays the same seven letters, so a whole class can be compared on one board. No accounts, no names and no student data.
Is the spelling bee puzzle free?
Yes. It is free, has no ads and needs no account. Nothing about the player is collected, which is what makes it safe to hand to a class.
More spelling practice
- Spelling bee word lists by grade — the words a real bee is run from.
- How to run a spelling bee — rules, rounds and pronouncer scripts.
- Spelling list generator — build this week’s list in a minute.
- Spelling worksheet generator — printable practice from any list.