Spelling Bee Solver

How the spelling bee solver works

The spelling bee solver finds every word in a seven-letter hive puzzle. Type the seven letters, mark the centre letter, and it lists all the valid words, with the pangrams first, the points for each word and the maximum score. It works from the letters alone, so it solves any hive: one from an app, a newspaper or a puzzle book, or one you made up yourself.

1. Type the centre letter into the yellow cell, then the six letters around it. The cursor moves on by itself, and pasting seven letters works too.
2. Pick a mode. Solve shows every word. Hints shows only how many words there are. Play lets you find them yourself and keeps score.
3. Tap a word to see what it means. If the wrong letter is in the centre, tap the right one under the hive.

Rules and points of the hive puzzle

A word counts when it has at least four letters, uses only the seven letters of the hive and contains the centre letter. Letters may be used more than once. The points depend on the length:

A worked example: K with I, T, C, H, E, N

For this hive the solver finds 31 words worth 146 points, plus 17 rare words that are listed separately. 3 of the words are pangrams: kitchen, kitchenette, thicken. In hints mode the same hive looks like this, with first letters down the side and word lengths across the top:

Spelling bee hints without spoilers

Hints mode is for when you are stuck but do not want the answers. The grid tells you where the missing words are: in the example, row K and column 4 say that 8 four-letter words start with K. Below the grid, the two-letter list goes one step further: CH 4, HE 1, HI 3, KE 2, KI 9, KN 2, NE 2, NI 1, TE 1, TH 4, TI 2. So 4 words start with CH. Tap any number to see the pattern of those words, such as CH•••, and reveal them only if you want to. The pangram hint works the same way: first letter and length first, the word on request.

What is a pangram?

In the hive puzzle, a pangram is a word that uses all seven letters at least once. It earns 7 extra points, so it is usually the most valuable word in the hive. A perfect pangram is exactly seven letters long and uses each letter once: kitchen, thicken in the example. Some letter sets hide several of them:

To find a pangram, look for common endings first (-ING, -ED, -TION, -MENT), then see which of the remaining letters fit in front of them.

Play a spelling bee game with any letters

Play mode turns your seven letters, or a random hive, into a game. Tap the cells or type, and each word you find adds to your score. Random hives always contain at least one pangram and never use the letter S, so the list is not flooded with plurals. They are drawn from 3,801 everyday words that use exactly seven different letters and no S (2,670 different letter sets), so you can play as many as you like. Your rank is a share of the maximum score. For the example hive:

Tips for finding more words

• Reuse letters. A letter can appear as often as you like, so check doubles and repeats: kick, kitten, hitchhike.
• Build on what you have. Try each found word with a new beginning or ending (thick, thicken, thicket).
• Shuffle. Seeing the letters in a new order is often enough to spot a new word.
• Use the grid. If a row or column still has words left, you know the first letter and the length to look for.

Which words count?

Every hive puzzle has its own word list, chosen by its own editor, so no solver can match all of them exactly. This one uses the public-domain ENABLE word list and the SCOWL English word lists, without slurs and crude words: about 50,000 everyday and less common words that fit a hive. Words that are valid in the big word-game lists but unusual, like chickee, keck, keek, are shown apart as rare words and are not counted unless you ask. If your puzzle rejects a word shown here, or accepts one we call rare, that is why. We do not publish the daily answers of any puzzle; the solver only works with the letters you type.

Looking for a real spelling bee?

A spelling bee is also the contest in which spellers stand up and spell words aloud, letter by letter. This page is about the letter puzzle named after it. If you are practicing for a contest, the Random Word Generator gives you words with definitions at several difficulty levels, and the Syllable Counter breaks a hard word into syllables.

Is it private?

Yes. The word list is downloaded once and everything else happens in your browser. Your letters are never sent anywhere, and your progress in play mode is saved only on your own device.

More word tools: the Word Unscrambler finds words from any set of letters, the Word Search Maker builds printable puzzles, and you can play Hangman with the same dictionary.