Quick answer: The NYT Spelling Bee is a daily word puzzle from The New York Times: make words of four or more letters from seven letters, always using the center letter. Full access is part of a New York Times Games or All Access subscription, and non-subscribers get only limited play. If you want a free alternative, Spelling Bee Game offers the same style of puzzle with a daily hive and unlimited play, no sign-up needed.
Spelling Bee Game is an independent site and is not affiliated with The New York Times. "NYT Spelling Bee" and "Spelling Bee Buddy" belong to The New York Times.
What Is the NYT Spelling Bee?
The New York Times Spelling Bee is a word puzzle created by Frank Longo. It first appeared as a weekly print puzzle in 2015 and launched as a daily digital game on May 9, 2018. Today it is one of the most popular titles in New York Times Games, alongside Wordle and Connections.
Each puzzle shows seven letters in a honeycomb. The goal is to find as many words as you can, and every puzzle has at least one pangram that uses all seven letters.
NYT Spelling Bee Rules
- ➥Words must be at least four letters long.
- ➥Every word must include the center letter.
- ➥Letters can be used more than once.
- ➥Four-letter words score 1 point; longer words score 1 point per letter.
- ➥A pangram earns a 7-point bonus.
- ➥Proper nouns, hyphenated words and obscure words are not accepted.
As your score grows you move up through ranks such as Good, Solid, Amazing and Genius. Finding every single word earns the hidden top rank, Queen Bee. Our full guide to spelling bee rules also covers classroom competitions.
Is the NYT Spelling Bee Free?
Only partly. According to the New York Times help center, the full Spelling Bee experience is available to New York Times Games, All Access and Home Delivery subscribers. Players without a subscription have limited access, which in practice means you can enter only a few words before you are asked to subscribe. Past puzzles are also a subscriber feature.
| Feature | Without subscription | With NYT Games subscription |
|---|---|---|
| Today’s puzzle | Limited play | Full puzzle |
| Past puzzles | No | Yes |
| Spelling Bee Buddy | No | Yes |
| Stats and streaks | Limited | Yes |
When Does the NYT Spelling Bee Reset?
The New York Times releases a new Spelling Bee puzzle every day at 3 a.m. Eastern Time. That means "today’s" NYT puzzle changes three hours after midnight on the East Coast, which is midnight on the West Coast.
What Is Spelling Bee Buddy?
Spelling Bee Buddy is a hints tool from The New York Times, introduced in 2023. It updates as you play and shows a grid of the words you still need, sorted by first letter and length, plus a list of two-letter starts and personalized hints. Buddy is available to New York Times subscribers on the web and in its apps.
If you do not have a subscription, you can get the same kind of help for our free daily puzzle on our Spelling Bee hints page, which shows word counts by length and first letter, two-letter starts and a pangram clue.
A Free Spelling Bee Game Like NYT
If you love the format but do not want a subscription, Spelling Bee Game is a free alternative that works the same way: seven letters, a required center letter, four-letter minimum and a 7-point pangram bonus. The puzzles and word list are our own, so answers differ from the New York Times puzzle.
| NYT Spelling Bee | Spelling Bee Game | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Subscription for full access | Free |
| Puzzles per day | One | One daily puzzle plus unlimited hives |
| Sign-up | NYT account | None |
| Hints | Spelling Bee Buddy (subscribers) | Free daily hints |
| Top rank | Queen Bee | Genius |
| Same answers as NYT | — | No, our own puzzles |
NYT Spelling Bee Unlimited: Can You Play More Than One a Day?
The New York Times publishes one Spelling Bee per day. Subscribers can open recent past puzzles, but there is no endless mode. That is why many players look for a "Spelling Bee unlimited" option. On our site, unlimited mode lets you start a new hive whenever you want and keep up to 50 games going at once. See daily vs unlimited Spelling Bee for how the two modes compare.
NYT Spelling Bee vs Wordle
Both are New York Times games, but they test different skills. Wordle asks you to guess one hidden five-letter word in six tries, while Spelling Bee asks you to find as many words as possible from a fixed set of letters. Wordle is about deduction; Spelling Bee is about vocabulary and pattern spotting. Many players do both each morning.
| Wordle | Spelling Bee | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Guess one 5-letter word | Find as many words as possible |
| Tries | Six guesses | Unlimited guesses |
| Main skill | Deduction | Vocabulary and patterns |
| Time | A few minutes | As long as you like |
Tips to Do Better at the NYT Spelling Bee
- ➥Look for the pangram first; common endings like -ING and -ED often reveal it.
- ➥Work through the puzzle one starting letter at a time.
- ➥Add endings to every root word you find.
- ➥Shuffle the letters when you get stuck.
- ➥Practice on free unlimited puzzles to build pattern skills faster.
Our 12 tips to reach Genius and pangram guide go into more detail, and they work for any version of the game.
Final Thoughts
The NYT Spelling Bee is a brilliant daily puzzle, but full access, past puzzles and Spelling Bee Buddy require a New York Times subscription. If you want the same style of game for free, play the daily puzzle or unlimited hives on Spelling Bee Game, and use our free hints when you get stuck.