NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Longest word
balalaika
9 letters
Top scorer
backfill
15 points
Starting letters
6 of 7
letters that start a word
Average length
5.7
letters per word
Words by length
Spoiler-safe. Use it to see where the long ones hide.
The hints grid
How many words of each length start with each letter — the classic Bee cheat sheet.
4
5
6
7
8
9
Σ
A
–
2
1
–
–
–
3
B
3
2
–
–
1
2
8
C
–
2
–
–
1
–
3
F
1
2
–
–
1
–
4
K
2
–
–
–
2
–
4
L
2
–
–
–
–
–
2
Σ
8
8
1
0
5
2
24
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
ab 1al 2
B
ba 5bi 1bl 2
C
ca 1cl 2
F
fa 1fl 3
K
ki 4
L
la 1li 1
All 24 answers
119 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★aback5
alack5
alkali6
babka5
back1
★backfillpangram15
balalaika9
balk1
bilk1
black5
blackball9
callback8
clack5
click5
fallback8
flack5
flak1
flick5
kick1
kickback8
kickball8
kill1
lack1
lick1