NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Wednesday, May 20, 2026
Longest word
abracadabra
11 letters
Top scorer
backboard
16 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
5.3
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
10
11
Σ
A
1
4
3
–
–
–
–
1
9
B
8
3
1
2
3
1
–
–
18
C
5
6
–
–
–
2
–
–
13
D
2
–
2
–
–
–
–
–
4
K
–
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
1
O
2
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2
R
3
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
4
Σ
21
15
6
2
3
3
0
1
51
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
ab 4ac 1ad 1ar 3
B
ba 12bo 4br 2
C
ca 5co 5cr 3
D
da 1do 2dr 1
K
ka 1
O
ok 1or 1
R
ra 2ro 2
All 51 answers
229 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★aback5
aboard6
abracadabra11
abroad6
accord6
adobo5
arbor5
arco1
ardor5
baba1
babka5
back1
★backboardpangram16
★backdoorpangram15
baobab6
barb1
barback7
barbacoa8
bard1
bark1
barrack7
boar1
board5
boba1
bookrack8
brad1
broad5
cacao5
carb1
card1
cardboard9
carob5
cobra5
coca1
cocoa5
coda1
★corkboardpangram16
crab1
crack5
croak5
dark1
doodad6
dorado6
drab1
kabob5
okra1
orca1
rack1
radar5
road1
roar1