Question 1

How do you play Spell Bee?

Accepted Answer

Make as many words as you can from the seven letters on the hive. Every word must be at least four letters long and must use the centre letter. Letters can repeat as often as you like — GOOD is fine with one O.

Question 2

Is this free? Do I need an account?

Accepted Answer

Free, no account, no download, and unlimited — there is no one-a-day wait here.

Question 3

Why must every word use the centre letter?

Accepted Answer

It is what stops the puzzle being a plain anagram and gives the hive its shape. Without it, six of the seven letters would carry the game and the centre would be decoration.

Question 4

Why is there never an S?

Accepted Answer

Because plurals would double the answer list without adding a single interesting word. It is the convention every good version of this puzzle follows, and it is enforced here at the puzzle level — no puzzle contains an S at all.

Question 5

How is a word scored?

Accepted Answer

Four letters scores one point. Anything longer scores one point per letter — a seven-letter word is seven. A pangram, which uses all seven letters, scores its length plus a seven-point bonus.

Question 6

What is a pangram?

Accepted Answer

A word that uses every one of the seven letters at least once. Every puzzle here has at least one, and finding it is usually worth more than a dozen short words.

Question 7

What are the ranks?

Accepted Answer

Beginner up to Queen Bee, and they are shares of what is available rather than fixed scores — Genius is 70% of the maximum. Puzzles vary from about 47 points to over 400, so a fixed target would mean something different on every puzzle.

Question 8

Do I have to find every word for Queen Bee?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Queen Bee is 100%, which is deliberately rare — Genius at 70% is the realistic goal and finishing a puzzle completely is a genuine achievement.

Question 9

Why was my word rejected?

Accepted Answer

Either it is under four letters, missing the centre letter, uses a letter not on the hive, or is not on this puzzle’s list. The message tells you which, and it names the first problem rather than the most convenient one — "needs the centre letter" is more useful than "not a word" for a word that is perfectly real.

Question 10

Where does the word list come from?

Accepted Answer

It is grown from a curated list of words people know, by applying ordinary English endings and keeping only what a dictionary confirms. Every accepted word therefore traces back to a root a human chose — which is why you will not be told that "abacinate" is worth eight points.

Question 11

Why is a word I know not accepted?

Accepted Answer

The list is deliberately conservative. Widening it to the full dictionary would let in thousands of archaic forms and make the total unreachable, so a few genuine words are missed at the edges. That trade is on purpose: a list is judged on its worst entry.

Question 12

Can I use a letter more than once?

Accepted Answer

Yes, as often as you like. The seven letters are what you may use, not how many of each you have.

Question 13

What does the shuffle button do?

Accepted Answer

Rearranges the six outer letters. The centre never moves, because it cannot — and a different arrangement genuinely does help you see words you were blind to.

Question 14

How many words are in a typical puzzle?

Accepted Answer

About 27. The puzzles here are filtered to between 18 and 70 answers: enough to hunt through, few enough that finishing is possible.

Question 15

Is there a strategy?

Accepted Answer

Work the prefixes. Take each letter, try it in front of the centre letter, and run through the endings — -ING, -ED, -ER. Most of the list is ordinary words with ordinary endings, and the pangram usually falls out of the longest stem you can build.

Question 16

Can I play on a phone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The hive is seven real hexagons sized to a thumb, the found words sit above rather than below so they do not push the hive off screen, and you can tap the letters or use the keyboard.

Question 17

Is it the same puzzle for everybody?

Accepted Answer

Only if you use the same puzzle number. There is no daily puzzle here — you can play as many as you like, in any order.

Question 18

Can I replay the same puzzle?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every puzzle has a number and the same number always produces the same puzzle, so you can hand somebody the link and compare.

Question 19

What happens when I find every word?

Accepted Answer

You reach Queen Bee and the score bar fills. There is no timer and nothing expires, so a puzzle can be left and come back to.

Question 20

Do proper nouns count?

Accepted Answer

No. The list contains no names, places or brands — only ordinary words, which is why it never asks you to guess a river in Bolivia.

Question 21

Where does the game come from?

Accepted Answer

It is the classic newspaper "word wheel" puzzle, which the New York Times popularised as Spelling Bee. The rules are old; the hexagons are the modern part.