How does the NYT Spelling Bee scoring work?
The New York Times Spelling Bee scoring system rewards players based on word length and whether they find special "pangram" words.
Basic Scoring Rules
- 1️⃣ Four-letter words: Worth 1 point each
Example: "CALL" = 1 point
- 📏 Five or more letters: Worth points equal to their length
Examples: "CALLS" = 5 points, "CALLING" = 7 points
- ⭐ Pangrams: 7 bonus points plus word length
Example: 7-letter pangram = 7 (length) + 7 (bonus) = 14 points
What is a Pangram?
A pangram is a word that uses all seven letters in the puzzle at least once. Pangrams are rare and valuable, earning 7 extra points on top of the word's length.
Some puzzles have multiple pangrams, and occasionally you'll find a "perfect pangram" that uses each letter exactly once (very rare!).
Pro Tip:
Finding the pangram(s) early can give you a huge point boost and help you reach higher levels faster!
Scoring Examples
CALL (4 letters)
Score: 1 point
CALLING (7 letters)
Score: 7 points (length)
CALLING (7 letters, pangram)
Score: 14 points (7 length + 7 bonus)
Valid Words Only
Not all words you might think of will count. The NYT Spelling Bee uses a pre-determined word list that excludes:
- Proper nouns (names, places)
- Hyphenated words
- Words with punctuation (apostrophes, etc.)
- Offensive or extremely obscure words
The official dictionary used is not public, so even valid English words may not be accepted if they're not on the NYT's list for that day.
Reaching Different Levels
Your score determines your rank, from "Beginner" to "Queen Bee". The ranks are based on percentages of the maximum possible score:
- Genius: 70% of maximum points
- Queen Bee: 100% of maximum points (all words found)
See the full list of all 10 levels and their requirements.