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BuzzyWords

Your Spelling Bee Companion for Tuesday, May 12, 2026

A field guide for the C A B M N O T hive: how many words you need, strategies for finding them, and (if you turn hint mode off) the full word lists you need to reach Genius and Queen Bee today.

Open SolverArchive

Today's Board

cabmnot

Verified Answers

38

Disputed Words

25

Pangrams

3

Score for Queen Bee

201

Genius estimate: 141 points

Verified Answers

38

Find every accepted word in today's source list

Pangrams

3

Use all seven letters

Disputed Words

25

In our dictionary but not the Spelling Bee list

Puzzle Snapshot

Solve The Hive Before The Spoilers

This page is currently in hint mode: you get the board, counts, estimated score targets, and strategy prompts without answer words. Reveal specific words only when you are ready to check your solve.

Today's Read

Moderate

The C-center hive has 38 verified answers, 2 pangrams, and a 201-point Queen Bee ceiling. Start with the longer C words and pattern families before cleaning up the 10 four-letter answers.

Verified answers

38

Max score

201

Genius

141

3 pangrams

Pangram Hunt

Start by forcing every letter into longer shapes before clearing short entries. Pangrams are the fastest way to move the score.

201 possible points

Point Density

The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 141 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.

38 verified answers

Queen Bee Path

Use the word lists below to scoop up every point you need to reach Queen Bee.

Study mode

Definition Pass

Click unfamiliar words to reveal their definitions and cement them in your memory for next time.

Pattern Prompts

Work The Board Without Reveals

  • Start with the biggest point swings: This board has 2 pangrams, so the fastest route is to solve the all-letter shapes before sweeping short words. Examples: noncombatant, combatant, catacomb, cantata, concoct.
  • Use long-word stems before cleanup: There are 8 verified answers with seven or more letters. Work their stems first, because each one can be worth several short words. Examples: noncombatant, combatant, catacomb, cantata, concoct.
  • Group by recurring starts: The strongest two-letter openings give you a structured scan instead of a random search through the hive. Examples: coat, coca, coma, comb, coot.
  • Save four-letter words for the last pass: 10 verified answers are four letters. They matter for Queen Bee, but they are low-value compared with pangrams and longer answers. Examples: banc, camo, cant, coat, coca.

Common Prefixes

  • CA- starts

    Several verified answers start with CA, making it a productive opening scan.

    Examples: cacao, canna, canon, cabana, cancan

  • CO- starts

    Several verified answers start with CO, making it a productive opening scan.

    Examples: cocoa, combo, comma, cocoon, combat

  • TO- starts

    Several verified answers start with TO, making it a productive opening scan.

    Examples: tomcat, tobacco, toccata

  • NO- starts

    Several verified answers start with NO, making it a productive opening scan.

    Examples: noncom, noncombatant

Common Suffixes

  • -ANT endings

    The ANT ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.

    Examples: octant, combatant, noncombatant

  • -ATA endings

    The ATA ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.

    Examples: cantata, toccata

  • -CAT endings

    The CAT ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.

    Examples: bobcat, tomcat

  • -NON endings

    The NON ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.

    Examples: canon, cannon

Progressive Help

Pangram Hints

Pangram 1

Look for a 9-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps C in the word.

Reveal words: combatant

Pangram 2

Look for a 12-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps C in the word.

Reveal words: noncombatant

Spoiler Control

Notable Words

Why these matter

  • combatant

    COMBATANT is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 9-letter base score.

  • noncombatant

    NONCOMBATANT is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 12-letter base score.

  • catacomb

    CATACOMB is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.

  • cantata

    CANTATA is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.

  • concoct

    CONCOCT is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.

  • contact

    CONTACT is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.

Hard Finds

Tricky Accepted Words

  • combatant

    COMBATANT is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • noncombatant

    NONCOMBATANT is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • catacomb

    CATACOMB is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • cantata

    CANTATA is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • concoct

    CONCOCT is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • contact

    CONTACT is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • coot

    COOT is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

  • taco

    TACO is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.

Disputed Candidates

Plausible Rejections

  • noncombat

    NONCOMBAT fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • catboat

    CATBOAT fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • cooncan

    COONCAN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • monocot

    MONOCOT fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • ancona

    ANCONA fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • cabman

    CABMAN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • macaco

    MACACO fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

  • tambac

    TAMBAC fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.

Answer Vault

All The Words You Need And A Few You Don't.

Trusted words are those you'll need to solve the puzzle. Disputed words are the ones we found in our dictionary that don't appear in the Spelling Bee's curated list. But we thought you might like to see them anyway.