Your Spelling Bee Companion for Wednesday, May 13, 2026
A field guide for the L A B D I R Z 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.
Today's Board
Verified Answers
31
Disputed Words
18
Pangrams
1
Score for Queen Bee
121
Genius estimate: 85 points
Verified Answers
31
Find every accepted word in today's source list
Pangrams
1
Use all seven letters
Disputed Words
18
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 L-center hive has 31 verified answers, 1 pangram, and a 121-point Queen Bee ceiling. Start with the longer L words and pattern families before cleaning up the 16 four-letter answers.
Verified answers
31
Max score
121
Genius
85
1 pangram
Pangram Hunt
Start by forcing every letter into longer shapes before clearing short entries. Pangrams are the fastest way to move the score.
121 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 85 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
31 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 1 pangram, so the fastest route is to solve the all-letter shapes before sweeping short words. Examples: blizzard, bilabial, billiard, biradial, railbird.
- Use long-word stems before cleanup: There are 6 verified answers with seven or more letters. Work their stems first, because each one can be worth several short words. Examples: bilabial, billiard, biradial, blizzard, railbird.
- Group by recurring starts: The strongest two-letter openings give you a structured scan instead of a random search through the hive. Examples: laid, lair, lard, labia, labial.
- Save four-letter words for the last pass: 16 verified answers are four letters. They matter for Queen Bee, but they are low-value compared with pangrams and longer answers. Examples: aril, bail, bald, ball, bill.
Common Prefixes
BI- starts
Several verified answers start with BI, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: bilabial, billiard, biradial
LA- starts
Several verified answers start with LA, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: labia, labial
RA- starts
Several verified answers start with RA, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: radial, railbird
Common Suffixes
-IAL endings
The IAL ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: labial, radial, bilabial, biradial
-ARD endings
The ARD ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: lizard, billiard, blizzard
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
Pangram 1
Look for a 8-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps L in the word.
Reveal words: blizzard
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- blizzardPangram
- bilabial8 pts
- billiard8 pts
- biradial8 pts
- railbird8 pts
- airball7 pts
- ballad6 pts
- bridal6 pts
- labial6 pts
- lizard6 pts
Why these matter
- blizzard
BLIZZARD is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 8-letter base score.
- bilabial
BILABIAL is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- billiard
BILLIARD is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- biradial
BIRADIAL is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- railbird
RAILBIRD is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- airball
AIRBALL is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- blizzard
BLIZZARD is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- bilabial
BILABIAL is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- billiard
BILLIARD is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- biradial
BIRADIAL is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- railbird
RAILBIRD is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- airball
AIRBALL is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- rail
RAIL is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- rial
RIAL 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
- barilla
BARILLA fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- brazil
BRAZIL fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- lablab
LABLAB fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- aalii
AALII fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- brail
BRAIL fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- brill
BRILL fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- iliad
ILIAD fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- laird
LAIRD 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.