Your Spelling Bee Companion for Friday, May 15, 2026
A field guide for the M A C G I N P 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
50
Disputed Words
18
Pangrams
3
Score for Queen Bee
280
Genius estimate: 196 points
Verified Answers
50
Find every accepted word in today's source list
Pangrams
3
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
Generous
The M-center hive has 50 verified answers, 3 pangrams, and a 280-point Queen Bee ceiling. Start with the longer M words and pattern families before cleaning up the 11 four-letter answers.
Verified answers
50
Max score
280
Genius
196
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.
280 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 196 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
50 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 3 pangrams, so the fastest route is to solve the all-letter shapes before sweeping short words. Examples: campaigning, campaign, camping, imagining, impinging.
- Use long-word stems before cleanup: There are 15 verified answers with seven or more letters. Work their stems first, because each one can be worth several short words. Examples: campaigning, imagining, impinging, campaign, magician.
- Group by recurring starts: The strongest two-letter openings give you a structured scan instead of a random search through the hive. Examples: magi, maim, main, mama, magic.
- Save four-letter words for the last pass: 11 verified answers are four letters. They matter for Queen Bee, but they are low-value compared with pangrams and longer answers. Examples: cami, camp, gimp, imam, magi.
Common Prefixes
MA- starts
Several verified answers start with MA, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: magic, magma, mamma, manga, mania
MI- starts
Several verified answers start with MI, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: mimic, minim, miming, minima, mining
CA- starts
Several verified answers start with CA, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: caiman, camping, campaign, campaigning
GA- starts
Several verified answers start with GA, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: gamin, gamma, gaming
Common Suffixes
-ING endings
The ING ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: aiming, amping, gaming, macing, miming
-IMA endings
The IMA ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: anima, minima
-MMA endings
The MMA ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: gamma, mamma
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
Pangram 1
Look for a 7-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps M in the word.
Reveal words: camping
Pangram 2
Look for a 8-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps M in the word.
Reveal words: campaign
Pangram 3
Look for a 11-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps M in the word.
Reveal words: campaigning
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- campingPangram
- campaignPangram
- campaigningPangram
- imagining9 pts
- impinging9 pts
- magician8 pts
- minicam7 pts
- manna5 pts
- managing8 pts
- minicamp8 pts
Why these matter
- camping
CAMPING is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 7-letter base score.
- campaign
CAMPAIGN is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 8-letter base score.
- campaigning
CAMPAIGNING is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 11-letter base score.
- imagining
IMAGINING is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- impinging
IMPINGING is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- magician
MAGICIAN is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- camping
CAMPING is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- campaign
CAMPAIGN is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- campaigning
CAMPAIGNING is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- imagining
IMAGINING is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- impinging
IMPINGING is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- magician
MAGICIAN is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- mica
MICA is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- mini
MINI 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
- campagna
CAMPAGNA fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- manganin
MANGANIN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- gimping
GIMPING fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- agamic
AGAMIC fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- gagman
GAGMAN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- agama
AGAMA fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- amain
AMAIN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- amiga
AMIGA 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.