Your Spelling Bee Companion for Tuesday, May 19, 2026
A field guide for the U D E L O P 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.
Today's Board
Verified Answers
62
Disputed Words
18
Pangrams
2
Score for Queen Bee
299
Genius estimate: 209 points
Verified Answers
62
Find every accepted word in today's source list
Pangrams
2
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 U-center hive has 62 verified answers, 2 pangrams, and a 299-point Queen Bee ceiling. Start with the longer U words and pattern families before cleaning up the 18 four-letter answers.
Verified answers
62
Max score
299
Genius
209
2 pangrams
Pangram Hunt
Start by forcing every letter into longer shapes before clearing short entries. Pangrams are the fastest way to move the score.
299 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 209 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
62 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: outpolled, polluted, outdueled, deluded, deputed.
- Use long-word stems before cleanup: There are 11 verified answers with seven or more letters. Work their stems first, because each one can be worth several short words. Examples: outdueled, outpolled, polluted, deluded, deputed.
- Group by recurring starts: The strongest two-letter openings give you a structured scan instead of a random search through the hive. Examples: pule, pull, pulp, putt, puled.
- Save four-letter words for the last pass: 18 verified answers are four letters. They matter for Queen Bee, but they are low-value compared with pangrams and longer answers. Examples: dude, duel, duet, dull, dupe.
Common Prefixes
PU- starts
Several verified answers start with PU, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: puled, puddle, pulled, pullet, pulped
OU- starts
Several verified answers start with OU, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: outdo, outed, outlet, output, outduel
DU- starts
Several verified answers start with DU, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: duped, duple, dueled, dulled, duetted
DE- starts
Several verified answers start with DE, making it a productive opening scan.
Examples: delude, depute, deluded, deputed
Common Suffixes
-LED endings
The LED ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: puled, dueled, dulled, lulled, pulled
-TED endings
The TED ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: outed, pouted, putted, touted, tutted
-PED endings
The PED ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: duped, upped, pulped
-UDE endings
The UDE ending repeats across verified answers, so test it against the center letter and available stems.
Examples: elude, etude, delude
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
Pangram 1
Look for a 8-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps U in the word.
Reveal words: polluted
Pangram 2
Look for a 9-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps U in the word.
Reveal words: outpolled
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- pollutedPangram
- outpolledPangram
- outdueled9 pts
- deluded7 pts
- deputed7 pts
- duetted7 pts
- outduel7 pts
- outpoll7 pts
- pollute7 pts
- puddled7 pts
Why these matter
- polluted
POLLUTED is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 8-letter base score.
- outpolled
OUTPOLLED is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 9-letter base score.
- outdueled
OUTDUELED is one of the board's long scoring answers; find this kind of shape before chasing one-point cleanup words.
- deluded
DELUDED is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.
- deputed
DEPUTED is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.
- duetted
DUETTED is worth checking because repeated letters are allowed and often unlock accepted answers that a strict tile mindset misses.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- polluted
POLLUTED is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- outpolled
OUTPOLLED is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- outdueled
OUTDUELED is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- deluded
DELUDED is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- deputed
DEPUTED is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- duetted
DUETTED is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- tout
TOUT is verified for this date; keep it on the list even if it feels less obvious than the cleaner pattern words.
- tutu
TUTU 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
- outputted
OUTPUTTED fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- eelpout
EELPOUT fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- outpull
OUTPULL fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- duello
DUELLO fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- duplet
DUPLET fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- eluted
ELUTED fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- peepul
PEEPUL fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but it was not in the verified source answer list for this puzzle.
- pupped
PUPPED 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.