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BuzzyWords

Your Spelling Bee Companion for Wednesday, May 20, 2026

A field guide for the A B C D K O R 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

abcdkor

Verified Answers

51

Disputed Words

26

Pangrams

3

Score for Queen Bee

229

Genius estimate: 160 points

Verified Answers

51

Find every accepted word in today's source list

Pangrams

3

Use all seven letters

Disputed Words

26

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 A-center hive has 51 verified answers, 3 pangrams, and a 229-point Queen Bee ceiling. Start with the longer A words and pattern families before cleaning up the 21 four-letter answers.

Verified answers

51

Max score

229

Genius

160

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.

229 possible points

Point Density

The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 160 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.

51 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: backboard, corkboard, backdoor, abracadabra, cardboard.
  • Use long-word stems before cleanup: There are 9 verified answers with seven or more letters. Work their stems first, because each one can be worth several short words. Examples: abracadabra, backboard, cardboard, corkboard, backdoor.
  • Group by recurring starts: The strongest two-letter openings give you a structured scan instead of a random search through the hive. Examples: baba, back, barb, bard, bark.
  • Save four-letter words for the last pass: 21 verified answers are four letters. They matter for Queen Bee, but they are low-value compared with pangrams and longer answers. Examples: arco, baba, back, barb, bard.

Common Prefixes

  • BA- starts

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

    Examples: babka, baobab, barback, barrack, backdoor

  • AB- starts

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

    Examples: aback, aboard, abroad, abracadabra

  • CA- starts

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

    Examples: cacao, carob, cardboard

  • CO- starts

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

    Examples: cobra, cocoa, corkboard

Common Suffixes

  • -ACK endings

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

    Examples: aback, crack, barback, barrack, bookrack

  • -ARD endings

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

    Examples: board, aboard, backboard, cardboard, corkboard

  • -BRA endings

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

    Examples: cobra, abracadabra

  • -COA endings

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

    Examples: cocoa, barbacoa

Progressive Help

Pangram Hints

Pangram 1

Look for a 8-letter answer that uses every letter in the hive and keeps A in the word.

Reveal words: backdoor

Pangram 2

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

Reveal words: backboard

Pangram 3

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

Reveal words: corkboard

Spoiler Control

Notable Words

Why these matter

  • backdoor

    BACKDOOR is a pangram, so it uses all seven letters and earns the bonus on top of its 8-letter base score.

  • backboard

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

  • corkboard

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

  • abracadabra

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

  • cardboard

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

  • barbacoa

    BARBACOA 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

  • backdoor

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

  • backboard

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

  • corkboard

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

  • abracadabra

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

  • cardboard

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

  • barbacoa

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

  • rack

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

  • road

    ROAD 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

  • crookback

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

  • caracara

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

  • roorback

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

  • araroba

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

  • carabao

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

  • carrack

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

  • cordoba

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

  • arrack

    ARRACK 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.