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BuzzyWords

Your Spelling Bee Companion for Friday, May 22, 2026

A field guide for the O A H I L N 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

oahilnt

Verified Answers

55

Disputed Words

34

Pangrams

3

Score for Queen Bee

262

Genius estimate: 184 points

Verified Answers

55

Find every accepted word in today's source list

Pangrams

3

Use all seven letters

Disputed Words

34

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 with long-word payoff

The O center letter drives a 55-answer hive built from OAHILNT, and the fastest progress comes from spotting the long O-heavy families before you sweep short cleanup. Start by testing -TION and -ATION shapes plus doubled-O and doubled-L branches, because this board hides its biggest points in extended word families rather than isolated one-offs. If you are playing spoiler-light, use the long-answer scaffolding first and leave the 22 four-letter words for your last pass.

Verified answers

55

Max score

262

Genius

184

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.

262 possible points

Point Density

The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 184 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.

55 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

  • -tion / -ation ladder: This is the clearest scoring lane on the board: once you see one long -TION build, several more verified answers fall quickly. Examples: annihilation, annotation, inhalation, initiation, intonation.
  • Double-O cleanup: Repeated O is everywhere here, so test compact forms with OO before assuming the hive only wants longer literary words. Examples: hoot, loon, loot, noon, tattoo.
  • Double-L branches: LL appears in several accepted answers and helps unlock both short cleanup and longer variants like lanolin or titillation. Examples: allot, atoll, llano, loll, nonillion.
  • Long O-center builds first: The board reaches a high points because the real value lives in seven-letter-plus answers, not the 22 one-point words. Examples: annihilation, titillation, annotation, inhalation, initiation.
  • AN / LO / NO / TO starts: These openings account for a big chunk of the verified list, so they are better anchors than random scanning. Examples: anoint, loath, notation, tooth, total.

Common Prefixes

  • an

    AN opens a productive family on this board.

    Examples: anion, annatto, annihilation, annotation, anoint

  • no

    NO opens a productive family on this board.

    Examples: nonillion, notation, notational, notion, notional

  • lo

    LO opens a productive family on this board.

    Examples: loath, lotion, lotto

  • to

    TO opens a productive family on this board.

    Examples: tonal, tooth, total

Common Suffixes

  • ion

    ION repeats as a useful finishing pattern on this board.

    Examples: anion, annihilation, annotation, inhalation, initiation

Progressive Help

Pangram Hints

No-spoiler pangram nudge 1

One pangram is a 12-letter noun ending in -TION that uses all seven letters and grows from an annihilate-style skeleton.

No-spoiler pangram nudge 2

The other pangram is a 10-letter noun ending in -TION, but it starts with a breathing-related prefix instead of a destructive one.

Pangram reveal

If you want the full confirms, both pangrams are here.

Reveal words: annihilation, inhalation

Spoiler Control

Notable Words

Why these matter

  • annihilation

    ANNIHILATION is a pangram, so it uses every letter in the hive and delivers the fastest big-score swing on the board.

  • inhalation

    INHALATION is a pangram, so it uses every letter in the hive and delivers the fastest big-score swing on the board.

  • titillation

    TITILLATION shows how valuable the board’s -TION family is once you spot the right stem.

  • nonillion

    NONILLION is a standout long answer that rewards solvers who trust repeated N and repeated O instead of avoiding duplicates.

  • annotation

    ANNOTATION shows how valuable the board’s -TION family is once you spot the right stem.

  • intonation

    INTONATION shows how valuable the board’s -TION family is once you spot the right stem.

  • initiation

    INITIATION shows how valuable the board’s -TION family is once you spot the right stem.

  • notational

    NOTATIONAL is a useful verified answer that reinforces one of today’s major scoring patterns.

Hard Finds

Tricky Accepted Words

  • annihilation

    ANNIHILATION is a long pangram, so finding it early clears the whole letter set and unlocks one of the board's biggest score jumps.

  • inhalation

    INHALATION is the other pangram, and it is easy to miss unless you deliberately test the board's long -ATION family.

  • annatto

    ANNATTO is a useful seven-letter bridge into the puzzle’s heavy AN- and double-T patterns.

  • lanolin

    LANOLIN is a clean long answer that confirms the board rewards repeated L and repeated N constructions.

  • llano

    LLANO is easy to overlook because it starts with a doubled consonant and feels less common than the rest of the board.

  • olio

    OLIO is short, valid, and easy to skip because it looks like filler rather than a real scoring stop.

  • tattoo

    TATTOO matters because it confirms repeated T and repeated O without needing any obscure extra letter.

  • titillation

    TITILLATION is a major score jump and an example of how aggressively this puzzle rewards extended -TION families.

Disputed Candidates

Plausible Rejections

  • aloin

    ALOIN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • anatto

    ANATTO fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • anoa

    ANOA fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • antlion

    ANTLION fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • halation

    HALATION fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • halloo

    HALLOO fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • halon

    HALON fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

  • honan

    HONAN fits the letters and BuzzyWords can generate it, but the verified source list for 2026-05-22 does not include it.

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.