Your Spelling Bee Companion for Tuesday, May 26, 2026
A field guide for the E A B C I K L 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
46
Disputed Words
32
Pangrams
1
Score for Queen Bee
187
Genius estimate: 131 points
Verified Answers
46
Find every accepted word in today's source list
Pangrams
1
Use all seven letters
Disputed Words
32
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
Medium with a single pangram and heavy repeated-letter pressure
Today's E-centered hive looks friendly at first because so many entries end in -LE, but the board hides its points in doubled letters and a few specialized forms. Start by testing the long -ABLE ladder and the BEL-/CEL- families, because that is where the cleanest path to bigger scores begins. Once those are in place, sweep the short E-anchored cleanup words to keep the board moving without giving away the full list.
Verified answers
46
Max score
187
Genius
131
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.
187 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 131 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
46 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
- -ABLE ladder: This is the main scoring lane: it contains the pangram and several of the board's longest answers. Examples: able, liable, likable, likeable, callable, billable, clickable.
- BEL-/BELL family: BELIE, BELL, and BELLE show how often E has to be recycled inside doubled-letter frames. Examples: belie, bell, belle.
- CEL-/CELL cluster: The C-E-L stem branches into both common and specialist words, so it is worth pushing past the obvious 4-letter stop. Examples: cell, celli, celiac, celeb.
- BA-/CA- mirrored builds: Several short answers differ by just one opening consonant, which helps rack up quick cleanup points late. Examples: babe, bake, bale, cake, cable, cackle.
- Repeated L and E pressure: Many of the best entries need doubled letters, especially when you climb from 5 letters into 7-plus territory. Examples: allele, babble, kibble, libelee.
Common Prefixes
be-
Useful for a dense cluster of short and mid-length answers that all keep E active.
Examples: beak, beck, belie, bell, belle
ca-
A productive opening that leads from quick 4-letter fills to stronger 6- and 8-letter scores.
Examples: cake, cable, cackle, callable
li-
This is the cleanest route into the longer adjective stack and one of the board's trickier legal terms.
Examples: lice, like, liable, likable, libelee
Common Suffixes
-le
The dominant ending on the board; spotting it early unlocks much of the answer list.
Examples: able, bale, cable, allele, icicle
-able
The premium scoring suffix today, with one 9-letter pangram and several long support words.
Examples: liable, likable, likeable, billable, callable, clickable
-ell/-elle
These endings drive the doubled-letter trap that makes the puzzle tougher than the word count suggests.
Examples: bell, belle, cell
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
Shape first
The lone pangram is a 9-letter adjective ending in -ABLE and built from a very common digital-age verb.
Middle reveal
It starts with CLI- and keeps the doubled-consonant feel that shows up elsewhere on the board.
Full reveal
The pangram is the web-flavored adjective that uses every letter exactly through a familiar root plus -ABLE.
Reveal words: clickable
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- clickablePangram
- billable8 pts
- callable8 pts
- likeable8 pts
- celiac6 pts
- icicle6 pts
- libelee7 pts
- allele6 pts
- likable7 pts
- babble6 pts
Why these matter
- clickable
The only pangram is also the clearest map to today's long-word economy: think verb root plus -ABLE.
- billable
One of the best point jumps on the board, and a strong reminder that doubled Ls pay off today.
- callable
This long answer grows naturally out of CABLE and CALL-, so it rewards anyone extending obvious stems.
- likeable
The longer spelling variant turns a familiar base into a high-value answer without changing the board logic.
- celiac
This specialist word shows that the CEL- branch is worth deeper exploration than the everyday answers suggest.
- icicle
A neat repeated-I/C shape that helps solvers notice how forgiving the hive is about letter reuse.
- libelee
Probably the day's sneakiest accepted entry, and a good example of why it pays to test odd-looking E-heavy words.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- libelee
This legal noun is easy to miss because it looks like a variant you would normally talk yourself out of entering.
- celli
The plural of cello is a classic Bee trap: common in music contexts, but not a form many solvers test quickly.
- celiac
Medical vocabulary is carrying real value on this board, and this one also confirms the C-E-L branch matters.
- allele
The science term is short enough to overlook, but it teaches the doubled-L and doubled-E rhythm of the hive.
- likeable
Having both LIKEABLE and LIKABLE accepted makes this a useful check for spelling flexibility and suffix hunting.
- clickable
The pangram is not obscure, but it is strategically important because it points straight at the board's best suffix family.
Disputed Candidates
Plausible Rejections
- belike
It feels legitimate because BELIE, LIKE, and BELLE are all accepted nearby, but today's source list leaves it out.
- allelic
ALLELE invites this genetics adjective, yet the verified list stops at the base noun.
- bailable
It fits the strong -ABLE pattern perfectly, which makes it one of the more tempting solver-only candidates.
- belleek
The doubled-E build looks right for this hive, but it remains outside the verified answer set.
- cilice
All the letters work and the shape mirrors accepted words like ICICLE and CELIAC, but it is not source-verified today.
- cleek
This compact golf term is a believable short fill in an E-heavy board, yet it stays disputed.
- akee
Short dictionary words with repeated vowels are especially tempting here, but this one is not on the source list.
- ceiba
The tree name uses the hive cleanly and resembles accepted CELEB/CELIAC letter movement, but it is still rejected 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.