Your Spelling Bee Companion for Friday, May 29, 2026
A field guide for the A E K Q S U Y 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
41
Disputed Words
10
Pangrams
1
Score for Queen Bee
170
Genius estimate: 119 points
Verified Answers
41
Find every accepted word in today's source list
Pangrams
1
Use all seven letters
Disputed Words
10
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
Moderate with one high-value pangram and a heavy S/QU cleanup
A is the required center letter today, and this hive is more about disciplined family-hunting than free-form brainstorming. Start with the S-heavy and QU-based lanes, then push into SEA- and repeated-letter builds before circling back for the many short cleanup words that keep the board feeling busier than its 41 verified answers suggest.
Verified answers
41
Max score
170
Genius
119
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.
170 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 119 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
41 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
- SQU- cluster: The SQU lane is the cleanest route to the pangram and one of the few branches that creates immediate high-value momentum. Examples: squeak, squeaks, squeaky.
- SEA- family: SEA- does real work here, producing both easy cleanup words and one of the day's biggest scoring answers. Examples: sea, seas, seaquake, seaquakes.
- QUAK- ladder: QUAK- is worth extending carefully because it converts one discovery into several accepted answers. Examples: quake, quakes, quaky.
- Repeated-S branch: This board rewards solvers who trust repeated letters, especially in the assess and sass families. Examples: assess, assesses, sass, sasses, sassy.
- Delay the one-pointers: There are 16 four-letter answers, so your first pass should stay with the longer families instead of chasing cleanup too early. Examples: aqua, asea, asks, auks, ayes.
Common Prefixes
AS- starts
AS repeats often enough to be one of the board's best opening scans.
Examples: asea, asks, assay, assays, asses
QU- starts
QU repeats often enough to be one of the board's best opening scans.
Examples: quake, quakes, quaky, quay, quays
SA- starts
SA repeats often enough to be one of the board's best opening scans.
Examples: sake, sakes, sass, sasses, sassy
EA- starts
EA repeats often enough to be one of the board's best opening scans.
Examples: ease, eases, easy
Common Suffixes
-AYS endings
AYS is a recurring ending in accepted answers, so it is worth testing once a stem appears.
Examples: assays, essays, kays, quays, says
-SES endings
SES is a recurring ending in accepted answers, so it is worth testing once a stem appears.
Examples: asses, assesses, eases, sasses
-AKE endings
AKE is a recurring ending in accepted answers, so it is worth testing once a stem appears.
Examples: quake, sake, seaquake
-AKS endings
AKS is a recurring ending in accepted answers, so it is worth testing once a stem appears.
Examples: kayaks, squeaks, yaks
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
Perfect pangram alert
There is exactly one perfect pangram today, so the all-letter answer uses each tile once and only once.
Sound pattern
That pangram begins with the same opening as a high-pitched noise and ends like a familiar descriptive adjective.
Reveal
Open this only if you want the full pangram.
Reveal words: squeaky
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- squeakyPangram
- seaquakes9 pts
- seaquake8 pts
- queasy6 pts
- assesses8 pts
- kayaks6 pts
- quays5 pts
- squeaks7 pts
- assays6 pts
- assess6 pts
Why these matter
- squeaky
The only pangram is also a perfect pangram, so it maps the whole hive in one shot and gives an immediate scoring spike.
- seaquakes
This plural is one of the biggest point swings on the board and confirms that the SEA- family deserves real attention.
- seaquake
A useful bridge word that often appears before the longer pluralized payoff.
- queasy
This seven-letter answer broadens the QU lane beyond the more obvious quake sequence.
- assesses
A reminder that repeated-letter confidence matters today, especially when the board starts feeling too short-word-heavy.
- kayaks
A repeated-letter plural that rewards anyone willing to revisit the smaller K branch late in the solve.
- quays
Helpful because it confirms the board supports the less intuitive quay spelling as well as the louder QUAK family.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- queasy
A strong seven-letter scorer that is easy to miss if you focus too narrowly on the earthquake branch.
- skua
Short, legitimate, and obscure enough to slip past a normal cleanup pass.
- asea
Common phrase, less common spelling shape in a hive scan.
- seaquake
Looks plausible once you have SEA- and QUA-, but it still takes deliberate assembly.
- assesses
Repeated S and E pressure makes this feel less natural than it really is.
- quay
The accepted spelling is familiar to experienced solvers but still easy to doubt in the moment.
Disputed Candidates
Plausible Rejections
- eyases
EYASES fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- ukases
UKASES fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- akees
AKEES fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- quass
QUASS fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- ukase
UKASE fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- yakka
YAKKA fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- akee
AKEE fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- eyas
EYAS fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- kaka
KAKA fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
- keas
KEAS fits the hive letters and current solver rules, but it is not in today's verified source set.
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.