Your Spelling Bee Companion for Tuesday, June 16, 2026
A field guide for the Y A E I L N V 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
31
Disputed Words
2
Pangrams
2
Score for Queen Bee
158
Genius estimate: 111 points
Verified Answers
31
Find every accepted word in today's source list
Pangrams
2
Use all seven letters
Disputed Words
2
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 board with two pangram payoffs and a crowded -LY ladder
Today's center letter is Y, and the hive leans hard on repeated-letter builds instead of broad short-word variety. Start by testing long -LY and -NLY shapes, because this board hides two all-letter payoffs inside that family. If you chase VI-, VE-, and NA- lanes before cleanup, the score climbs much faster than it does on the four-letter pass.
Verified answers
31
Max score
158
Genius
111
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.
158 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 111 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
31 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.
Spoiler-Light Scan
Two-Letter Start Counts
Use these starts as a checklist without revealing full answers.
VI
4
words
AL
3
words
LE
3
words
LI
3
words
NA
3
words
VE
3
words
EV
2
words
IN
2
words
VA
2
words
AN
1
word
EE
1
word
EN
1
word
Score Planning
Word-Length Grid
Longer rows carry more score. Clear them before the four-letter cleanup.
4 letters
9
one-point cleanup
5 letters
7
score-building row
6 letters
8
score-building row
7 letters
4
1 pangram
8 letters
3
1 pangram
Progressive Hint
First-Letter Counts
V
9
answers
L
6
answers
A
4
answers
E
4
answers
N
4
answers
I
3
answers
Y
1
answer
Pattern Prompts
Work The Board Without Reveals
- NA- and VEN- pangram lanes: The fastest points are concentrated in the two all-letter routes, and both come from longer word families rather than isolated oddballs. Examples: naively, venially, venally.
- -NLY extensions: This board rewards solvers who keep building after the base word, because several solid scores land in the narrower -NLY finish. Examples: evenly, leanly, vainly.
- VI ladder: VI- is not just short cleanup here; it stretches from four-letter entries into two of the board's best long scores. Examples: viny, vinyl, vilely, villainy.
- VE family: VE- gives you a reliable scoring staircase from a short check word into two stronger six-plus-letter answers. Examples: veiny, venally, venially.
- Double-N cleanup: Repeated N is part of the real answer set, so do not talk yourself out of the short twins when you sweep the board late. Examples: nanny, ninny.
- AL/EL repeated-letter starts: The board opens with a cluster of AL- and EL/LE repeated-letter shapes that help confirm the hive's overall rhythm early. Examples: allay, alley, ally, levelly.
Common Prefixes
AL-
AL- produces a tight family of repeated-letter starters that helps set the tone for the whole board.
Examples: allay, alley, ally, anally
VE-
VE- is one of the most useful high-scoring openings because it scales from short validation to long finishers.
Examples: veiny, venally, venially
VI-
VI- keeps paying once you move past the obvious short forms.
Examples: vilely, villainy, viny, vinyl
LE-
LE- is worth a full pass because it branches into both short and long accepted words.
Examples: leanly, levelly, levy
Common Suffixes
-LY
The dominant ending on this board is the simplest place to hunt extra accepted words after you find a base stem.
Examples: ally, evenly, lively, venially, vilely
-NLY
This narrower finish is a strong scoring lane rather than a one-off.
Examples: evenly, leanly, vainly
-LLY
Doubled L plus Y shows up again and again, especially in the higher-value six- to eight-letter answers.
Examples: anally, levelly, lineally, venally, venially
-INY
The -INY sound appears in both a short accepted check word and a longer payoff word.
Examples: veiny, viny, villainy
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
All-letter scan
Both pangrams stay inside the board's repeated-letter habit, so do not abandon doubled letters when you try to cover all seven tiles.
Pangram lane 1
One pangram is a familiar adverb shape that starts with NA- and uses the center letter near the end.
Pangram lane 2
The other pangram grows out of the VE-/VEN- family and stretches to eight letters with an -ALLY style finish.
Reveal pangrams
Use this only after your own scan.
Reveal words: naively, venially
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- veniallyPangram
- naivelyPangram
- lineally8 pts
- villainy8 pts
- levelly7 pts
- venally7 pts
- viny1 pts
- eely1 pts
- inanely7 pts
- anally6 pts
Why these matter
- venially
VENIALLY is the longest pangram, so it delivers the biggest single jump and confirms that the board rewards long repeated-letter builds.
- naively
NAIVELY is the cleaner seven-letter pangram and the fastest way to prove the hive wants a full-letter sweep, not just short cleanup.
- lineally
LINEALLY is an eight-point non-pangram that turns the crowded -ALLY ending into a serious scoring route.
- villainy
VILLAINY is another eight-point answer and the best reminder that the VI family keeps stretching farther than it first appears.
- levelly
LEVELLY is worth chasing because its doubled letters look suspicious even though they are central to today's accepted patterning.
- venally
VENALLY is the best bridge word into the longer VEN- pangram lane and a good checkpoint that you are reading the board correctly.
- viny
VINY is short but important because it is source-verified and unlocks the rest of the VIN- ladder.
- eely
EELY is a useful cleanup catch that tells you repeated vowels are absolutely in play on this board.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- viny
VINY is easy to dismiss as solver noise, but it is source-verified today and matters because it anchors the whole VI/VIN ladder.
- eely
EELY is exactly the kind of awkward repeated-vowel cleanup word many solvers skip on first pass.
- lineally
LINEALLY looks overbuilt, but it is one of the board's best non-pangram scores once you trust the -ALLY expansion.
- levelly
LEVELLY hides in plain sight because the repeated letters make it look less standard than it is.
- venally
VENALLY is strategically useful because it points straight toward the longer VEN- pangram lane without revealing the whole route.
- villainy
VILLAINY is a high-value answer that only appears if you keep extending the VI lane past the cleaner shorter forms.
Disputed Candidates
Plausible Rejections
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.