Your Spelling Bee Companion for Monday, July 20, 2026
A field guide for the I H L M N O T hive: how many words to look for, where the big points are hiding, and full answer lists only when you decide you are ready to reveal them.
Today's Board
Verified Answers
38
Disputed Words
10
Pangrams
2
Score for Queen Bee
136
Genius estimate: 95 points
Verified Answers
38
Find every accepted word in today's puzzle
Pangrams
2
Use all seven letters
Disputed Words
10
Real-looking words to treat with caution
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
Compact I hive with two long pangram payoffs
Keep I active in almost every scan: this hive is compact at 38 verified answers, but two long pangrams and several repeated-letter builds carry most of the scoring. Start by testing MI- and MO- stems, then sweep the -ION family before dropping into the short double-letter cleanup. Repeated letters matter here more than breadth, so do not abandon a promising stem just because it doubles a consonant.
Verified answers
38
Max score
136
Genius
95
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.
136 possible points
Point Density
The current candidate pool estimates a Genius target around 95 points. Longer words matter more than raw word count.
38 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.
MI
8
words
LI
7
words
MO
4
words
TI
4
words
HI
3
words
LO
2
words
NO
2
words
TO
2
words
IN
1
word
NI
1
word
OL
1
word
OM
1
word
Score Planning
Word-Length Grid
Longer words carry more score. Clear them before the four-letter cleanup.
4 letters
22
one-point cleanup
5 letters
6
score-building row
6 letters
5
score-building row
7 letters
2
score-building row
8 letters
1
1 pangram
9 letters
2
1 pangram
Progressive Hint
First-Letter Counts
M
12
answers
L
9
answers
T
7
answers
H
3
answers
N
3
answers
O
3
answers
I
1
answer
Pattern Prompts
Work The Board Without Reveals
Pangram ladder
The fastest route to points is the two long all-letter builds, and both reward you for accepting repeated letters.
MI starts
The MI branch is the richest opening family on the board, scaling from short cleanup words into the nine-letter payoff.
-ION endings
Once you spot the ION landing, it keeps paying across short and long verified answers.
Double-letter pressure
This hive quietly depends on doubled consonants, especially in the short cleanup pass after the long words are found.
TI cleanup run
The TI/TIL cluster is the best late-board sweep once the big stems are exhausted.
Common Prefixes
MI
MI is the deepest productive opening on the board, covering both low-value fillers and the biggest scoring stem.
LI
LI opens several medium-value words and helps you bridge from four-letter finds to sturdier stems.
MO
MO holds one pangram and two other strong follow-ups, so it is worth an early dedicated scan.
TI
TI is a compact cleanup family with repeated letters and close variants.
Common Suffixes
ION
ION is the clearest repeating ending in the accepted list and unlocks several six-plus-letter answers.
INT
INT gives a reliable short-word cluster when you need cleanup after the long stems.
ILL
ILL repeats across three short accepted words and reinforces the double-letter theme.
ILT
ILT is another tidy short-word ending family worth checking once T becomes productive.
Progressive Help
Pangram Hints
No-spoiler nudge
Both pangrams are long and both rely on repeated letters, so treat doubled consonants as a feature instead of a red flag.
Shape hint
One pangram starts with MO- and lands at eight letters; the other starts with MI- and stretches to nine.
Optional reveal
Use this only if you want the two biggest scoring words immediately.
Reveal words: monolith, millionth
Spoiler Control
Notable Words
- millionthPangram
- monolithPangram
- nonillion9 pts
- million7 pts
- moonlit7 pts
- minion6 pts
- motion6 pts
- notion6 pts
- lotion6 pts
- tomtit6 pts
Why these matter
- millionth
MILLIONTH is the board's longest accepted word and one of the two pangrams, so it is the biggest single scoring swing available.
- monolith
MONOLITH is the cleaner pangram shape, and spotting it early makes the rest of the MO family easier to trust.
- nonillion
NONILLION is a rare nine-letter non-pangram that still pays like a headline answer because the repeated-N pattern is easy to overlook.
- million
MILLION is a valuable base word because it proves the MI stem and points toward the board's biggest extension.
- moonlit
MOONLIT is a strong long answer that rewards you for trusting repeated O usage instead of defaulting to cleaner shapes.
- motion
MOTION is one of the best mid-length bridge words and helps unlock the broader -ION ending run.
- notion
NOTION is a useful checkpoint because it confirms that the productive -ION ending is not limited to M-start words.
- minion
MINION sits in the middle of the MI ladder and often helps solvers see both the short repeats and the longer million-family builds.
Hard Finds
Tricky Accepted Words
- limn
LIMN is easy to skip because the consonant stack looks unfinished, but it is a verified answer and a classic short-board trap.
- litho
LITHO looks like a clipped form, which makes it easy to dismiss unless you deliberately test the LITH stem.
- minim
MINIM leans on repeated letters and a less common musical word shape, so it is a strong keep-looking candidate.
- olio
OLIO is short, vowel-heavy, and not an everyday guess, which makes it a common miss late in the board.
- tilth
TILTH is a useful reminder that TH endings and doubled consonant neighborhoods both matter in this hive.
- tomtit
TOMTIT is worth chasing because the mirrored T pattern makes it feel less likely than it really is.
Disputed Candidates
Plausible Rejections
- lilo
LILO fits the LI/LO letter flow and repeated-vowel shape, but it is not in the verified source list for this date.
- linn
LINN looks plausible because the board rewards short doubled-consonant words, yet it was not source-backed today.
- lino
LINO feels natural once the LI family opens up, but the verified answer set stops short of including it.
- lith
LITH is tempting because LITHO is accepted, but the shorter clipped form was not verified by the source set.
- loti
LOTI matches the short-vowel cleanup style on this board, but it does not appear in the accepted list.
- monition
MONITION looks especially plausible beside MONOLITH and the heavy -ION family, but today's sources did not accept it.
- noil
NOIL is a believable short sweep word once NO- and OI patterns appear, but it remained solver-only after reconciliation.
- otolith
OTOLITH uses the hive neatly and looks like a serious long-word hit, but it was not in the verified source answer list.
- thill
THILL borrows the board's doubled-consonant theme, yet it did not survive source validation for this puzzle.
- thiol
THIOL has a strong science-word feel and fits the letters cleanly, but the source set did not confirm it today.
Answer Vault
All The Words You Need And A Few You Don't.
Trusted words are your safest answer list. Disputed words are real-looking candidates that may not count in the curated puzzle, but they can still be useful for review.