Spelling Bee hints & answers: May 3, 2026 (Puzzle #21294)

This page shows spoiler-layered hints and full answers for the NYT Spelling Bee hive published on May 3, 2026 (2026-05-03 · Puzzle #21294).

Hive overview

This hive centers on C with six outer letters. It has 69 stored words, 1 pangram, and about 383 available points before rank thresholds.

Show structure hint

This hive has 69 playable words worth about 383 points in total. Aim to unlock the pangram and a few long words early to get ahead of the ranking curve.

There is 1 pangram hidden in this hive.

Show word-count hints

Word count matrix (starting letter × length):

	4	5	6	7+	Σ
C	4 letters8	5 letters8	6 letters12	7+ letters14	Total42
A	4 letters1	5 letters2	6 letters1	7+ letters7	Total11
N	4 letters1	5 letters1	6 letters–	7+ letters–	Total2
O	4 letters1	5 letters1	6 letters1	7+ letters–	Total3
R	4 letters–	5 letters–	6 letters2	7+ letters1	Total3
T	4 letters2	5 letters1	6 letters1	7+ letters3	Total7
U	4 letters–	5 letters1	6 letters–	7+ letters–	Total1
Σ	4 letters13	5 letters14	6 letters17	7+ letters25	Total69

Approximate rank thresholds for this hive:

Good Start: 0 pts
Moving Up: 8 pts
Good: 19 pts
Solid: 31 pts
Nice: 57 pts
Great: 96 pts
Amazing: 153 pts
Genius: 268 pts
Queen Bee: 383 pts

Check your current score in the NYT game to see how close you are to each rank.

Show two-letter and length counts

Counts use the available unique accepted answers; they do not add dictionary guesses.

By length: 4 letters: 13 · 5 letters: 14 · 6 letters: 17 · 7 letters: 16 · 8 letters: 5 · 9 letters: 1 · 10 letters: 3

By first two letters: AC: 5 · AR: 2 · AT: 3 · AU: 1 · CA: 16 · CO: 18 · CR: 3 · CU: 5 · NA: 2 · OC: 2 · OR: 1 · RA: 2 · RO: 1 · TA: 2 · TO: 2 · TR: 2 · TU: 1 · UN: 1

Pangram 1

Show length and score

8 letters; worth 15 points. Some hive letters appear more than once.

Show letter pattern

The pangram starts with T and ends with T: T••••••T.

Reveal this pangram

TURNCOAT

Show score and letter coverage

TURNCOAT: 8 letter points + 7 pangram bonus = 15 points. Uses all seven letters: A, C, N, O, R, T, U.

Reveal full answer list (spoiler)

Full answer list for this hive (alphabetical):

WordLengthScorePangram

ACCOUNT
7
7
No
ACCOUNTANT
10
10
No
ACORN
5
5
No
ACTOR
5
5
No
ACTUATOR
8
8
No
ARCANA
6
6
No
ARCO
4
1
No
ATTRACT
7
7
No
ATTRACTANT
10
10
No
ATTRACTOR
9
9
No
AUTOCRAT
8
8
No
CACAO
5
5
No
CANCAN
6
6
No
CANNA
5
5
No
CANNON
6
6
No
CANNOT
6
6
No
CANON
5
5
No
CANT
4
1
No
CANTATA
7
7
No
CANTON
6
6
No
CANTOR
6
6
No
CARAT
5
5
No
CARROT
6
6
No
CART
4
1
No
CARTON
6
6
No
CARTOON
7
7
No
CATARACT
8
8
No
COAT
4
1
No
COCA
4
1
No
COCOA
5
5
No
COCONUT
7
7
No
COCOON
6
6
No
CONCOCT
7
7
No
CONCUR
6
6
No
CONTACT
7
7
No
CONTORT
7
7
No
CONTOUR
7
7
No
CONTRACT
8
8
No
CONTRACTOR
10
10
No
COOT
4
1
No
CORN
4
1
No
CORONA
6
6
No
COTTON
6
6
No
COUNT
5
5
No
COURT
5
5
No
CROC
4
1
No
CROON
5
5
No
CROUTON
7
7
No
CURACAO
7
7
No
CURATOR
7
7
No
CURRANT
7
7
No
CURT
4
1
No
CUTOUT
6
6
No
NARC
4
1
No
NARCO
5
5
No
OCCUR
5
5
No
OCTANT
6
6
No
ORCA
4
1
No
RACCOON
7
7
No
RANCOR
6
6
No
ROCOCO
6
6
No
TACO
4
1
No
TACT
4
1
No
TOCCATA
7
7
No
TOUCAN
6
6
No
TRACT
5
5
No
TRACTOR
7
7
No
TURNCOAT
8
15
Yes
UNCUT
5
5
No

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Today's hintsSee hive structure, rank cues, and spoiler-layered help.Spelling Bee archiveJump to stored hives by NYT print date.Previous hive: May 2, 2026Open the stored hive from May 2, 2026 · Puzzle #21155.Next hive: May 4, 2026Open the stored hive from May 4, 2026 · Puzzle #12781.