SpellingBeeSolver
Puzzle Intelligence

Spelling Bee
Statistics & Insights

Deep data across 3,105 puzzles — letter patterns, records, and historical trends.

3,105

Puzzles

127,694

Total Words

4,301

Pangrams

1,078

Perfect Pangrams

Word History Search

Find every puzzle where a specific word appeared

New

Search the full archive database — finds official NYT puzzle answers only.

~ Averages Per Puzzle

Words 41.1
Pangrams 1.4
Average word length 5.4 letters

△ All-Time Records

Most Words

June 8, 2019

81 View →

Fewest Words

March 27, 2023

16 View →

Most Pangrams

December 16, 2021

8 View →

Highest Score

January 22, 2021

537 pts View →

Most Common Center Letters

How often each letter sits in the center position across all puzzles

1
O
280
9.02%
2
T
241
7.76%
3
A
234
7.54%
4
L
231
7.44%
5
I
225
7.25%
6
N
215
6.92%
7
C
214
6.89%
8
M
174
5.6%
9
R
150
4.83%
10
P
144
4.64%
11
B
133
4.28%
12
E
132
4.25%
13
H
130
4.19%
14
U
100
3.22%
15
D
96
3.09%
16
F
90
2.9%
17
Y
87
2.8%
18
G
84
2.71%
19
V
51
1.64%
20
K
43
1.38%
21
W
42
1.35%
22
Z
7
0.23%
23
J
1
0.03%
24
Q
1
0.03%

All Letters Frequency

Total appearances across all puzzles (c = times as center letter)

A
1838 (234c)
I
1745 (225c)
N
1704 (215c)
L
1618 (231c)
O
1564 (280c)
T
1535 (241c)
E
1292 (132c)
C
1198 (214c)
D
950 (96c)
R
932 (150c)
H
866 (130c)
Y
864 (87c)
M
839 (174c)
G
800 (84c)
U
746 (100c)
P
709 (144c)
B
682 (133c)
F
462 (90c)
K
375 (43c)
W
317 (42c)
V
313 (51c)
X
144 (0c)
Z
126 (7c)
J
92 (1c)
Q
21 (1c)
S
3 (0c)

Word Length Distribution

How many answers of each length exist across all puzzles. Gold = contains pangrams.

4L
47,838
5L
31,026
6L
23,648
7L
13,225
1078
8L
7,173
1428
9L
2,935
994
10L
1,384
510
11L
305
175
12L
133
100
13L
24
13
14L
2
2
15L
1
1

Understanding Spelling Bee Statistics

Our database covers 3,105 Spelling Bee puzzles spanning years of daily gameplay. The average puzzle contains roughly 41 words, though this swings significantly — some puzzles have as few as 15 words while others push past 60.

Center letter selection follows clear patterns. O leads with 280 appearances (9.02%), making it the most common center letter. A rare center letter typically constrains the word pool significantly.

Perfect pangrams — 7-letter words using each letter exactly once — are genuinely rare. Out of 3,105 puzzles, only 1,078 contain one (34.7% of all puzzles).

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common center letter in the Spelling Bee?

The most common center letter is O, appearing in 280 puzzles (9.02%). Top 5: O, T, A, L, I.

How many words does the average puzzle have?

About 41 words, with 1.4 pangrams on average. Puzzles with more pangrams tend to have higher maximum scores.

How rare is a perfect pangram?

Out of 3,105 puzzles, only 1,078 contain a perfect pangram — roughly 34.7% of all puzzles.