Word Hive: a free daily spelling bee word puzzle
Word Hive is a free spelling bee style word game. Seven letters sit in a golden honeycomb. Make as many words as you can, each with at least four letters and always using the centre letter. Score points, find the pangram that uses all seven letters, and climb nine bee ranks up to Queen Bee. A new daily hive arrives every day, you can replay the last two weeks, read yesterday's answers and challenge a friend to beat your score. It works on phones, tablets and computers with no download.
How to play Word Hive
- Look at the seven letters in the honeycomb; the golden one in the middle is the centre letter.
- Tap letters or type them to build a word of at least four letters that includes the centre letter.
- Press Enter to submit it. Valid words are added to your list and score points.
- Use Shuffle to rearrange the outer letters when you are stuck, and Hints to see how many words are left.
- Keep finding words to climb the ranks from Newbie Bee to Queen Bee, and find a pangram that uses all seven letters.
On a computer you can simply type: letters build the word, Backspace deletes, Enter submits and Space shuffles the hive. On a phone, tap the hexagons. Your words and score are saved automatically, so you can come back to the same hive later in the day.
Scoring and bee ranks
| Word | Points |
|---|---|
| 4 letters | 1 point |
| 5 letters or more | 1 point per letter |
| Pangram (uses all 7 letters) | Length + 7 bonus points |
Ranks are based on the share of all available points in that hive, so they are fair whether the hive is small or huge:
| Rank | Points needed |
|---|---|
| Newbie Bee | 0% |
| Busy Bee | 2% |
| Pollen Picker | 5% |
| Honey Maker | 10% |
| Hive Builder | 20% |
| Wax Wizard | 35% |
| Royal Guard | 50% |
| Queen Bee | 70% |
| Hive Legend | 100%, every word found |
An example hive
Imagine the letters A in the centre with P, L, N, E, T and R around it. Valid words include plan (1 point), plate (5), parent (6) and pattern (7). Planet is fine too, but pelt is not, because it has no A. The pangram here is planter, which uses all seven letters and scores 7 + 7 = 14 points. Notice how letters can repeat: apple and pattern both use a letter twice.
Tips from expert word bees
- Hunt for endings. If the hive has I, N and G, every verb can become an -ING word. E and D give you -ED, and E and R give you -ER.
- Try plurals the hard way. Our hives never contain S, so look for other ways to stretch words, such as adding -Y, -LY or -ER.
- Start with the centre letter and work through every outer letter after it: A-P, A-L, A-N and so on.
- Shuffle often. Seeing the letters in a new order breaks your brain out of a rut and reveals words you missed.
- Look for the pangram early. Long words with common endings like -TION, -ING or -ED are often the pangram, and the bonus makes a big jump in rank.
- Double letters count. Words like little, pepper or teeth are allowed and are often forgotten.
Using the hints grid
Tap Hints to see a table of the words you have not found yet. Each row is a starting letter, each column a word length. For example, a 2 in row P under 5 means two five-letter words starting with P are still hidden. Below the table you will find the number of words left for each two-letter start, such as PL 3 or TR 1. These clues help you focus without spoiling the fun.
Why word puzzles are good for you
Spelling bee puzzles are a gentle workout for vocabulary, spelling and verbal fluency, the ability to retrieve words quickly. Searching for words that fit a pattern exercises working memory and flexible thinking, and the daily format makes it an easy, healthy habit. Students and English learners also find it a fun way to discover word families and common prefixes and suffixes.
More word games: Word Search, Hangman and the five-letter guessing game Ninja Wordly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Word Hive free?
Yes. Word Hive is free to play in any browser on phones, tablets and computers, with a new daily hive every day, an archive of the last two weeks and unlimited practice hives.
What are the rules?
Make words of four or more letters from the seven letters in the honeycomb. Every word must contain the golden centre letter, and letters may be repeated. Proper nouns, hyphenated words and offensive words are not included.
How is the score calculated?
A four-letter word is worth 1 point. Longer words score one point per letter, so a six-letter word scores 6. A pangram, a word that uses all seven letters, earns 7 bonus points.
What is a pangram?
A pangram is a word that uses every one of the seven letters at least once. Every hive has at least one. Pangrams are highlighted with a star in your word list.
What are the ranks?
Ranks go from Newbie Bee through Busy Bee, Pollen Picker, Honey Maker, Hive Builder, Wax Wizard and Royal Guard to Queen Bee at 70% of the total points. Find every word to become a Hive Legend.
Why was my word not accepted?
Our word list contains about 29,000 common English words. Very rare, technical or archaic words, names and swear words are left out so that every answer is a word most players know.
Is this the same as the New York Times Spelling Bee?
Word Hive uses the same classic letter-honeycomb idea, but it is an independent free game with its own word list, puzzles, ranks, hints and friend challenges. Util.Ninja is not affiliated with The New York Times.
How do hints work?
The hints table shows how many words you still have to find for each starting letter and length, plus the number of remaining words for each two-letter start. It narrows your search without giving away the words.
Can I see the answers?
Yes. Open Puzzles and tap Yesterday's answers to see every word from yesterday's daily hive, with the words you found marked in green.
Can I play older puzzles?
Yes. Open Puzzles to play any daily hive from the last two weeks, or start a practice hive from a bank of nearly 2,000 puzzles.