NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 21, 2026
Game Summary
| Center Letter | G |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, d, e, h, n |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 35 words |
| Total Points | 163 points |
| Genius Level | 114 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
Table of Contents
As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!
- Spelling Bee Grid
- Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
- Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
- Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
- Today's Complete Solution
- Answer Definitions
If you're just here for a list of NYT Spelling Bee answers, Jump down to the answers ↓ (Spoiler Alert!).
Spelling Bee Grid
The following table shows the standard Spelling Bee summary grid, which lists word lengths across the top and letters down the left-hand side. The cell where the word lengths and letters intersect displays the number of words in today's puzzle with the corresponding first letter and word length.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 3 |
| C | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 6 |
| D | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| E | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | 1 | 10 |
| G | 5 | - | 3 | 1 | - | - | 9 |
| H | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | 5 |
| N | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 11 | 7 | 11 | 5 | - | 1 | 35 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AD×1 AG×2 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×4 CH×2 |
| D | DA×1 |
| E | ED×2 EG×4 EN×4 |
| G | GA×7 GE×1 GH×1 |
| H | HA×2 HE×3 |
| N | NA×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ADA×1 AGE×2 |
|---|---|
| C | CAD×2 CAG×2 CHA×2 |
| D | DAN×1 |
| E | EDG×2 EGA×1 EGG×3 ENC×2 ENG×2 |
| G | GAD×1 GAG×3 GAN×3 GEN×1 GHE×1 |
| H | HAN×2 HED×2 HEN×1 |
| N | NAG×1 |
Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing)
The table below lists all of the solutions to today's puzzle, but they're concealed. You can click the plus button (+) to reveal additional letters, one-by-one.
Concealed definitions are provided as additional clues. You can toggle concealment of the definitions by clicking on the concealer bar or the text that appears when the definition is visible.
Pangrams are marked with a dagger symbol (†).
| Word | 2L Ref | Definition (click to reveal) |
|---|---|---|
| ch..... † | CH7 | simple past tense and past participle of change |
| ad... | AD5 | An old saying which has obtained credit by long use. |
| ag.. | AG4 | Old. |
| ag.... | AG6 | A temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to. |
| ca... | CA5 | A circular frame on which cadgers carry hawks for sale. |
| ca.... | CA6 | simple past tense and past participle of cadge |
| ca.. | CA4 | An enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals. |
| ca... | CA5 | Confined in a cage. |
| ch.... | CH6 | To become something different. |
| da.. | DA4 | Damn. |
| ed.. | ED4 | The boundary line of a surface. |
| ed... | ED5 | simple past tense and past participle of edge |
| eg.. | EG4 | a mild exclamation of surprise, contempt, outrage, etc. |
| eg... | EG5 | simple past tense and past participle of egg |
| eg..... | EG7 | A bald person, especially a man. |
| eg....... | EG9 | intellectual |
| en.... | EN6 | To lock inside a cage; to imprison. |
| en..... | EN7 | simple past tense and past participle of encage |
| en.... | EN6 | To interact socially. To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. To draw into conversation. To attract, to please; to fascinate or win over (someone). |
| en..... | EN7 | simple past tense and past participle of engage |
| ga.... | GA6 | simple past tense and past participle of gad |
| ga.. | GA4 | Mentally senile. |
| ga.. | GA4 | To bind by pledge, or security; to engage. |
| ga.... | GA6 | past participle of gag |
| ga..... | GA7 | A rich sauce, made of chocolate and cream, used also as the filling of truffles, and as a glaze. |
| ga.. | GA4 | To go; walk; proceed. |
| ga.... | GA6 | simple past tense and past participle of gang |
| ge.. | GE4 | A theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms; a gene may take several values and in principle predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form (phenotype), such as hair color. |
| gh.. | GH4 | A type of clarified butter used in South Asian cooking; usli ghee. |
| ha.. | HA4 | To be or remain suspended. |
| ha.... | HA6 | simple past tense and past participle of hang (now only when referring to the method of execution) |
| he... | HE5 | A thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden. |
| he.... | HE6 | simple past tense and past participle of hedge |
| he... | HE5 | A prehistoric enclosure in the form of a circle or circular arc defined by a raised circular bank and a circular ditch usually running inside the bank, with one or more entrances leading into the enclosed open space. |
| na.... | NA6 | simple past tense and past participle of nag |
Today's Complete Solution
The words that follow are a complete listing of all acceptable words in today's New York Time Spelling Bee puzzle.
Next to the answer word you'll see the two-letter reference (2L Ref) in parentheses. We added that 2L Ref for easier translation of the spoiler-avoidant language you see on the Spelling Bee Forum and Twitter. The 2L Ref signifies a word's two start letters followed by the total number of letters in the word.
- changed† (CH7)
- adage (AD5)
- aged (AG4)
- agenda (AG6)
- cadge (CA5)
- cadged (CA6)
- cage (CA4)
- caged (CA5)
- change (CH6)
- dang (DA4)
- edge (ED4)
- edged (ED5)
- egad (EG4)
- egged (EG5)
- egghead (EG7)
- eggheaded (EG9)
- encage (EN6)
- encaged (EN7)
- engage (EN6)
- engaged (EN7)
- gadded (GA6)
- gaga (GA4)
- gage (GA4)
- gagged (GA6)
- ganache (GA7)
- gang (GA4)
- ganged (GA6)
- gene (GE4)
- ghee (GH4)
- hang (HA4)
- hanged (HA6)
- hedge (HE5)
- hedged (HE6)
- henge (HE5)
- nagged (NA6)
Answer Definitions
- changed† (verb): simple past tense and past participle of change
- adage (noun): An old saying which has obtained credit by long use.
- aged (adjective): Old.
- agenda (noun): A temporally organized plan for matters to be attended to.
- cadge (noun): A circular frame on which cadgers carry hawks for sale.
- cadged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cadge
- cage (noun): An enclosure made of bars, normally to hold animals.
- caged (adjective): Confined in a cage.
- change (verb): To become something different.
- dang (verb): Damn.
- edge (noun): The boundary line of a surface.
- edged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of edge
- egad (interjection): a mild exclamation of surprise, contempt, outrage, etc.
- egged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of egg
- egghead (noun): A bald person, especially a man.
- eggheaded (adjective): intellectual
- encage (verb): To lock inside a cage; to imprison.
- encaged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of encage
- engage (verb): To interact socially. To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied. To draw into conversation. To attract, to please; to fascinate or win over (someone).
- engaged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of engage
- gadded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of gad
- gaga (adjective): Mentally senile.
- gage (verb): To bind by pledge, or security; to engage.
- gagged (verb): past participle of gag
- ganache (noun): A rich sauce, made of chocolate and cream, used also as the filling of truffles, and as a glaze.
- gang (verb): To go; walk; proceed.
- ganged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of gang
- gene (noun): A theoretical unit of heredity of living organisms; a gene may take several values and in principle predetermines a precise trait of an organism's form (phenotype), such as hair color.
- ghee (noun): A type of clarified butter used in South Asian cooking; usli ghee.
- hang (verb): To be or remain suspended.
- hanged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of hang (now only when referring to the method of execution)
- hedge (noun): A thicket of bushes or other shrubbery, especially one planted as a fence between two portions of land, or to separate the parts of a garden.
- hedged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of hedge
- henge (noun): A prehistoric enclosure in the form of a circle or circular arc defined by a raised circular bank and a circular ditch usually running inside the bank, with one or more entrances leading into the enclosed open space.
- nagged (verb): simple past tense and past participle of nag