One small step at a time. Nobody wants the answer list — you want to be unstuck, and still feel like you got there yourself.
Clues without spoilers: how many words start with each letter, two-letter openings, and a pangram hint that doesn’t give it away. Counts refresh every day.
💬 Join the discussionEach cell shows how many words start with that letter at that length — the classic Spelling Bee Buddy grid.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1 | – | – | – | 1 |
| I | 1 | 2 | – | – | 3 |
| L | 1 | 1 | – | – | 2 |
| M | 13 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 20 |
| T | 2 | – | 1 | – | 3 |
| V | – | 1 | 1 | – | 2 |
| All | 18 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 31 |
Every word today begins with one of these two-letter combinations.
It is 10 letters long, starts with M, and uses at least one letter more than once.
This is the actual answer — only open it if you want it given away.
Tick each word as you find it — your progress saves on this device, so you can close the tab and pick up where you left off. Stuck on one? Take a single step at a time: a nudge about where the word lives, then what it roughly means, then its letters one at a time, then the word itself. Nothing appears until you ask for it. 31 of today’s words have a written nudge.
Unspoiled means you found it without going past the nudge. Everything here stays on this device — nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no account.
_ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _No list for today, or solving a different puzzle? Type the seven letters, mark the centre one, and the same ladder works on the results. Everything below runs in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere.
Every word must use the centre letter, may repeat letters, and is at least four letters long.
Seven letters, one of them compulsory. Every word must be at least four letters long, must use the centre letter, and may reuse any letter as often as you like — that last rule is the one people forget, and it is where a surprising number of the longer words come from.
The pangram uses all seven at least once. There is usually exactly one, occasionally two, and finding it early changes the whole puzzle: it confirms which letters genuinely combine, and it is worth a large bonus.
When you stall, stop scanning letters and start scanning shapes. Most missed words sit in a handful of predictable places:
Every other helper does the same thing: it prints every word. That ends the puzzle. You get the satisfaction of a completed list and none of the satisfaction of having solved it, and there is no way to take a smaller amount of help — the only options are nothing and everything.
A ladder gives you the smallest step that moves you. Most of the time a nudge about where a word lives is enough, and the word arrives in your own head a few seconds later. That still counts. It is why the score here measures what you found without going past the nudge, rather than how many words you saw.
No. Nothing about an unfound word is on the page until you ask for it — not the word, not its meaning, not its letters. Each tap gives you one step: where the word lives, then roughly what it means, then its opening letters, then the word itself. You choose where to stop.
It points at the neighbourhood a word belongs to — the field, the era, the kind of person who uses it — without defining it. Several different words should fit any given nudge. That is the point: it gets you thinking in the right direction without handing you the answer.
The share of words you found without going past the nudge. Taking the nudge is free; asking for the meaning, the letters or the answer spends it. It is the number worth sharing, because it measures how much you did yourself.
It is saved in your own browser and never sent anywhere — there is no account and no server-side record. The "Clear my data" button removes your streak, scores and saved progress from this device immediately.
Because it would rather tell you than quietly show you an old puzzle. The day’s list usually lands in the evening. Until then you can enter your seven letters and work from those instead.
They are candidate words from our own dictionary, and a given puzzle’s accepted list is curated and may differ. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The New York Times.
Want the meanings of every word for August 8, 2026, including the ones you found? They are on the August 8, 2026 answers page, with a definition for each. Prefer to keep going without spoilers? Back to the ladder ↑
How did today go? Share your progress, favorite finds, or where you got stuck. Be kind — no spoilers-shaming.