How to Play Spelling Bee (Hive)

What is Hive?

Game Rules

1. 1
   Use the center letter - every word must include it.
2. 2
   Use at least 4 letters per word.
   

   • Shorter words do not count.
   • You can repeat a letter within a word.
   • You do not have to use all seven letters in every word.
3. 3
   Find a pangram - a word using all seven available letters at least once earns a bonus.
4. 4
   Words must be in the puzzle's answer or bonus lists. Main answers are mostly familiar common nouns, usually in the singular. Nouns that exist only in the plural are exceptions. Other types of words may be accepted as bonus words.

Controls

• Enter letters

  Tap the letters in the honeycomb or type on your keyboard. You can use any of the seven letters more than once.

• Submit a word

  Press Enter on your keyboard or the Enter button below the honeycomb to submit the word.

• Correct a letter

  Use the Delete button on screen or Backspace on your keyboard to remove the last letter you entered.

• Shuffle the letters

  The shuffle button rearranges only the six outer letters. It keeps the center letter, puzzle and score unchanged.

Scoring

1. 1
   4-letter words: 1 point.
2. 2
   Longer words: 1 point per letter.
3. 3
   Pangram: the word's length + 7 bonus points. A pangram with 8 letters earns 15 points.

Ranks and completion

• Genius

  Reach about 60% of the total possible points to earn Genius. You do not need to find every word.

• Spelling Master

  Find every word in the puzzle's list to become Spelling Master. This is the goal beyond Genius.

Word hints and practice

• Open the word list

  Expand Words to see the words you have found. For each missing word, the list shows its first two letters and dots for the remaining letters, so you can work out its length.

• Hints and bonus words

  Tap the bulb beside the word list to reveal the next letter of a random unfinished word. Each puzzle starts with 1 hint. Every 5 different words found, including bonus words, earn another hint. Bonus words add no points and are not needed to complete the puzzle.

• Try the tutorial

  The first time you press Play, an interactive tutorial introduces the game. You can reopen it through How to play in the menu. Practice is separate from your daily puzzle progress.

Daily puzzles and saved progress

• When does the puzzle change?

  A new puzzle appears at midnight UTC. Players using the same language get the same daily puzzle; different languages have their own words and letters.

• Continue in the same browser

  Your progress saves automatically in this browser on this device. It does not sync to other browsers or devices. Clearing the site's browser data can erase your progress.

• Yesterday's answers

  Open Yesterday's Answers in the menu to see the previous day's solution list.

Tips & Strategies

1. 1
   Start with familiar words - try names of objects, animals, foods and places using the available letters.
2. 2
   Look for noun endings - endings such as -tion, -ness or -ment may suggest longer words, if all their letters are available.
3. 3
   Shuffle the letters - seeing the outer letters in a different order may help you spot a combination you missed.
4. 4
   Look for a pangram - think about how all seven letters could fit in one word. Letters can repeat, so it may be longer than seven letters.

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