Today’s New York Times Spelling Bee was an absolute thrill for anyone who loves words and patterns. The puzzle featured M as the center letter, surrounded by A, T, N, V, I, O. At first glance, it looked promising—lots of vowels, some strong consonants—but the challenge was to find the elusive pangram. After a few minutes of letter play, the answer revealed itself loud and clear:
MOTIVATION

This word perfectly reflects the spirit of the game because that’s what you need to keep pushing forward—motivation! Let’s dive into how I cracked today’s puzzle and share the complete word list so you can compare your score.

Step 1: The Rules of the Game

For those new to Spelling Bee, here’s a quick refresher:
– Every word must include the center letter (M).
– Words must be at least four letters long.
– Letters can be used more than once.

With M in the center and the other letters A, T, N, V, I, O, the hive gave me a strong sense that today’s pangram would be something big, bold, and full of vowels.

Step 2: Spotting Patterns

I started with short words like main, moat, and mint. These warm-up words help spark ideas for longer ones. Soon I noticed clusters like mot-, min-, and via, which suggested more complex constructions.

Then it hit me: motivate. That seemed close, so I checked what else could be added. A quick shuffle later, MOTIVATION appeared, and I knew I’d struck gold.

Pangram: MOTIVATION

This nine-letter word means the reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way. It’s powerful, meaningful, and fitting for a brain-teasing puzzle like Spelling Bee.

Step 3: Building the Word List

Once the pangram was secured, I focused on other valid words. Here are some highlights:

• MAIN

• MINT

• MOAT

• AMAIN

• MAVIN

• OMIT

• ATOM

• VINO

• AMINO

• MOTION

• MOTTO

• MOTIVE

• NOVA

• TOMAN (a historical currency term)

• ANIM (short for animate in some dictionaries)

• MOTIVATION  (Pangram)

There are plenty more, but these represent the core of today’s puzzle.

How I Solved It

Here’s my strategy:

1. Start small. Find quick four-letter words to get in the flow.

2. Look for letter clusters that commonly appear in English, like mot, ion, and an.

3. Play with suffixes like -ion, -ive, and -ate to expand the list.

This approach usually helps uncover the pangram and maximizes your score.

Buzz-Worthy Takeaway

Today’s puzzle was an energizing reminder of why this game is so addictive. The pangram MOTIVATION not only gave us maximum points but also sent a message—keep going, keep playing, and keep learning. Every letter counts, and every guess sharpens your mind.

“Stay motivated, stay curious—because every word is a new adventure!”