If you’ve been working on today’s New York Times Spelling Bee, you know it’s all about forming words using the given letters. For today’s puzzle, the center letter is U, which means every word must include this letter.

Today’s Letters:

• Center Letter (Mandatory): U

• Other Letters: L, A, T, C, H, N

The challenge is to make as many words as possible using these seven letters, with a minimum of four letters in each word. No proper nouns or obscure words outside the official list are allowed.

 Today’s Pangram:

UNLATCH

The word UNLATCH means “to open a latch or fastening.” It uses all the letters provided in the hive, making it the perfect pangram for today’s puzzle!

 How I Solved It:

When I first looked at the letters, the center letter U immediately made me think of words like “hunt” and “aunt.” From there, I tried to group letters into common patterns:

• Combinations like UN, LA, and CH seemed promising.

• I noticed LATCH could be extended to UNLATCH if U and N were included, and that’s when the pangram clicked!

Tip: Looking for base words (like “latch” or “halt”) and thinking of prefixes such as “un-” or suffixes like “-al” often leads to pangrams.

Steps I Followed:

1. Start with easy 4-letter words: hunt, aunt, chat, cult.

2. Identify longer combinations: launch, talc, haul.

3. Think of prefixes: “un-” is often a game-changer in Spelling Bee puzzles.

4. Look for complete letter usage: This revealed UNLATCH.

All Possible Words (Found So Far):

Here’s a list of valid words you can make from today’s hive:

• AUNT

• ACTUAL

• ANNUAL

• CHAT

• CANNULA

• CLAN

• CLUTCH

• CULT

• HALT

• HAUNCH

• HAUL

• LATH

• LAUNCH

• LUNULA

• LUNA

• NUCA

• NUTHATCH

• TAUN

• TACTUAL

• TUNA

• UNCH

• UNCUT

• UNLATCH (Pangram)

There are more short combinations, but these are the most common and valid words in the official word list.

 Word Count Goal:

Most players today will hit between 15–25 words. If you got all of these, you’re doing great! If you found even more, you’re a Spelling Bee master.

Wrapping Up Today’s Challenge

Today’s puzzle was moderately challenging. The letters provided plenty of options for short words, but spotting UNLATCH as the pangram required recognizing the root word latch and applying the prefix un-.

If you’re aiming to improve your Spelling Bee skills:

• Focus on roots and common affixes.

• Look for unusual combinations like CH, UN, and AL.

• Write down letters and rearrange them on paper—it helps visualize new possibilities.