The New York Times Spelling Bee for September 25, 2025, presented a fun challenge with a hive that included some familiar letter combinations and a hidden pangram. The hive looked like this:

Center Letter (must be used in every word): U
Other Letters: P, I, O, N, G, R

At first glance, I could already spot a few common word roots like “pin,” “run,” and “rip”, but the real challenge came with identifying the pangram. After some trial and error, I found it — pouring. Once that was unlocked, it opened up a variety of possibilities and made the rest of the puzzle fall into place.

Tips to get Genius in Spelling Bee

Step 1:Finding the Pangram

The most rewarding part of solving the Spelling Bee puzzle is uncovering the pangram, which uses all seven letters. The puzzle today included the letters P, O, U, R, I, N, G, and I quickly realized the pangram for today was:

POURING

This word not only utilized every letter in the hive, but it also felt satisfying as it came together, and I knew the puzzle would open up from here.

Step 2: Starting with Short Words

I started by finding the short words that would give me quick points and a better sense of the letter combinations. These words were simple, but essential for building the solve:

• pin, pun, run, rip, tip, tin, pot, ton, our, in, it

These basic words helped create the foundation, and once I had them, I could focus on expanding into longer, more complex words.

Step 3: Moving to Medium Words

Once I had a list of short words, I expanded into the medium-length words by adding common suffixes like -ing, -ed, and -er. This helped uncover the following words:

• ring, grind, pour, prong, given, grip, pine

I also tested combinations like -ing and -er, which gave me pouring (the pangram), and others like grip and grind.

Step 4: Unlocking the Longer Words

As I worked my way toward longer words, I found the real value in terms of points and challenge. Here are some of the longer words I discovered:

• pouring (pangram)

• prong, pouring, grind

• grin

These longer words really helped to bring the word list together and push me closer to “Genius” level.

Step 5: Organizing the Word List

I like to organize my word list by length so I can be sure I’ve covered all the possible word forms:

4-letter words:

• guru
• noun
• purr
• pour
• ruin
• rung
• upon

5-letter words:

• group
• inurn
• pinup
• ruing
• union
• unpin
• unrig

6-letter words:

• oppugn
• popgun
• upping
• urging

7+-letter words:

• Pouring (pangram)
• gouging
• gunning
• inuring
• inurning
• nonunion
• oppugning
• pronoun
• pruning
• punning
• purging
• purring
• rouging
• ruining
• running
• ungroup
• unpinning
• unrigging

This method ensures that I don’t miss any shorter words or potential longer words.

Reflections on Today’s Puzzle

What made today’s puzzle interesting was the relatively simple set of letters that combined to form a few familiar words, but with the challenge of finding the pangram pouring. The central U was key in building many of the words, and I found that P and G provided useful combinations for larger words like prong and grind.

It’s always exciting to crack the pangram — it’s like finding the key that unlocks the rest of the puzzle, and today’s pouring was no exception.

Tips for Solving Spelling Bee Puzzles

If you’re working through Spelling Bee puzzles, here are a few tips that might help you:

1. Start small. Build your base with short words to create momentum.

2. Focus on suffixes. Try common endings like -ing, -ed, and -er to help expand shorter words.

3. Think in terms of letter combinations. For today’s puzzle, P and G led to words like grind and prong.

4. Be patient with the pangram. Sometimes, the biggest reward comes once you’ve already collected a lot of words. Pouring was a perfect example.

Buzzing Off with a Bang

September 25, 2025’s Spelling Bee puzzle was a satisfying challenge. It started with simple, easy-to-find words like tip and rip, but once the pangram pouring was discovered, everything fell into place. The puzzle was a mix of familiarity and complexity — just the way I like it.

Did you manage to find the pangram quickly, or was it a bit of a challenge? Regardless, today’s puzzle was a great reminder of how much fun solving Spelling Bee can be.

 Until tomorrow’s hive — happy spelling!