The New York Times Spelling Bee has a knack for mixing simple discoveries with tricky surprises, and today’s hive was a great example. With N as the center letter and surrounding letters T, O, I, U, C, L, the puzzle looked promising right away. There were multiple vowels to work with, strong consonants like C and L, and the possibility of clusters that could stretch into long words. After warming up with short entries, I eventually uncovered today’s pangram: LINOCUT.

Step 1: Working From the Center

The most important Spelling Bee rule is that every word must include the center letter—in this case, N. That guided my first moves. I began with the simplest building blocks: ion, ton, con, tin, nil, nun. These short words helped spark ideas and made the puzzle less intimidating.

Step 2: Expanding Into Shorter Words

Once I had the basics, I went looking for slightly bigger words. The hive offered plenty of straightforward four-letter entries like:

• icon, coin, lino, into, unit, lint, loin, loan.

These were useful stepping stones and hinted at bigger clusters. For instance, spotting lino set me on the path toward the eventual pangram.

Step 3: Finding Word Families

The best way to break open a Spelling Bee puzzle is to search for recurring clusters. A few that stood out today were:

• con- starter: con, coin, tonic, notion.

• uni- starter: unit, union.

• -ion endings: lion, icon, notion.

And then, the less common lino- starter—which pointed directly to today’s pangram.

Step 4: The Pangram Discovery – LINOCUT

The breakthrough came when I thought of lino, which is a short form for linoleum. From there, adding cut was natural, giving me LINOCUT.

For those unfamiliar, a linocut is a type of printmaking technique where a design is carved into linoleum and then inked to create prints. It’s an artistic, precise word that felt like a perfect pangram candidate—uncommon enough to be tricky, yet perfectly logical once found.

The thrill of seeing LINOCUT click into place was the highlight of today’s puzzle.

Step 5: Expanding the Word List

After confirming the pangram, I combed back through the hive for other possible entries. Here’s the complete list I compiled:

Word List

4-letter words:

• icon
• coin
• lino
• into
• unit
• lint
• loin
• loan
• cult
• clot
• lion
• loon
• null
• onto
• unto

5-letter words:

• tonic

• unlit

• colon

• talon

• clout

• conic

• count
• ionic
• onion
• tinct
• tunic
• uncut
• union
• until

6-letter words:

• clinic
• cocoon
• cotton
• iconic
• intuit
• lotion
• notion
• nuncio
• uncoil
• uncool

7-letter words:

• Pangram: linocut
• tuition
• council
• caution
•  coconut
• colonic
• concoct
• unction

• concoction
• cotillion
• intuition
• locution
• nonillion
• nonunion
• octillion

(Note: The NYT word list may vary slightly, as not all uncommon or variant forms are accepted.)

Step 6: Lessons From Today’s Puzzle

The big lesson today was that not all pangrams are common words you use every day. Sometimes, the game throws in a technical or artistic term, like linocut. It’s a reminder that persistence and creativity are key. Recognizing clusters like lino- or testing odd pairings can lead to the big breakthrough.

Buzzing Off with a Bang

September 17, 2025, was a rewarding Spelling Bee puzzle that combined easy starters with a challenging pangram. From simple entries like ion and tin to longer finds like union and caution, the hive had plenty to offer. But the star of the day was the pangram LINOCUT, a word that reflects both art and clever wordplay.

If you didn’t find it, don’t worry—puzzles like this are designed to stretch your imagination. Tomorrow will bring a fresh hive and another pangram waiting to be discovered.