The hive for 5 September 2026 puts M at the centre, ringed by A, K, I, G, C, N.
Two vowels, five consonants, and a ten-letter pangram that you cannot reach in one move. Today's puzzle asks you to stack two different tricks on top of each other — and if you only reach for one of them, you'll finish just short.
Step oneReading the grid
- A and I are your only vowels.No E, no O, no U. That's a hard ceiling on how the words can sound, and it's why so many answers today are clipped and nasal: MAIM, MINK, MANIC, MINIM.
- -ING is the engine.G, N and I are all present, which means every verb on the board doubles as a longer answer. Five words from one ending, before you've done anything clever.
- GAMING
- MAKING
- MIMING
- MINING
- NAMING
- K is the scarce letter.Only these answers use it — which made K the obvious place to start hunting for the long one.
- MAKI
- MINK
- MAKING
- MIKING
- GIMMICK
- MANAKIN
- MANIKIN
- MANNIKIN
- MIMICKING
- GIMMICKING
- NICKNAMING
Step twoFinding the pangram
The pangram needs all seven: N, I, C, K, A, M, G.
Move oneCompound
Following the K, I built out from the front: NICK. Four letters, and three of them are the awkward ones. NICK covers N, I, C and K — leaving A, M and G unaccounted for. A and M spell NAME. Stick it on and you get the most natural word this grid could possibly produce.
Ends in E — and there is no E in this grid
Move twoSuffix
That's where the second step comes in. G is still unused — and G is the tail of the suffix that's already been carrying half the board.
Ten letters · all seven · pangram closed
So the route runs compound first, suffix second: NICK plus NAME plus -ING. Neither move alone gets you there. NICKNAME is illegal without the suffix, and no simple -ING word covers C and K together.
The full word list
Grouped by length. Tap any word to mark it found — it counts towards your score above.
Answers hidden — no accidental spoilers
The ones people miss
- GIMMICKSeven letters, uses the rare K, and almost nobody tries the double M.
- MIMICKINGNine letters and not the pangram, which makes it today's best near-miss. Three I's and a double M.
- CAIMANA small Central and South American crocodilian.
- MAGIThe plural of magus. Four easy letters, forgotten every time.
- MINIMThe smallest unit of liquid measure, or a half note in music.
- MANIKINA jointed artist's model or anatomical figure. MANNIKIN is a valid variant, so take both.
- GAMINA street urchin. Five letters, invisible.
The takeaway
Today's lesson is about not stopping at the first obstacle.
Most solvers get as far as NICKNAME, notice it isn't accepted, and conclude they've gone down the wrong path. They haven't — they're one suffix from the answer. A rejected word is not always a wrong word. Sometimes it's the right word in the wrong form.
When something feels like it should be the pangram but the grid won't take it, don't abandon it. Check the tense. Check the plural. Check the participle. The letters you're missing are often exactly the ones an ending would supply.
Back with tomorrow's grid.