Today’s NYT Spelling Bee puzzle was a classic example of how a simple-looking letter set can hide a very satisfying pangram. The letters felt approachable, but the trick was finding a word that tied all seven letters together naturally.

Today’s letter set

Center letter: G
Outer letters: A, D, E, L, M, N

As always, every valid word must include G, letters may be reused, and no letters outside this set are allowed.

Tips to reach Genius level in NYT Spelling Bee

How I Found Today’s Pangram

When G is the center letter, I usually start by looking for strong action verbs or past-tense forms, especially those ending in -ED or -ING. The surrounding letters here—M, A, N, G, L, E, D—felt like they wanted to form something physical or descriptive.

I began by testing smaller words like angle, glean, and glad, which helped confirm that the letter set was flexible. Then I mentally rearranged all seven letters together, and one word immediately stood out.

Pangram: MANGLED

This word uses all seven letters exactly once: M A N G L E D

That makes MANGLED a perfect pangram, which is always a great feeling to uncover. It’s a common, expressive word, very much in line with NYT Spelling Bee’s style—recognizable, meaningful, and rewarding.

Once I found MANGLED, the rest of the puzzle opened up quickly.

Expanding the Word List

After locking in the pangram, I broke it down and started mining it for smaller words. My focus was on:

• Verbs and adjectives

• Words ending in -ED

• Short four-letter words hidden inside the pangram

Because G must appear in every word, this naturally narrowed the search and made the solve feel structured instead of random.

All Valid Words for Today’s Spelling Bee

Below is a clean, organized list of valid words that can be formed using today’s letters.

Pangram

• mangled (perfect pangram)

7+Letter Words

• alleged
• amalgam
• damaged
• dangled
• endgame
• engaged
• galangal
• gangland
• gladden
• gladdened
• gleamed
• gleaned
• managed
• melange

6- Letter Words

• agenda
• agleam
• allege
• angled
• damage
• dangle
• eagled
• engage
• gadded
• gagged
• gaggle
• galled
• ganged
• gelded
• gelled
• lagged
• legend
• legged
• manage
• mangle
• nagged

 5-Letter Words

• adage
• algae
• algal
• angel
• angle
• eagle
• edged
• egged
• gamed
• gamma
• gelee
• glade
• gland
• gleam
• glean
• ledge
• legal
• magma
• manga
• mange

 4-Letter Words

• aged
• alga
• dang
• edge
• gaga
• gage
• gala
• gale
• gall
• game
• gang
• geld
• gene
• glad
• glam
• glee
• glen
• mage
• mega

(Four-letter words are easy to overlook, but they add up fast.)

Strategy That Worked Today

Here’s what helped me solve today’s puzzle efficiently:

1. Look for strong verbs first – Past-tense verbs often make great pangrams.

2. Test common endings – -ED and -ING are always worth trying.

3. Rearrange all letters visually – Seeing MANGLED required stepping back and reshuffling.

4. Break the pangram apart – Long words hide many smaller wins.

Today’s puzzle rewarded pattern recognition more than speed.

Takeaway from Today’s Puzzle

The 20 December 2025 NYT Spelling Bee was a satisfying and well-balanced puzzle. Finding the perfect pangram MANGLED early made the rest of the solve smooth and enjoyable. It’s always rewarding when a pangram feels both fair and clever.

If you enjoy solving daily pangrams, improving your spelling skills, or competing with friends in real spelling-bee–style challenges, Spelling Better makes the experience even more fun with daily word lists, live battles, and vocabulary games.

Happy spelling—and see you tomorrow