Today’s Spelling Bee puzzle turned out to be far more interesting than it first appeared. With P locked in as the required center letter and T, C, N, D, E, and I forming the outer ring, I expected a decent mix of common words—but I didn’t immediately expect a big, satisfying pangram like CENTIPEDE. Yet that’s exactly where today’s hunt led.

In this post, I’ll walk you through how I approached the puzzle, the strategies I used to uncover patterns, and the full list of valid words I found along the way—ending with the triumphant discovery of the pangram.

Genius strategy guide 

First Impressions and Early Strategy

Looking at the hive, my first thought was that the combination of consonants (T, C, N, D) plus strong vowels (E, I) would allow for compound structures like:

• –ed endings

• C-starting clusters

• N-heavy roots

• Words involving “pen”, “pin”, “pet”, etc.

I always begin Spelling Bee puzzles by forming quick, simple words just to warm up and understand how the letters blend together. This stage is about flow, not depth.

 Building Momentum with Small Words

As expected, the easier 3- and 4-letter words came quickly:

• pen

• pin

• pit

• pet

• nip

• dip

• net

• tie

• ten

• den

• din

These small finds always help in spotting patterns. When you see which letters comfortably pair with others, you can stretch to more complex combinations.

 Recognizing Useful Clusters

Today’s puzzle had excellent potential for clusters involving:

• “cent–”

• “pend–”

• “tend–”

• “incip–”

• “dent–”

This is where the puzzle started to get interesting. The moment I spotted CENT–, a whole set of possibilities opened up:

• cent

• centre (UK spelling but typically disallowed)

• centi– beginnings

• centes– variations

That prefix instinctively nudged me toward zoological words—and suddenly the larger word surfaced in my mind.

 The Breakthrough: Spotting the Pangram

The real turning point came when I recognized the sequence:

C + E + N + T + I + P + E + D + E

“Wait—CENTIPEDE…? No—CENTIPEDE!”

I mentally rearranged the letters and confirmed:

CENTIPEDE uses every letter in the hive and includes the center letter P.

It was the perfect pangram—long, satisfying, and instantly recognizable.

What made it click was the combination “centi-” (meaning one hundred) plus “pede” (foot), a common structure in biology-related words. Once I spotted that linguistic pattern, the pangram fell neatly into place.

Full Word List Found (Including the Pangram)

Here are the words I extracted from today’s hive:

Short Words

deep

epee

epic

peed

peen

peep

pend

pent

pied

pine

pint

pipe

tipi

inept

pence

penne

petit

piece

pined

piped

pipet

pipit

tepee

tepid

Medium Words

deepen

depend

depict

dipped

nipped

pectin

peeped

pended

penned

pepped

peptic

petite

petted

picnic

pieced

pinned

pippin

pitied

pitted

teepee

tenpin

tiepin

tipped

tippet

ninepin

pendent

peptide

pipette

Longer Words

deepened

depended

depicted

penitent

pinniped

dependence

dependent

incipience

incipient

independence

independent

penitence

penitent

pinniped

Pangram of the Day

CENTIPEDE

A fun, unexpected word that ties all letters together.

Takeaway from Today’s Puzzle

Today’s Spelling Bee was a delightful mix of simple warm-up words and challenging puzzle-solving moments. While many clusters seemed promising, it was the “centi–” structure that ultimately led me to the pangram CENTIPEDE.

What made this puzzle especially enjoyable was that the pangram wasn’t an obscure dictionary entry—it was a vivid, image-rich creature we all know, hidden cleverly within the letter grid.

If you enjoyed this breakdown, come back tomorrow for another puzzle analysis—and keep improving your word-hunting skills with Spelling Better, your perfect companion for vocabulary mastery.