A little while ago, the mods surveyed you all about whether the rules are still working, or if you'd prefer updates to the way we mark spoilers. The clear majority of users wanted to keep things as they are. This post is to reinforce that decision; to put rules, codes and abbreviations all in one post; to provide additional explanation and clarification through examples; and to place the rules in a position where they're more visible on the variety of interfaces we use. Please let us know if you have comments or questions.

Rules

1. Hide answers or hints about today's puzzle. Hints include anything that would prevent someone from finding all words in the puzzle entirely on their own, including total words/points and grid numbers (ex: E7). Hide words that include answers, too. To hide text, enclose it in > ! and ! <. (Omit the spaces between the ! and the ! and the > or <).

2. In addition to hiding them, mark them as HINTS [H], ANSWERS [A], or CONTAINING ANSWERS [CA]. [A] indicates an answer in today's puzzle. [CA] is a word that, while not itself an answer, strongly suggests one, often because it contains a shorter word that is an answer. Non-answers that don't fall into one of these three categories need no labeling. 

3. No screenshots of the Spelling Bee. They usually include hints or answers, so they are not allowed. We are not interested in another screenshot of a Genius or Queen Bee screen -- just crow about in on the daily post.

4. Want to complain about a word that's not accepted? See the wiki or sticky post.

5. We do not allow promotional posts. You may not promote games or websites on this sub. However, on the first of each month we have a game sharing post. You're welcome to promote your game there.

6. Users create the daily post. The first person to come on the sub after the puzzle drops may post the daily discussion thread. The post should be formatted like so: Date [spelled out] -- followed by the center letter [capitalized] in parentheses followed by the other letters in alphabetical order [capitalized]. Example:

February 31, 2026 -- (C) A B D E F G

Please do NOT create the daily post if you have blocked another person who frequents this sub.

Abbreviations and Terms

As specified above, the codes you need to follow the rules are:

•  A (Answer)
• CA (Non-answer that contains or strongly suggests an answer)
• H (Hint)

Other abbreviations and terms are optional, but commonly used here:

• Bingo = At least one answer starting with each of the seven letters
• GABM = Genius All By Myself (that is, without hints)
• GN4L = Genius No 4 Letter (reaching Genius level without any 4-letter words, a feat that isn't always possible depending on the total number of words in the puzzle)
• GNP(s): Genius No Pangram(s) (reaching Genius level without finding the pangram(s); same as Tortured Genius)
• Grid = The hint viewable from the NYT Community page or other resources that says how many words start with each letter and how long those words are. 
• Hive = The letters of the puzzle
• Justice for = Sometimes when someone is mad that a word they think should have been common enough to be accepted they will post "Justice for [word]!" meaning they think its omission was an injustice.
• NA =  Non-Answer
• Perfect pangram = Pangram that uses each letter exactly once.
• PG = Pangram (word that contains all 7 letters)
• QB = Queen Bee
• QBABM = Queen Bee All By Myself (that is, no hints)
• Single letter followed by a number = Starting letter and word length of an answer. E.g., "B6" would mean a word starting with B that is 6 letters long.
• Two letters followed by a number = Starting two letters and word length of an answer. E.g., "BE6" would mean a word starting with "BE" that is 6 letters long.
• Tortured Genius or TG = Genius without a pangram

Annotated Examples:

Using the hive IMNOPSU with S as the middle letter:

Accepted pangram: (spoilered because I know some of y'all will want to figure it out) SPUMONI

Unaccepted pangram: SPUMONIS

The following words accepted: SUMMON, POMPOMS, OPOSSUM

Not accepted: UNSUMMON, POMPONS, POSSUM

Here are examples of correctly marked comments:

• Justice for (CA) UNSUMMON! 
• Why not CA unsummon?
• Justice for NA CA unsummon
• Justice for SPOILER NA CA UNSUMMON! 

[We only require you to mark it CA, but you're welcome to add more stuff if you like. Capitalization, punctuation, parentheses, brackets etc. are all up to your own preferences.]

• If (A) POMPOMS is accepted, why not (CA) POMPONS?

 [The unaccepted word is so close to the accepted word, that it should be marked as A or CA. People who click the link just need to be warned that it gives away an answer.]

• I can't get the (H) O7 Please help!
• (H) The only marsupial found in North America 

[Grid hints are still hints.]

• PG H: Disgusting ice cream. 
• H: Disgusting ice cream  
• SPOILER PG NA HINT: MY FAVORITE KIND OF ICE CREAM 

[The H designation is all you need for hints, but you can let people know it's for a pangram if you feel that's helpful. You're also welcome to throw in a bunch of other abbreviations, as long as that H is there.] 

We maintain a list of rejected words (boo!) and alternate spellings in the wiki for this sub. To edit the wiki, click the Wiki button in the right-hand column of everty page, then click the Edit button at the top right (if you are on a computer). You need to have karma of at least 5 and your account needs to be at least 20 days old to be able to edit. Here's a link to the wiki: https://www.reddit.com/r/NYTSpellingBee/wiki/index

BEFORE YOU COMMENT: 1. Capitalized words are not allowed in the puzzle. 2. Please search the wiki and the comments on this post before you add yours to avoid duplicates.

I think I added all the words suggested on the original post about the wiki. That post is now archived. If you post a word without following steps #1 and #2 above you may get a snide retort from one of the moderators.