Hive

How to play Hive, the daily spelling bee

Every day there’s a new hive of seven letters, with one letter in the middle. Make as many words as you can:

• Words need four or more letters.
• Every word must use the center letter.
• Letters can be used more than once (so BANANA works if you have B, A and N).
• Tap the letters or type them, then press Enter. ↻ shuffles the outside letters, which often shakes a new word loose.

Scoring and ranks

A four-letter word is worth 1 point. Longer words score one point per letter, so GARDEN is worth 6. A pangram, a word that uses all seven letters, earns 7 bonus points, and every hive has at least one. As your score grows you climb the ranks: Just Hatched, Buzzing, Busy Bee, Pollen Pro, Honey Maker, Hive Hero, Hive Mind, and finally Royal Jelly 👑.

There’s no S in any hive, so you can’t pad your list with plurals. Words come from a list of everyday English, so you won’t need obscure dictionary words, and the list is kept family-friendly.

Play Hive with a friend

Hive is the only spelling bee built for two phones. Tap Play a friend, type both names and start a fresh hive (it never spoils the daily one):

• Find up to three words, then send the hive to your friend by text.
• They see your words glowing, find up to three of their own, and send it back.
• A word that isn’t in the list ends your turn, and your friend sees what you tried.
• A 💡 hint shows the first two letters and length of a word you haven’t found. It uses one of your three moves.
• When you’re both done, finish the game to see who found what: words, points, the longest word and who found the pangram.

The 90-second Hive Sprint

Short on time? Tap 90s Sprint for a race against the clock on a second daily hive. Find as many words as you can in 90 seconds, with no hints and one try a day. Everyone gets the same sprint hive, so share your score and see who’s quickest. The sprint is also round four of the Daily Duel.

Tips for a higher score

• Hunt for the pangram first. It’s the biggest single score, and the letters often hide a long, everyday word.
• Try common endings: -ING, -ED, -ER, -LY, -TION. If the hive has them, each one unlocks a family of words.
• Build on words you’ve found: TRAIN leads to TRAINED, TRAINER and RETRAIN.
• Stuck? Shuffle. Seeing the letters in a new order is the oldest trick in the hive.

Why word games are good for you

A spelling bee puzzle exercises your vocabulary and verbal fluency, the ability to pull words out of memory on demand. It’s the same skill speech therapists and teachers practise with “name as many words as you can” games, and doing it with a friend adds the best part: someone to show off to.

Questions

Is Hive free? Yes, in any browser on a phone, tablet or computer. No account, no download.

When is the new puzzle? At midnight, your local time. Your progress on today’s hive saves as you go.

Can kids play? Yes. The words are everyday English and the list is filtered to keep it family-friendly. Hints help newer readers keep going.

More word games: TagTeam (the five-letter word relay for two), Linkup (four groups of four) and all word games.