Today’s NYT Spelling Bee for 11 December 2025 challenges you with the center letter Y and the outer letters P, O, E, M, A, L. Remember: every answer must be at least four letters long and include the center letter. This set feels playful but deceptive — plenty of short, useful words and one clear seven-letter winner.

About today’s puzzle

Center letter Y forces verbs and adjectives to bend around a semivowel core. The mix includes vowels A and O plus E, giving decent vowel support, and consonants P, M, L that form many common stems. Overall the hive felt open enough for numerous four-letter plays, while still rewarding the player who spots longer words.

NYT Spelling Bee Words and Answers: 11 December 2025

Here’s a best-effort list of words that fit today’s rules. Keep in mind: some are rare or unusual, so the official NYT list may vary.

  • employ
  • apply
  • amply
  • amyl
  • play
  • ploy
  • yelp
  • mealy
  • palmy
  • palely
  • payola
  • payee
  • pealy
  • peppy
  • loopy
  • poly

Pangram of the day

Maypole is our seven-letter winner because it uses every letter in today's hive: M, A, Y, P, O, L, E. It’s a simple, familiar English noun (the dancing pole with ribbons) so it’s satisfying to spot. The word neatly strings common stems (may + pole) and highlights how the center Y anchors both short plays and the long solution—so once you see it, many other words fall into place.

Quick tactics for any puzzle

  • Start with the center letter
  • Play with prefixes and suffixes
  • Anagram your discoveries
  • Use repeated letters
  • Begin with easy 4-letter words

Final thoughts

Thanks for puzzling through today’s hive. Whether you found a handful of four-letter staples or the maypole itself, I hope it felt rewarding. Tell us how many words you found — and whether you spotted the seven-letter entry.