On December 13, 2025, the New York Times Spelling Bee returns with another deceptively compact puzzle. As always, every accepted word must be at least four letters long and include the center letter. Today’s hive leans consonant-heavy, with U doing all the vowel work, which makes familiar words harder to spot and encourages creative rearranging.

About today’s puzzle

With U sitting in the center, most progress depends on how flexibly you use it. The surrounding letters skew toward sturdy consonants, creating lots of -RND and -OUT style endings. Once those patterns click, the board opens up, but early on it can feel stubbornly tight.

NYT Spelling Bee Words and Answers: 13 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.

  • undo
  • dour
  • tour
  • gout
  • grout
  • grunt
  • donut
  • tout
  • trout
  • turnout
  • turn
  • unground
  • rotgut
  • outdoor
  • ground

Pangram of the day

Today’s pangram is “groundout,” a baseball term that fits the hive perfectly. It works because it uses every available letter while still obeying the Spelling Bee rules. The word blends common chunks like “ground” and “out,” making it feel discoverable once you see it. It’s a great example of how combining familiar words can unlock the full set without feeling forced or obscure to attentive solvers on this grid today.

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

Whether you raced through or chipped away slowly, today’s puzzle had a satisfying rhythm. Letter sets like this reward persistence. Share how many words you found, or let me know if you spotted the pangram early.