If you’ve ever played the New York Times Spelling Bee, you know how satisfying it feels to find that one word hiding in plain sight.

About today’s puzzle

Center letter K shapes every answer today. The hive mixes three vowels (A, E, O) with consonants B, N and L, so you get both vowel-focused endings and solid consonant bases. The puzzle felt moderately open — many common roots exist, but the K requirement narrows options and rewards thinking of kn- and k-combinations.

NYT Spelling Bee Words and Answers: 14 nov

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.

  • ankle
  • anklebone
  • bank
  • balk
  • blank
  • bankable
  • bake
  • beak
  • bleak
  • kebab
  • bonk
  • knob
  • knoll
  • knee
  • kneel
  • keen
  • keel
  • kale
  • lake
  • leak
  • leek
  • book
  • kook
  • alkane

Pangram of the day

Anklebone works because it uses every letter from today’s hive: A, N, K, L, E, B, O. It’s essentially a compound of ankle + bone, so it naturally contains the repeated vowels and consonants needed to hit all seven tiles. Aside from being a satisfying long find, anklebone is a neat anatomical term — slightly old-fashioned but instantly recognizable and perfect for this puzzle.

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

Nice puzzle today — balanced and clever. If you found anklebone, kudos. Tell us how many words you uncovered and whether you spotted any unusual entries. Sharing scores helps the hive get smarter and more competitive.