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 N forces every answer to tie back to that consonant. The outer letters (I, G, R, U, V, C) create mostly consonant-heavy options with a single vowel, so the hive feels focused but not closed — there’s scope for verbs and gerunds, plus a few multi-N words that expand the list.

NYT Spelling Bee Words and Answers: 17 November

Here’s a list of NYT spelling bee answers. Keep in mind: some are rare or unusual, so the official NYT list may vary:

  • cunning
  • curving
  • curing
  • gunning
  • giving
  • grin
  • gurn
  • icing
  • incur
  • incurring
  • ring
  • ruing
  • ruin
  • runic
  • rung
  • unring
  • virgin

Pangram of the day

The long word curving works as today’s pangram because it uses every hive letter exactly once: C-U-R-V-I-N-G. It’s a tidy, common verb that neatly includes the tricky V while relying on the required center N. Fun bit: the V often makes puzzles feel tight, so finding a natural verb that contains it and all other letters makes the pangram especially satisfying.

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.