The New York Times Spelling Bee for December 2, 2025 challenges you to make words of four letters or more — and every word must include the center letter C. Today’s hive mixes several consonants with just one clear vowel, so the puzzle feels crunchy and a bit deceptive: expect short staples and a few unusual finds.

About today’s puzzle

Center letter: C. The surrounding letters (A, D, E, H, K, L) form a consonant-heavy cluster with only one vowel (A and E—two vowels actually, giving modest flexibility). That balance made the hive feel moderately open for short words but a little restrictive for longer, vowel-rich constructions.

NYT Spelling Bee Words and Answers: December 2, 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.

  • ache
  • cache
  • cached
  • cackle
  • cackled
  • caked
  • calk
  • calked
  • clad
  • clade
  • clack
  • clacked
  • chalk
  • chalked
  • check
  • chela
  • chelae
  • dace
  • deck
  • decal
  • lace
  • laced
  • lack
  • lacked
  • leach
  • leached
  • hack
  • hacked
  • hackle
  • hackled
  • cackled
  • calked

Pangram of the day

Chalked works nicely as today’s pangram: it includes C (center) plus A, H, L, K, E, and D, covering every hive letter in a single, familiar past-tense verb. It’s satisfying because it reads naturally (not a contrived jumble) and shows how adding common suffixes (–ed) can often turn shorter stems into full-letter sweepers — a neat tactic for finding pangrams.

Quick Tactics for Any Puzzle

  • Start with the center letter. Every word must feature O, so build combinations around it first to spark ideas.
  • Play with prefixes and suffixes. Ending patterns like -ING are treasure troves today — GOING, HONING, COINING, HOGGING all build off this pattern effortlessly.
  • Anagram your discoveries. Once you spot a word like COIN, test whether you can extend it with other available letters to form COINING or CONNING.
  • Use repeated letters strategically. Notice how COCOON and COCOONING leverage the repeated O and C — letter repetition is your friend here.
  • Begin with easy 4-letter words. Lock in straightforward finds like NOON, ICON, and COIN to build momentum before tackling longer constructions.
  • Think beyond the obvious. Words like NUNCIO (a papal ambassador) or HONCHO (a boss or leader) reward those willing to explore less common vocabulary.

What was your final word count? Did you achieve Queen Bee status, or are you hunting for those last few words? Which word stumped you the longest, and which discovery felt most rewarding? Share your Spelling Bee journey in the discussion below — we'd love to hear which pangram you spotted first!