NYT Spelling Bee for December 28, 2025 builds a compact but punchy hive where short, bouncy words lead up to a big, science-flavored pangram.

About today’s puzzle

Today’s center letter is C, surrounded by H, L, O, P, R, and Y in the hive.​
With mostly consonants and only one vowel, the puzzle feels tight at first, but repeated letters and common sound clusters like -ch, -ly, and -or open it up once you get going.​

NYT Spelling Bee words and answers: 28 December 2025

Here’s a best-effort list of playable words for today’s hive. Every word uses the center C, sticks to the seven letters (C H L O P R Y), and hits the four-letter minimum.​

  • chop
  • clop
  • cloy
  • coho
  • cool
  • coop
  • copy
  • croc
  • crop
  • loch
  • loco
  • color
  • coyly
  • hooch
  • pooch
  • porch
  • choppy
  • coolly
  • rococo
  • chlorophyll

Official NYT solutions can sometimes differ slightly, but this list will comfortably carry most players to Genius or beyond.

Pangram of the day

Today’s pangram is chlorophyll - a long, vivid word that uses every hive letter and leans on repeated Ls and Hs to reach its 11-letter length.​ It stands out because it not only satisfies the game’s pangram condition but also ties into a recognizable scientific term, making it one of those answers that feels almost “too big” to be hiding in such a small set of letters.

Quick tactics for this hive

  • Start by chaining C with common partners like H, L, and P to surface easy builds like chop, crop, and clop before hunting longer options.​
  • Lean into repeated letters; today’s grid pays off when you double up consonants to uncover words like coolly, choppy, hooch, and finally chlorophyll itself.​

Final thoughts

Today’s puzzle rewards curiosity and patience, especially if you push past the obvious finds. Take your time, enjoy the hunt, and see how far you can stretch the letter set. How many words did you uncover—and did you spot the pangram early or late?