Monday’s New York Times Spelling Bee opens the week with a hive that is deceptively clean on the surface and quietly brutal once you try to fill the outer rings. Today’s puzzle centers on the letter E and draws from six supporting letters: B, C, D, J, O, and T. The configuration produces 47 valid words, a maximum score of 213 points, and one pangram – OBJECTED – that rewards players who think in verb stems rather than nouns.
If you landed here searching for spelling bee answers today, the complete verified solution set is below. Spoilers begin immediately after the quick-reference snapshot.
Today’s NYT Spelling Bee at a Glance – June 8, 2026
- Center Letter: E
- Outer Letters: B, C, D, J, O, T
- Total Words: 47
- Maximum Score: 213 points
- Genius Threshold: approximately 149 points (a 6-letter word unlocks Genius rank)
- Pangrams: 1
- Bingo: Yes (at least one word starts with each of the seven letters)
Today’s Spelling Bee Pangram: OBJECTED
The sole pangram for Monday’s puzzle is OBJECTED, the simple past tense of the verb object, meaning to raise a dissenting argument or express opposition. The word uses all seven available letters – O, B, J, E, C, T, E, D – and earns the standard pangram bonus of seven extra points on top of its eight-letter base score, making it worth 15 points in total. It is the highest-value single entry in today’s hive by a considerable margin.
Solvers who find OBJECTED early gain immediate structural advantage: the word reveals that every letter in the hive is viable, and the -ECT root that anchors it fans outward into OBJECT, EJECT, EJECTED, DETECT, DETECTED, DEJECT, and DEJECTED – a cluster that alone accounts for eight entries and significant points toward Genius rank in the nytimes spelling bee.
The word is defined in full by Merriam-Webster as the past tense of object: to oppose something with words or actions, or to feel distaste toward it. Its legal register – “counsel objected” – makes it one of the more culturally familiar words the Spelling Bee has deployed as a pangram in recent memory.
Spelling Bee Hints for June 8, 2026
If you prefer to work through the puzzle before reading the full answer list, these directional clues are grouped by first letter.
B words (9 total): Four-letter entries include a common verb for signaling direction and a flat garden bed. Five-letter entries lean toward past-tense doubled consonants. Six-letter entries include a past-tense verb for what a ball does on a hard floor and footwear designed for the outdoors.
C words (7 total): Four-letter entries include a Latin plural that appears on cacti labels and a standard first-year university student. Six-letter words include an Italian lawn-bowling game found on urban plazas across the country.
D words (15 total): The largest cluster in today’s NYT Spelling Bee answers. Four-letter options include interior design shorthand and a past-tense verb for moving slowly. Six-letter entries range from a chemistry process to a word meaning to unscramble a hidden message. Seven-letter and eight-letter entries sit inside the -ECTED family.
E words (3 total): A single four-letter past-tense verb meaning to recede, a five-letter ballet term borrowed from French, and a five-letter word meaning to expel with force.
J words (4 total): A four-letter ballet term, a six-letter past-tense word for a kind of flight, and two six-letter past-tense verbs for quick, precise actions.
O words (4 total): A four-letter double-reed instrument, a four-letter word for a sleeping compartment on a train, an eight-letter past-tense verb for raising opposition, and a five-letter past-tense word for what a crowd of fans did.
T words (5 total): Four-letter entries include a past-tense verb for putting a shoe on a line and a carrying vessel. Five-letter entries include a small ensemble and a past-tense verb for a slow, affectionate gaze.
All 47 NYT Spelling Bee Answers for June 8, 2026
The complete verified word list for today’s spelling bee, organized by length:
4-Letter Words (15)
BEET, BODE, CEDE, CODE, COED, COTE, DEBT, DECO, DEED, JETE, OBOE, TEED, TOED, TOTE
Note: BODE and COTE are the type of quiet, one-point words that solvers often miss entirely while hunting longer entries. JETE, a term from ballet referring to a leap from one foot to the other, is borrowed from the French ballet vocabulary and is among the likelier traps in today’s set.
5-Letter Words (11)
BODED, BOOED, CEDED, CODED, COOED, DOTED, EBBED, EJECT, OCTET, TOTED
OCTET and EBBED tend to slip past solvers focused on the -ODE and -OTE families. EJECT opens the door immediately to its longer form.
6-Letter Words (15)
BEDDED, BOBBED, BOCCE, BOOTED, BOOTEE, DECOCT, DECODE, DEEDED, DEJECT, DETECT, DOTTED, EJECTED, JETTED, JOBBED, JOTTED, OBJECT, TOOTED
BOCCE, the lawn-bowling game of Italian origin, is a reliable trap: its doubled C is unexpected within this vowel-heavy hive. BOOTEE, an alternative spelling of a soft infant shoe, catches solvers who try only one E. DECOCT, meaning to extract the essence of something by boiling, is the kind of low-frequency vocabulary the spelling bee game deploys to separate Genius-level players from the Queen Bee tier.
7-Letter Words (2)
DECODED, EJECTED
8-Letter Words (4)
DECOCTED, DEJECTED, DETECTED, OBJECTED
DEJECTED, meaning low in spirits or despondent, and DETECTED, the past tense of uncovering something hidden, are worth pursuing aggressively. Both share the -ECTED ending with the pangram and are straightforward once the root is in hand. DECOCTED, the past tense of DECOCT, is the highest-value non-pangram entry at eight points.
Path to Genius Rank
Today’s spelling bee NYT answers configuration rewards solvers who work systematically through the -ECT cluster before moving to the shorter entries. The most efficient Genius route runs like this:
- Find OBJECTED first – 15 points immediately.
- Expand through the -ECTED family: EJECTED (7), DEJECTED (8), DETECTED (8), DECOCTED (8).
- Collect the six-letter -ECT stems: OBJECT (6), EJECT, DEJECT, DETECT (6 each).
- Sweep the DECODE and DECOCT branches: DECODE (6), DECODED (7), DECOCT (6), DECOCTED (8).
- Fill in the four-letter and five-letter words to close out the score.
Following that sequence yields well over 149 points – the approximate threshold for Genius – before the four-letter list is even touched. The Bingo achievement, which requires at least one word beginning with each of today’s seven letters, is available within the standard solution set without needing any obscure entries.
How the Spelling Bee Game Works
For readers new to the puzzle, the NYT Spelling Bee presents a honeycomb of seven unique letters. The center tile – today, the letter E – must appear in every valid word. Letters may be reused freely, words must be at least four characters long, and no proper nouns, hyphenations, or profanity are accepted. The game is edited daily by Sam Ezersky, who has served as the New York Times crossword and games editor since taking over the Spelling Bee franchise, and it resets at 3 a.m. Eastern Time each day.
Scoring follows a simple structure: four-letter words earn one point each, longer words earn one point per letter, and any pangram – a word that uses all seven letters at least once – receives an additional seven-point bonus on top of its letter count. The rank ladder runs from Beginner up through Genius, and the unofficial Queen Bee status is awarded to any player who finds every single valid word in the day’s puzzle. Today’s full Queen Bee haul requires all 47 words for a maximum of 213 points.
Players who want to sharpen their strategy over time, or who are simply curious about how the game has evolved, can read the full editorial guide to the nyt spelling bee, which covers game mechanics, scoring tiers, and pangram-finding techniques in detail.
Notable Words Worth Knowing
BOCCE: The Italian lawn-bowling game, played with large balls on a flat surface, traces its lineage to ancient Rome. The English spelling retains the doubled C of the Italian original.
DECOCT / DECOCTED: To decoct is to extract something – a flavor, a medicine, an essence – by simmering in water. The word appears in pharmaceutical and culinary contexts and is the kind of entry that rarely surfaces in everyday conversation, making it precisely the type of vocabulary that defines the upper range of today’s puzzle.
BOOTEE: An alternative spelling of bootie, typically referring to a soft shoe or knitted covering for an infant’s foot. The NYT Games team accepts both spellings, and today’s hive makes the double-E variant the valid form.
JETE: In classical ballet, a jeté is a jump from one foot, landing on the other. The word entered English from French and appears without the accent mark in the Spelling Bee’s accepted word list.
COED: Originally a noun for a female student at a previously all-male institution, coed now functions largely as an adjective meaning mixed-gender, as in a coed dormitory or coed sports league.
Today’s Full NYT Puzzle Coverage
Monday’s complete New York Times Games lineup is live. If you are working through the full slate before the daily reset, Today’s Wordle answer, the latest NYT Connections breakdown, and the current Strands hints are all available on the site. The NYT Connections answers page covers category groupings and red herring warnings for players who want directional clues before the full solution. For players who finished yesterday’s puzzle and want to compare the two designs, Sunday’s spelling bee answers from the SQUEAKY puzzle remain archived and available.
