About custom Spelling Bee puzzles
A custom Spelling Bee starts with seven letters that you choose for someone else. Pick the letters, tap one to be the centre, and the game finds every word they can make. Use the guide below to build a hive that is fun to solve rather than frustrating.
How to make a Spelling Bee puzzle
Choose seven different letters
Tap the letters on the board or type them. Each letter can appear only once, and only letters that the language's word list uses are offered.
Pick the centre letter
Tap a letter in the hive to make it the centre. Every word your friend finds must use it, so a common letter gives a bigger hive than a rare one.
Check the count and share it
The maker shows how many words, pangrams and points the hive holds. When it has enough words and at least one pangram, send the link to a friend.
Choosing a good set of letters
A playable hive needs at least one pangram, a word that uses all seven letters, and enough shorter words to climb the ranks. Mixing two or three vowels with common consonants usually works well. Very rare letters or a hive with no vowels can leave only a handful of words. If your letters fall short, the maker explains why and suggests the single letter swap that would help most, so you can keep the idea of your puzzle and still make it fair.
How your friend plays Spelling Bee
Your friend builds words of four or more letters from the hive, always including the centre letter. Letters may be used again within a word. Longer words score more points, and a pangram earns a bonus. Points move the player up the ranks toward Genius and Queen Bee, exactly as in the daily game. The words come from the same list the daily puzzle uses in that language, and they stay hidden until your friend finds them or chooses to reveal them.
Questions about custom Spelling Bee puzzles
Does my friend need an account to play?
A recipient can open a shared puzzle and play without creating an account. Send the puzzle link directly; there is no need to exchange passwords or install an app to try the challenge.
Which language should I use?
Use the language in which your friend will play. Each language has its own letters and word list, so the same seven letters can hold a very different number of words in another language.
Why was my set of letters rejected?
A hive needs at least one pangram and a minimum number of words, the same standard the daily puzzle meets. The maker shows the counts as you choose and suggests a swap when the letters fall short.
How is the result measured?
Spelling Bee counts the words found and the points they score. Reaching Genius counts as solving the puzzle, and your friend can keep playing toward Queen Bee.
Is playing the shared puzzle free?
Yes. Your friend can play the shared puzzle for free in a browser. Creating a personal challenge does not require the recipient to buy anything before opening the link.