Spelling Bee Ranks and Points: Every Level Explained

Every Spelling Bee shows a progress bar with ranks like Solid, Amazing and Genius. Those names stay the same every day, but the points needed to reach them change. Here’s exactly how the ranks are calculated, so you always know how far you are from the next one.

The short answer

Spelling Bee ranks are percentages of the day’s maximum score. Genius is 70%, Amazing is 50%, Great is 40%, and so on down to Beginner at 0%. Queen Bee is separate: you get it only by finding every answer.

All 10 ranks

Rank	Share of max points	On a 150-point puzzle
Beginner	0%	0
Good Start	2%	3
Moving Up	5%	8
Good	8%	12
Solid	15%	23
Nice	25%	38
Great	40%	60
Amazing	50%	75
Genius	70%	105
Queen Bee	100% of words	150

The right-hand column rounds to whole points. On our game, the progress bar shows the exact point targets for the board you’re playing.

How points are counted

• 4-letter words: 1 point each.
• 5 letters or more: 1 point per letter. AUTUMN is 6 points.
• Pangrams: the word’s length plus 7. A 9-letter pangram is 16 points.

Because longer words score so much more, the maximum score is driven by the long answers. A puzzle with lots of 7- and 8-letter words can top 250 points, while a board made mostly of short words might max out under 100.

Why ranks use percentages

Using a percentage makes ranks fair across very different puzzles. Some days the letters are friendly (vowels, plus common consonants like R, T and N) and there are 60+ answers. Other days there are 20. If Genius were a fixed number like 100 points, it would be trivial one day and impossible the next. At 70%, it takes roughly the same share of effort every time.

How hard is Genius, really?

Genius at 70% doesn’t mean finding 70% of the words. Long words carry more points, so finding most of the 5-, 6- and 7-letter words plus the pangram can get you to Genius even if you miss a lot of 4-letter words.

That’s the key to the Genius strategy: prioritize length and the pangram, then fill in short words.

Queen Bee is a different challenge

Queen Bee requires every answer, including the odd ones. That’s a step beyond Genius: the last few words are often unusual, like a plant name or an old-fashioned word you’d rarely use. Many strong players only hit Queen Bee a few times a month. Our guide to Queen Bee covers how to close out a puzzle.

How to check your progress

• Tap the rank bar in our game to see the points needed for every rank on the current board.
• Open the hints to see how many words of each length you’re still missing.
• On the daily answers page, the top shows the total points and the Genius target for today’s NYT puzzle.

Quick recap

Ranks are percentages, Genius is 70%, Queen Bee means every word, and points come mostly from long words and pangrams. Learn those four facts and the progress bar stops being a mystery.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage is Genius in Spelling Bee?

Genius is 70% of the maximum points for that day's puzzle.

What is the highest rank in Spelling Bee?

Queen Bee, which you earn by finding every answer in the puzzle. Genius is the highest rank you can reach without finding everything.

Why do Genius points change every day?

Because the maximum score changes with each puzzle. Genius is always 70% of the maximum, so a 200-point puzzle needs 140 points while a 100-point puzzle needs 70.

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Written by Richard Elson Editor, Spell Bee Free

Richard Elson edits Spell Bee Free and writes its strategy guides. He plays the daily Spelling Bee every morning, tests every guide against real puzzles from the site's answer archive, and keeps the word list and solver up to date. His guides are written for everyday players: clear rules, worked examples and habits that get you to Genius without spoiling the fun.

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