Center Letters in Spelling Bee History
Updated 2024-12-31
Each Spelling Bee puzzle consists of six letters arranged around a seventh letter; that seventh letter, in the middle of the circle of letters, is called the center letter.
Because every valid word in any Spelling Bee puzzle must include the center letter, the center letter plays a critical role not only in the design of each Bee puzzle, but in the gameplay experience of every solver. When a less-common letter is in the center spot, the solution set is bound to be interesting.
J was the center letter on 2024-07-04, for the first and only time.
Q was the center letter on 2023-11-17, for the first and only time.
Z has been the center letter six times: 2020-10-27 2020-11-15 2022-04-06 2022-10-16 2022-11-05 2024-08-09
Only two letters have never been selected as the center letter: X and S. Frequency numbers for all the center letters all Spelling Bee puzzles from May 2018 through December 2024 (excluding the two known “stopgap” puzzles) are displayed below. For more recent monthly data, check the monthly "In and Out" reports listed HERE. On rare occasions, none of the words in a solution set will start with the center letter. A complete list of those unusual Bees is shown HERE.
And on even rarer occasions, all the words in a solution set will begin with the center letter; read about those very unusual Bees HERE.
Because every valid word in any Spelling Bee puzzle must include the center letter, the center letter plays a critical role not only in the design of each Bee puzzle, but in the gameplay experience of every solver. When a less-common letter is in the center spot, the solution set is bound to be interesting.
J was the center letter on 2024-07-04, for the first and only time.
Q was the center letter on 2023-11-17, for the first and only time.
Z has been the center letter six times: 2020-10-27 2020-11-15 2022-04-06 2022-10-16 2022-11-05 2024-08-09
Only two letters have never been selected as the center letter: X and S. Frequency numbers for all the center letters all Spelling Bee puzzles from May 2018 through December 2024 (excluding the two known “stopgap” puzzles) are displayed below. For more recent monthly data, check the monthly "In and Out" reports listed HERE. On rare occasions, none of the words in a solution set will start with the center letter. A complete list of those unusual Bees is shown HERE.
And on even rarer occasions, all the words in a solution set will begin with the center letter; read about those very unusual Bees HERE.
IN DESCENDING ORDER OF NUMBER OF TIMES AS CENTER LETTER, as of 2024-12-31
LETTER USESO 225A 187T 187L 183I 173N 163C 160M 129R 125P 111B 106E 104H 102U 79D 78Y 77F 72G 59W 36V 34K 29Z 6J 1Q 1X 0
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER, as of 2024-12-31
LETTER USESA 187B 106C 160D 78E 104F 72G 59H 102I 173J 1K 29L 183M 129N 163O 225P 111Q 1R 125T 187U 79V 34W 36X 0Y 77Z 6
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