Today's Blossom Answers
Stuck on Merriam-Webster's daily flower? Take the hints one rung at a time, or jump straight to today's pangram. Nothing spoils until you tap.
Hints, one at a time
Welcome back, puzzler. Blossom for Sunday, August 23, 2026 is live. Today's flower holds B C D E I R S, with D as the required center letter that has to appear in every word you play.
Here's how this page works: the hints below start with counts, then point you at the letters holding the most words, so reveal them one at a time and stop the moment you know how to spend your twelve. The pangram sits in the green box further down, locked behind a tap, and the full word list unlocks with it. Nothing here reveals itself on its own, not the pangram and not the word list behind it.
Counts first, hunting ground last. Stop when you know which twelve words to spend.
Drumroll, please…
Blossom Pangram for August 23
Spoiler below · tap to revealTap a tile for one letter of the pangram, or reveal it and today's full word list.
Yesterday's pangram: ALLIANCES · full breakdown ›
About today's puzzle DESCRIBE
DESCRIBE uses every letter in B C D E I R S at least once, which makes it the single best word on the board.
4-letter: 46, 5-letter: 70, 6-letter: 82, 7-letter: 73, 8-letter: 42, 9-letter: 20, 10-letter: 6, 11-letter: 8, for 347 words in total. The longest run 11 letters.
127 words start with D, more than any other letter. Start there when you're picking your 12.
Puzzle published Sunday, August 23, 2026. Letters: center D plus petals B, C, E, I, R, S.
BIRDBERRIES, BIRDSEEDS, BRIDEBEDS, BEDSIDES, BIRDSEED, BREEDERS, BREEDIER, BRIDEBED, BEDDERS, BEDRESS, BEDSIDE, BERRIED, BESIDES, BIDDERS, BIDDIES, BIRDERS, BIRDIED, BIRDIER, BIRDIES, BREDIES, BREEDER, BEDDED, BEDDER, BEDRID, BESIDE, BIBBED, BIDDER, BIDERS, BIDRIS, BIRDED, BIRDER, BIRDIE, BREDES, BREDIE, BREEDS, BRIBED, BRIDES, BIDED, BIDER, BIDES, BIDIS, BIDRI, BIRDS, BREDE, BREED, BREID, BRIDE, BRIDS, BCDS, BEDS, BIDE, BIDI, BIDS, BIRD, BRED, BRID
CIDERIES, CERIDES, CREEDED, CRIBBED, CEBIDS, CEDERS, CEDRES, CERIDE, CERIDS, CIDERS, CREEDS, CEBID, CEDED, CEDER, CEDES, CEDIS, CEDRE, CERED, CERID, CIDER, CREDS, CREED, CRIED, CEDE, CEDI, CRED
DEERBERRIES, DESCRIBERS, DERRIERES, DESCRIBED, DESCRIBER, DESCRIBES, DESCRIERS, DISSEISED, DISSEISEE, DISSEISES, DEBRIDED, DEBRIDES, DECIDERS, DECREERS, DECRIERS, DEICIDES, DERIDERS, DERRIERE, DERRISES, DESCRIBE, DESCRIED, DESCRIER, DESCRIES, DESIRERS, DIDDERED, DIERESES, DIERESIS, DISSEISE, DRESSERS, DRESSIER, DEBRIDE, DECIDED, DECIDER, DECIDES, DECREED, DECREER, DECREES, DECRIED, DECRIER, DECRIES, DEEDIER, DEICERS, DEICIDE, DEIRIDS, DERBIED, DERBIES, DERIDED, DERIDER, DERIDES, DESIRED, DESIRER, DESIRES, DIBBERS, DIDDERS, DIDDIES, DIDRICS, DRESSED, DRESSER, DRESSES, DRIDDER, DEBRIS, DECIDE, DECREE, DEEDED, DEICED, DEICER, DEICES, DEIRID, DERIDE, DERRIS, DESEED, DESIRE, DIBBED, DIBBER, DICERS, DICIER, DIDDER, DIDIES, DIDRIC, DIESES, DIESIS, DISCED, DISSED, DISSES, DRIERS, DEEDS, DEERS, DEICE, DESIS, DICED, DICER, DICES, DIDIE, DIEBS, DIERS, DIRDS, DIRER, DISCI, DISCS, DISES, DREED, DREES, DREID, DRESS, DRIBS, DRIED, DRIER, DRIES, DEBS, DEED, DEER, DEES, DEID, DESI, DIBS, DICE, DIEB, DIED, DIER, DIES, DIRD, DIRE, DISC, DISS, DREE, DRIB, DRIE
EDDIED, EDDIES, EIDERS, EBBED, EIDER, ERRED, EIDE
IRIDESCED, IRIDESCES, IRIDESCE, IRIDES, IRIDIC, IRIDIS, IRISED, IRIDS, ICED, IDED, IDES, IDIC, IRED
REDESCRIBED, REDESCRIBES, REDISSEISED, REDISSEISES, REDBERRIES, REDESCRIBE, REDISSEISE, REDRESSERS, RIDERESSES, REDRESSED, REDRESSER, REDRESSES, REEDBIRDS, RESCRIBED, RICEBIRDS, REBREEDS, RECEDERS, RECESSED, REDBIRDS, REDRIERS, REEDBEDS, REEDBIRD, RESEEDED, RESIDERS, RICEBIRD, RIDERESS, REBREED, RECEDED, RECEDER, RECEDES, REDBIRD, REDRESS, REDRIER, REEDBED, REEDERS, REEDIER, RESEEDS, RESIDED, RESIDER, RESIDES, RIDDERS, RIDERED, REBIDS, REBRED, RECEDE, REDDED, REDDER, REEDED, REEDER, RERDED, RERDES, RESEED, RESIDE, RESIDS, RIBBED, RIDDED, RIDDER, RIDERS, REBID, REDDS, REDED, REDES, REDID, REEDE, REEDS, RERDE, RERDS, RESID, RICED, RIDER, RIDES, REDD, REDE, REDS, REED, RERD, RIDE, RIDS
SIDEDRESSED, SIDEDRESSES, SEEDBIRDS, SIDEDRESS, SECEDERS, SEEDBEDS, SEEDBIRD, SIRICIDS, SCREEDS, SCRIBED, SECEDED, SECEDER, SECEDES, SEEDBED, SEEDEES, SEEDERS, SEEDIER, SERRIED, SIRICID, SCREED, SCRIED, SECEDE, SEDERS, SEEDED, SEEDEE, SEEDER, SEISED, SICCED, SIRRED, SISSED, SEDER, SEDIS, SEEDS, SIDED, SIDES, SIDIS, SIRED, SEED, SIDE, SIDI
Blossom strategy that actually helps
Proven habits from top solvers, useful today and every day.
Unlike Spelling Bee, every submission counts against you. Don't spend guesses on short fillers early.
A pangram uses all seven letters and scores more than almost anything else. If a promising word isn't working, test whether the missing letters spell something.
The highlighted petal letter adds bonus points whenever it appears in a submitted word, so sometimes a slightly shorter word that contains it wins.
Found a word? With only twelve submissions, a found word that extends into a longer one is worth more than the word itself. One find often points straight at another.
Words need at least 4 letters to count, and every word must include the center letter, with no exceptions.
Keep a couple of submissions in reserve for the endgame, when the remaining long words are easier to see.
How to play Blossom
The rules in full, for anyone arriving without them.
Blossom is Merriam-Webster's daily flower puzzle: one required center letter surrounded by six petals. It looks like Spelling Bee, but the twist is that you only get twelve submissions, so which words you pick matters more than how many you can find.
- 1 Build words of four letters or more
Words are checked against the Merriam-Webster dictionary. No proper nouns, no hyphens, no abbreviations.
- 2 Always use the center letter
Every submitted word must contain it. Petal letters may be reused freely within a word.
- 3 Chase the bonus petal
One petal is highlighted each round and pays extra points whenever it appears in your word, which sometimes makes a shorter word worth more than a longer one.
- 4 Spend your twelve words wisely
Longer words score more and a pangram using all seven letters scores most of all. With only twelve submissions, a short filler word is a wasted turn.
Merriam-Webster
1 center letter, 6 petals
12 words per day
Midnight Eastern
The twelve-word cap is what separates Blossom from Spelling Bee. Do not submit a word the moment you spot it: hold it, check whether the same letters build something longer, and submit only the best version.
Blossom, answered
Quick answers to the questions we get every day.
What time does the new Blossom puzzle come out?
Blossom resets at midnight Eastern time on Merriam-Webster's site. This page updates right after the reset, so if the date above matches today, the hints and pangram are current.
How many guesses do you get in Blossom?
Blossom only lets you submit 12 words per day, unlike Spelling Bee where every find counts. That makes precision matter: each guess should be your highest-scoring option, not just any valid word.
How does Blossom scoring work?
Longer words score more points, and using the daily bonus petal letter inside a word earns extra. Pangrams use all seven letters and score big. Because you only get 12 guesses, saving room for one or two long words is usually the winning strategy.
What counts as a valid word?
Blossom checks against the Merriam-Webster dictionary: no proper nouns, no hyphenated words, no abbreviations. Words must be at least 4 letters and always include the center letter.
What happens when I use up my twelve words?
The round ends and your score is locked, whether or not you found the pangram. There is no way to earn extra submissions, which is the whole design: Blossom is a scoring game about picking well, not a completion game about finding everything. That is the key difference from Spelling Bee.
Today's hints for every game
Same spoiler-safe format, for each daily puzzle we cover.