September 21, 2023, Thursday

Spelling Bee Answers for Thursday, September 21, 2023

Sep 21, 2023, Thursday Spelling Bee Answers for the V, A, T, N, I, O, M honeycomb (center letter I) feature 52 words, a 301-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 10-letter longest word: ANNOTATION, INITIATION, INNOVATION, INTIMATION, INTONATION, INVITATION, MOTIVATION, NOMINATION.

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Spelling Bee hive for September 21, 2023 with center letter I and surrounding letters V,A,T,N,O and M

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Thursday, September 21, 2023 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.

Difficulty

6/10

Hard

63rd percentile

Avg Word Length

6.35

Long words

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

44/100

Uncommon

Rarer than 44% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

50 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Typical spread

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Yes

All 7 covered

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

8×10L3×9L4×8L4×7L7×6L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 211 pts

26 words8×10L3×9L4×8L4×7L2×6L5×5L

Vowel Split

50%

Vowel-heavy puzzle

166 vowels · 164 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start15 PTS
15%Moving Up45 PTS
25%Good75 PTS
40%Solid120 PTS
50%Nice151 PTS
60%Great181 PTS
65%Amazing196 PTS
70%Genius211 PTS
100%Queen Bee301 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 52 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Thursday, September 21, 2023. The answers are organized by word length and point value, along with today's pangram. Prefer a spoiler-free approach? Try the spelling bee hints for today or browse the full list of NYT spelling bee words.

Common openings

27%

23%

17%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2023-09-20

Today's AnswersGo to Today

Pangrams

Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution

The Center letter is highlighted in Yellow.

Other days with this pangram

2025-07-25(M)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

12 words

11 words

10 words

4 words

3 words

8 words (Pangram)

10L

Share of 52 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

52 words

100%

44 words

85%

39 words

75%

34 words

65%

30 words

58%

28 words

54%

11 words

21%

Share of 52 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

12 pts

55 pts

60 pts

28 pts

32 pts

27 pts

87 pts (Pangram)

10L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

1427%

1223%

917%

612%

510%

36%

Share of 52 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 301 ranks in the 90th percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2023-09-20.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 52 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 74th percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2023-09-20.
The highest number of answers in any puzzle is 80, on 2026-02-01.
The lowest number of answers in any puzzle is 16, on 2023-03-27.
This puzzle ranks among the Hard puzzles, based on overall difficulty scoring.
Compared to recent puzzles, today’s challenge is harder than average.
The letter set in this puzzle is considered Medium, compared to typical puzzles.
Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2023-09-20.
The estimated solve time of 42–58 min is slower than typical puzzles.
Players can expect a challenging solving experience.

Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List

Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:

ainoi
aint
aion
aition
amain
amanita
amanitin
amati
amia
amimia
amin
amination
amini
amit
ammino
ammoniation
amnia
amnion
amotion
anamnia
animato
anita
anniv
annomination
anoia
anomia
anotia
antiatom
antiman
antinomian
antivitamin
antonia
antonina
antoniniani
antonio
aonian
atonia
attaint
avania
avanti
iman
imino
imitant
immanation
immit
inanimation
inanition
inia
inion
init
inition
innominata
innovant
inti
intima
invination
invt
ioni
ionian
itmo
itonama
itonia
ivan
maia
maimon
mammati
mammoni
manati
manation
mani
manini
manito
maniva
mannitan
matai
matin
mavin
miami
mian
miao
mima
mimi
mimmation
mina
minimi
mino
minoan
minot
mintman
mitanni
mitannian
moio
moit
monition
monotint
montanin
motivo
naiant
naim
nain
naio
nanaimo
naoi
naomi
natation
nina
ninon
niton
nitta
nivation
noint
nomina
nomoi
nonamino
nonanimation
nonimitation
nonion
nonmotion
nonmotivation
nonnomination
nontannin
notitia
novatian
novitiation
oinomania
oint
oitava
omani
omni
omniana
oniomania
onomantia
onomatomania
oomantia
otiant
otomi
otomian
ottavino
tain
tainan
taino
tait
tania
tannaim
taotai
timon
timonian
tina
tinman
tinta
tionontati
titania
titanian
titi
titian
titivation
titman
tittivation
toit
toitoi
tomia
tomin
tomomania
tonation
vimana
vimina
vina
vinata
vino
vint
vinta
vita
viti
vitiation
vitta
viva
vivant
vivat
vivian
vomition
vomito
votation

*Every word here uses only the hive's seven letters, includes the center letter, and appears in our dictionary, but it was never published in the NYT's official answer list.