Spelling Bee Answers for Sunday, October 20, 2024

Oct 20, 2024, Sunday Spelling Bee Answers for the C, T, N, V, I, D, E honeycomb (center letter V) feature 50 words, a 299-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 10-letter longest word: VINDICTIVE.

Spelling Bee hive for October 20, 2024 with center letter V and surrounding letters C,T,N,I,D and E

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Sunday, October 20, 2024 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

8/10

Hard

75th percentile

Avg Word Length

6.32

Long words

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

66/100

Rare

Rarer than 66% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

48 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

9

Few pairs

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

No

Missing: T, N

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

28

words to Genius
1×10L5×9L5×8L10×7L7×6L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 209 pts
28 words1×10L5×9L5×8L10×7L2×6L5×5L

Vowel Split

45%

Balanced mix

142 vowels · 174 consonants

Score Milestones

  • 0%Beginner0 PTS
  • 5%Good Start15 PTS
  • 15%Moving Up45 PTS
  • 25%Good75 PTS
  • 40%Solid120 PTS
  • 50%Nice150 PTS
  • 60%Great179 PTS
  • 65%Amazing194 PTS
  • 70%Genius209 PTS
  • 100%Queen Bee299 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 50 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Sunday, October 20, 2024. 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

D
28%
E
26%
V
24%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2024-10-19
Today's AnswersGo to Today

Pangrams

Reveal letter by letter or uncover a full solution

The Center letter is highlighted in Yellow.

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

10-Letter Words 1 word

9-Letter Words 5 words

8-Letter Words 5 words

7-Letter Words 10 words

5-Letter Words 7 words

4-Letter Words 8 words

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

8 words
4L
8
7 words
5L
7
14 words
6L
14
10 words
7L
10
5 words
8L
5
5 words
9L
5
1 word (Pangram)
10L
1

Share of 50 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

V
50 words
100%
E
48 words
96%
I
42 words
84%
D
33 words
66%
N
31 words
62%
T
19 words
38%
C
17 words
34%

Share of 50 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

8 pts
8
4L
35 pts
35
5L
84 pts
84
6L
70 pts
70
7L
40 pts
40
8L
45 pts
45
9L
17 pts (Pangram)
17
10L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

D
1428%
E
1326%
V
1224%
I
918%
C
24%

Share of 50 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

  • Today’s score of 299 ranks in the 89th percentile among all puzzles.
  • The last time a score this low appeared was on 2024-10-19.
  • The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
  • The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
  • With 50 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 69th percentile overall.
  • The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2024-10-19.
  • 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 2024-10-13.
  • The estimated solve time of 41–55 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*:

  • cive
  • civie
  • detentive
  • devi
  • devide
  • divet
  • divi
  • divident
  • evene
  • eventide
  • evetide
  • evincive
  • evite
  • evited
  • incitive
  • indictive
  • indiv
  • individed
  • inevidence
  • inevident
  • intentive
  • invect
  • invected
  • invict
  • invt
  • neve
  • neven
  • nevi
  • nieve
  • ninevite
  • teevee
  • vedette
  • vedic
  • vendee
  • vened
  • venene
  • veneti
  • venetic
  • venice
  • venin
  • venite
  • vetitive
  • vetivene
  • viced
  • vicine
  • vide
  • vidette
  • vince
  • vincent
  • vined
  • vinic
  • vint
  • vite
  • viti
  • vive

*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.

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