January 1, 2026, Thursday

Spelling Bee Answers for Thursday, January 01, 2026

Jan 01, 2026, Thursday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, T, I, C, L, Y, N honeycomb (center letter N) feature 61 words, a 363-point total, 4 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 12-letter longest word: ANALYTICALLY.

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Spelling Bee hive for January 1, 2026 with center letter N and surrounding letters A,T,I,C,L and Y

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Thursday, January 1, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

8/10

Hard

78th percentile

Avg Word Length

6.08

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

65/100

Rare

Rarer than 65% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

59 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Few pairs

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Missing: Y

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

1×12L1×11L2×10L4×9L3×8L9×7L10×6L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 254 pts

30 words1×12L1×11L2×10L4×9L3×8L9×7L10×6L

Vowel Split

36%

Consonant-heavy puzzle

134 vowels · 237 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start18 PTS
15%Moving Up54 PTS
25%Good91 PTS
40%Solid145 PTS
50%Nice182 PTS
60%Great218 PTS
65%Amazing236 PTS
70%Genius254 PTS
100%Queen Bee363 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 61 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Thursday, January 1, 2026. 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

28%

20%

18%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2025-12-31

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.

12-Letter Words 1 word

11-Letter Words 1 word

10-Letter Words 2 words

9-Letter Words 4 words

8-Letter Words 3 words

7-Letter Words 9 words

6-Letter Words 12 words

5-Letter Words 17 words

4-Letter Words 12 words

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

12 words

17 words

12 words

9 words

3 words (Pangram)

4 words

2 words (Pangram)

10L

1 word (Pangram)

11L

1 word (Pangram)

12L

Share of 61 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

61 words

100%

51 words

84%

43 words

70%

35 words

57%

30 words

49%

29 words

48%

25 words

41%

Share of 61 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

12 pts

85 pts

72 pts

63 pts

31 pts (Pangram)

36 pts

27 pts (Pangram)

10L

18 pts (Pangram)

11L

19 pts (Pangram)

12L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

1728%

1220%

1118%

915%

610%

Share of 61 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 363 ranks in the 98th percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2025-12-31.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 61 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 91st percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2025-12-31.
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 Low, compared to typical puzzles.
Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2025-12-31.
The estimated solve time of 50–68 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*:

acacian
acaciin
acacin
acana
acini
acinic
aclinal
aclinic
actin
actinal
actinally
actinia
actinian
actinic
actinically
aint
alain
alan
alani
alanin
alant
alantin
alanyl
alcanna
alicant
allan
allanitic
alliant
allicin
altaian
altin
anaclitic
anality
analyticity
anan
anana
ananta
anat
anatta
ancilia
ancilla
anicca
anil
anilic
anilin
anility
anita
anna
annat
anta
antical
antically
anticatalytic
anticity
anticlinal
anticly
anticyclic
anticyclical
antilia
antilytic
antlia
atalanta
atlanta
atlantal
atlantic
atlantica
attaint
attn
ayin
cacana
cain
cainian
cainitic
calin
callan
callant
calycinal
cana
canaan
canaanitic
caninal
caninity
cann
cantala
cantic
cantil
cantily
canty
cany
cataian
catalan
catalina
catlin
cilician
cincinnal
cincinnati
cincinnatian
cincinni
cinct
clinal
clinally
clinia
clint
cnicin
cyanic
cyanin
cyanitic
ilian
ilicin
inactinic
inca
incaic
incan
incitant
incl
inia
inial
init
inly
intactly
intail
inti
intnl
inyala
italian
italianity
italianly
laccin
lacinia
lactant
lacticinia
lana
lanital
lanny
lant
lantaca
latian
latin
latinity
latitancy
latitant
lattin
liana
licinian
lilacin
lilian
lina
linac
linalyl
linin
linn
liny
llyn
lycian
lynn
naiant
naily
nain
nalita
nancy
natalia
natalian
natalitial
natally
natantly
natt
niall
niantic
nici
nictitant
nill
nina
nitta
nitty
nyala
nyaya
tacan
tacana
tacanan
tain
tainan
tana
tanala
tania
tanitic
tanna
tannaic
tannaitic
tantalian
tantalic
tanya
tina
tinc
tincal
tinnily
tinta
tinty
titania
titanian
titanical
titanitic
titanyl
titian
titianic
titillant
yana
yanan

*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.