Spelling Bee Answers for Saturday, January 03, 2026
Jan 03, 2026, Saturday Spelling Bee Answers for the I, R, N, L, O, U, C honeycomb (center letter C) feature 43 words, a 207-point total, 2 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: COUNCILOR.
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Saturday, January 3, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
7/10
Hard70th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.33
Typical lengthAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
77/100
Very RareRarer than 77% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
41 minutes
Typical solveTo reach Genius
2LL
17
Typical spreadUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
Yes
All 7 coveredAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
21
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 145 ptsVowel Split
44%
Balanced mix101 vowels · 128 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start10 PTS
- 15%Moving Up31 PTS
- 25%Good52 PTS
- 40%Solid83 PTS
- 50%Nice104 PTS
- 60%Great124 PTS
- 65%Amazing135 PTS
- 70%Genius145 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee207 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 43 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Saturday, January 3, 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
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Puzzle Letters
Pangrams
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Complete Answers
Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.
9-Letter Words 1 word
8-Letter Words 2 words
7-Letter Words 3 words
6-Letter Words 10 words
5-Letter Words 15 words
4-Letter Words 12 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 43 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 43 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 43 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 207 ranks in the 56th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-01-02.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 43 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 50th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-01-02.
- 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 2026-01-02.
- The estimated solve time of 35–47 min is comparable 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*:
- cill
- cincinni
- cion
- circ
- circuli
- circulin
- cirl
- clio
- clon
- clonic
- clou
- clour
- cnicin
- coccic
- cocco
- coco
- coconino
- coconuco
- cocorico
- coli
- colicin
- colin
- coll
- collin
- colocolic
- colocolo
- coloni
- colour
- concolor
- concolour
- coni
- conn
- conor
- coocoo
- coon
- corin
- cornic
- cornin
- corno
- cornu
- corol
- coronillin
- coronion
- corr
- coruco
- couloir
- councillor
- cric
- crin
- criollo
- crocin
- croconic
- crool
- crull
- cruor
- cruorin
- cullion
- cuniculi
- curculio
- curn
- curr
- cururo
- ilicin
- incl
- inconnu
- incr
- licorn
- licuri
- lincoln
- locn
- loculi
- loric
- nici
- nicol
- nicolo
- noncolor
- noncon
- nonconcur
- nonic
- nonionic
- nonironic
- noric
- nucin
- nunc
- onicolo
- orcin
- orcinol
- ricinic
- ricinolic
- rincon
- roric
- roucou
- ulicon
- ulluco
- unci
- uncini
- unco
- uncoin
- unicolour
- unicornic
- unionic
- unrococo
- uronic
- urucu
- urucuri
*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.