Spelling Bee Answers for Friday, January 23, 2026
Jan 23, 2026, Friday Spelling Bee Answers for the B, L, D, C, E, O, K honeycomb (center letter K) feature 38 words, a 173-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 10-letter longest word: COLDCOCKED.
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Friday, January 23, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
6/10
Hard62nd percentile
Avg Word Length
5.55
Typical lengthAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
70/100
RareRarer than 70% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
37 minutes
Typical solveTo reach Genius
2LL
13
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: OAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
17
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 121 ptsVowel Split
37%
Balanced mix78 vowels · 133 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start9 PTS
- 15%Moving Up26 PTS
- 25%Good43 PTS
- 40%Solid69 PTS
- 50%Nice87 PTS
- 60%Great104 PTS
- 65%Amazing112 PTS
- 70%Genius121 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee173 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 38 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Friday, January 23, 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.
10-Letter Words 1 word
9-Letter Words 1 word
8-Letter Words 4 words
7-Letter Words 2 words
6-Letter Words 11 words
5-Letter Words 4 words
4-Letter Words 15 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 38 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 38 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 38 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 173 ranks in the 39th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-01-19.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 38 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 36th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-01-19.
- 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 2026-01-21.
- The estimated solve time of 31–43 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*:
- becked
- beek
- bekko
- belk
- belleek
- belock
- belook
- bleck
- bleekbok
- blok
- bodock
- boke
- boko
- bolk
- bollock
- boobook
- cleck
- cleek
- cleeked
- cloke
- cockled
- codebook
- coked
- cookee
- deblock
- deblocked
- deckel
- decoke
- deek
- dekko
- dekle
- doek
- doke
- doko
- dook
- kebbock
- kebob
- keck
- kecked
- keckle
- keckled
- kedlock
- keek
- keeked
- keld
- kele
- kelebe
- kelek
- kelk
- kell
- kobo
- kobold
- kodkod
- koel
- koko
- kolo
- kolokolo
- koodoo
- lebbek
- leck
- lobcock
- loke
- lookee
- ollock
*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.