February 16, 2026, Monday

Spelling Bee Answers for Monday, February 16, 2026

Feb 16, 2026, Monday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, B, C, K, M, O, R honeycomb (center letter A) feature 57 words, a 221-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 8-letter longest word: BACKCOMB, BACKROOM, BARBACOA, BOOKMARK, BOOKRACK.

Get Hints FREEPractice Online Launch Solver

Spelling Bee hive for February 16, 2026 with center letter A and surrounding letters B,C,K,M,O and R

Get Daily Answers by Email

We send the complete answer list to your inbox as soon as each puzzle is published. No spam, ever.

Monday, February 16, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

7/10

Hard

69th percentile

Avg Word Length

5.02

Short words

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

66/100

Rare

Rarer than 66% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

55 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

5×8L3×7L4×6L13×5L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 155 pts

25 words5×8L3×7L2×6L15×5L

Vowel Split

41%

Balanced mix

117 vowels · 169 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start11 PTS
15%Moving Up33 PTS
25%Good55 PTS
40%Solid88 PTS
50%Nice111 PTS
60%Great133 PTS
65%Amazing144 PTS
70%Genius155 PTS
100%Queen Bee221 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 57 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Monday, February 16, 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

30%

25%

18%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2026-02-15

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

2024-02-28(C)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

24 words

21 words

4 words

3 words

5 words (Pangram)

Share of 57 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

57 words

100%

37 words

65%

33 words

58%

28 words

49%

27 words

47%

27 words

47%

21 words

37%

Share of 57 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

24 pts

105 pts

105

24 pts

21 pts

47 pts (Pangram)

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

1730%

1425%

1018%

712%

47%

35%

24%

Share of 57 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 221 ranks in the 62nd percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-02-15.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 57 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 84th percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-02-15.
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 2026-02-13.
The estimated solve time of 47–63 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*:

abac
abaca
abaka
abba
abbr
abkar
aboma
abram
abrook
acamar
acara
acca
accra
acock
acoma
acrab
acroama
acrook
akaroa
akka
akra
amar
amara
amba
ambar
ambo
amma
amor
amora
amra
arab
araba
araca
arak
arara
ararao
araroba
arba
arca
arkab
armrack
aroar
arrack
arroba
baar
babcock
baboo
baccara
backbar
baka
bakra
bambara
bara
barabara
barabora
barabra
baraca
baraka
barbar
barbara
barbra
barcoo
barm
barmbrack
barocco
baroco
baroko
barr
barra
barrabora
bobac
boca
bocca
boma
bombora
bora
borak
brab
brack
bram
brambrack
broma
caaba
caama
caba
cabob
cabomba
cabook
caca
cack
cakra
camaca
camara
camb
cammock
camorra
caoba
cara
carabao
caracara
carack
caraco
caracoa
caracora
caramba
carbo
carbora
carbro
cark
caro
caroa
carr
carrack
carrara
carrom
coak
coarb
cobbra
cocama
cocamama
cockamaroo
comarca
cora
coram
cormac
crackback
crambo
crookback
kaaba
kaama
kabab
kabaka
kabar
kaka
kakar
kakkak
kama
kamao
kamba
karaka
karo
karoo
karroo
kbar
kokako
kokam
kokama
kokra
kooka
koombar
kora
koroa
krama
maar
maba
macaca
macaco
macao
macco
mack
maco
makar
makara
makaraka
makomako
mammock
mamo
maomao
maormor
mara
maracock
marc
marco
marcor
marka
markab
markka
markkaa
marko
maror
marram
moca
mocoa
mora
mormaor
morra
omao
omar
orra
rama
ramarama
rambo
raob
roak
roka
roorback

*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.