Spelling Bee Answers for Saturday, February 21, 2026

Feb 21, 2026, Saturday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, C, I, M, N, O, T honeycomb (center letter M) feature 66 words, a 383-point total, 6 Pangrams (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 13-letter longest word: CONTAMINATION.

Spelling Bee hive for February 21, 2026 with center letter M and surrounding letters A,C,I,N,O and T

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Saturday, February 21, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

9/10

Very Hard

87th percentile

Avg Word Length

6.03

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

81/100

Very Rare

Rarer than 81% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

73 minutes

Longer than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

16

Typical spread

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Yes

All 7 covered

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

29

words to Genius
1×13L1×11L3×10L6×9L4×8L4×7L10×6L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 268 pts
29 words1×13L1×11L3×10L6×9L4×8L4×7L8×6L2×5L

Vowel Split

46%

Vowel-heavy puzzle

183 vowels · 215 consonants

Score Milestones

  • 0%Beginner0 PTS
  • 5%Good Start19 PTS
  • 15%Moving Up57 PTS
  • 25%Good96 PTS
  • 40%Solid153 PTS
  • 50%Nice192 PTS
  • 60%Great230 PTS
  • 65%Amazing249 PTS
  • 70%Genius268 PTS
  • 100%Queen Bee383 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 66 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Saturday, February 21, 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

M
48%
C
20%
A
15%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2026-02-20
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.

13-Letter Words 1 word

11-Letter Words 1 word

10-Letter Words 3 words

9-Letter Words 6 words

8-Letter Words 4 words

7-Letter Words 4 words

5-Letter Words 14 words

4-Letter Words 19 words

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

19 words
4L
19
14 words
5L
14
14 words
6L
14
4 words
7L
4
4 words (Pangram)
8L
4
6 words (Pangram)
9L
6
3 words
10L
3
1 word (Pangram)
11L
1
1 word (Pangram)
13L
1

Share of 66 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

M
66 words
100%
A
48 words
73%
I
44 words
67%
O
42 words
64%
N
41 words
62%
T
29 words
44%
C
26 words
39%

Share of 66 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

19 pts
19
4L
70 pts
70
5L
84 pts
84
6L
28 pts
28
7L
46 pts (Pangram)
46
8L
68 pts (Pangram)
68
9L
30 pts
30
10L
18 pts (Pangram)
18
11L
20 pts (Pangram)
20
13L

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

M
3248%
C
1320%
A
1015%
T
46%
I
35%
N
23%
O
23%

Share of 66 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

  • Today’s score of 383 ranks in the 99th percentile among all puzzles.
  • The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-02-20.
  • The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
  • The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
  • With 66 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 96th percentile overall.
  • The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-02-20.
  • 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 Very 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 2026-02-20.
  • The estimated solve time of 62–84 min is slower than typical puzzles.
  • Players can expect a grind-heavy solving experience.

Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List

Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:

  • acmatic
  • acmic
  • acoma
  • acomia
  • amain
  • amanita
  • amanitin
  • amant
  • amati
  • amia
  • amic
  • amici
  • amimia
  • amin
  • amination
  • amini
  • aminic
  • amit
  • amitotic
  • amma
  • amman
  • ammino
  • ammoniac
  • ammoniation
  • ammonic
  • ammonitic
  • ammono
  • amnia
  • amnion
  • amnionic
  • amotion
  • amtman
  • anam
  • anamnia
  • anamniotic
  • anatman
  • animato
  • annam
  • annamitic
  • annomination
  • anomia
  • anomic
  • antiatom
  • antiman
  • antimitotic
  • antimonic
  • antinomian
  • antinomic
  • atacaman
  • ataman
  • atma
  • atman
  • atmo
  • atomician
  • caama
  • caimacam
  • caimito
  • camaca
  • camacan
  • caman
  • camino
  • camion
  • cima
  • cinnamic
  • cinnamomic
  • cinnamonic
  • cocainomania
  • cocainomaniac
  • cocama
  • cocamama
  • cocomat
  • coman
  • comatic
  • comino
  • comitant
  • comitia
  • comm
  • commata
  • commatic
  • commination
  • commo
  • commonition
  • commot
  • comtian
  • concomitant
  • conima
  • coom
  • cotman
  • cotonam
  • iconomania
  • iconomatic
  • imamic
  • iman
  • imino
  • imitant
  • immanation
  • immit
  • inanimation
  • innominata
  • intima
  • itmo
  • itonama
  • maat
  • macaca
  • macaco
  • macana
  • macao
  • macco
  • maco
  • macon
  • mactation
  • maia
  • maimon
  • mammati
  • mammoni
  • mamo
  • mana
  • manana
  • manati
  • manation
  • mancono
  • mani
  • manini
  • manioc
  • manioca
  • manito
  • mann
  • mannan
  • mannitan
  • mannitic
  • mano
  • mantic
  • manto
  • manton
  • maomao
  • mataco
  • matai
  • matamata
  • matico
  • matin
  • matman
  • matt
  • matta
  • miami
  • mian
  • miao
  • micmac
  • mico
  • miction
  • mima
  • mimi
  • mimmation
  • mina
  • minimi
  • mino
  • minoan
  • minot
  • mintman
  • miotic
  • mitanni
  • mitannian
  • mitotic
  • mmmm
  • moca
  • mocmain
  • moco
  • mocoa
  • moio
  • moit
  • momo
  • mona
  • monacan
  • monaco
  • monact
  • monactin
  • monic
  • monica
  • monition
  • monoatomic
  • monocot
  • monomict
  • monotic
  • monotint
  • monotonic
  • mont
  • montana
  • montanan
  • montanic
  • montanin
  • montant
  • monton
  • moonman
  • mootman
  • mota
  • motmot
  • moton
  • mott
  • naam
  • naim
  • nama
  • nanaimo
  • naomi
  • nincom
  • noam
  • noma
  • nomic
  • nomina
  • nomocanon
  • nomoi
  • nonamino
  • nonanatomic
  • nonanimation
  • nonatomic
  • noncomic
  • noncontamination
  • nonimitation
  • nonman
  • nonmotion
  • nonnomination
  • oinomania
  • oman
  • omani
  • omao
  • omni
  • omniana
  • omnitonic
  • oniomania
  • oniomaniac
  • onomantia
  • onomatomania
  • oomantia
  • oomiac
  • otomaco
  • otomi
  • otomian
  • ottomanic
  • tacoma
  • tama
  • tannaim
  • timon
  • timonian
  • tinman
  • titman
  • toma
  • toman
  • tomia
  • tomin
  • tomomania
  • toom

*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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