Spelling Bee Answers for Friday, March 20, 2026
Mar 20, 2026, Friday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, C, D, E, H, T, M honeycomb (center letter M) feature 56 words, a 232-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 8-letter longest word: MEATHEAD, METADATA, TEAMMATE.
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Friday, March 20, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
8/10
Hard76th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.20
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
76/100
Very RareRarer than 76% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
54 minutes
Longer than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
14
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
Yes
All 7 coveredAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
25
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 162 ptsVowel Split
44%
Balanced mix129 vowels · 162 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start12 PTS
- 15%Moving Up35 PTS
- 25%Good58 PTS
- 40%Solid93 PTS
- 50%Nice116 PTS
- 60%Great139 PTS
- 65%Amazing151 PTS
- 70%Genius162 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee232 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 56 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Friday, March 20, 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.
8-Letter Words 3 words
7-Letter Words 6 words
6-Letter Words 12 words
5-Letter Words 13 words
4-Letter Words 22 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 56 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 56 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 56 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 232 ranks in the 67th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-03-17.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 56 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 82nd percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-03-17.
- 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 2026-03-17.
- The estimated solve time of 46–62 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*:
- acmaea
- adam
- addeem
- adeem
- adeemed
- ahmed
- amah
- amate
- amated
- amdt
- amma
- atma
- caama
- camaca
- cammed
- chacma
- cham
- chama
- chamade
- chamma
- chem
- dama
- damme
- deme
- dhamma
- edam
- edemata
- emma
- emmet
- emmett
- haem
- haemad
- hamada
- hamated
- hame
- hammada
- hammam
- hemachate
- hemad
- maat
- macaca
- macehead
- mach
- mache
- madded
- maha
- mammae
- mammate
- mammee
- mammet
- matamata
- matchet
- matha
- matt
- matta
- meach
- meated
- meath
- meathe
- mecate
- mech
- mede
- medea
- meece
- meech
- meed
- meeth
- metae
- metate
- methhead
- mmmm
- tacamahac
- tacamahaca
- tama
- tema
- temacha
- thema
- themata
- tmema
- tmemata
*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.