Spelling Bee Answers for Friday, July 17, 2026
Jul 17, 2026, Friday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, B, E, L, M, N, U honeycomb (center letter U) feature 44 words, a 183-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: BUMBLEBEE.
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Friday, July 17, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
8/10
Hard82nd percentile
Avg Word Length
5.23
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
88/100
Very RareRarer than 88% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
42 minutes
Typical solveTo reach Genius
2LL
14
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: EAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
19
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 128 ptsVowel Split
45%
Balanced mix104 vowels · 126 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start9 PTS
- 15%Moving Up27 PTS
- 25%Good46 PTS
- 40%Solid73 PTS
- 50%Nice92 PTS
- 60%Great110 PTS
- 65%Amazing119 PTS
- 70%Genius128 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee183 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 44 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Friday, July 17, 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 1 word
7-Letter Words 4 words
6-Letter Words 13 words
5-Letter Words 7 words
4-Letter Words 18 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 44 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 44 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 44 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 183 ranks in the 44th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-07-16.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 44 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 52nd percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-07-16.
- 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 2026-07-16.
- The estimated solve time of 36–48 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*:
- ababua
- abubble
- abuna
- abune
- alula
- alulae
- alumel
- alumnal
- amamau
- amebula
- annule
- annullable
- annum
- aube
- aula
- aulae
- aune
- babu
- babua
- babul
- babuma
- baluba
- balun
- bambuba
- baubee
- baul
- baun
- beaune
- belue
- bemaul
- blub
- blueball
- blume
- blumea
- bual
- buba
- bubal
- bubale
- bube
- bulbel
- bulbul
- bulbule
- bulla
- bullae
- bumbee
- bummle
- buna
- bunn
- bunnell
- elul
- embubble
- embue
- emeu
- emmanuel
- emulable
- emule
- labellum
- lamellule
- lanum
- lauan
- laulau
- lemuel
- luba
- luella
- lula
- lulab
- lumenal
- lumme
- lunel
- lunn
- lunule
- mallum
- malum
- manuel
- manul
- manuma
- manumea
- maulana
- maumee
- maun
- meum
- muleman
- mulemen
- mulla
- mullen
- mulm
- mulmul
- mulmull
- mumm
- mumu
- nabu
- nanmu
- nebule
- neum
- neuma
- neume
- nuba
- nullable
- numa
- numen
- ulama
- ulan
- ulema
- ulua
- ululu
- umbel
- umbella
- umbellula
- umbellule
- unal
- unamenable
- unannullable
- unau
- unbale
- unbe
- unbell
- unbenumb
- unblamable
- unlame
- unleal
- unlean
- unmalleable
- unnamable
- unname
- unnameable
*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.