Spelling Bee Answers for Thursday, September 17, 2026
Sep 17, 2026, Thursday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, F, I, L, M, O, Y honeycomb (center letter M) feature 36 words, a 124-point total, 1 Pangram (1 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 8-letter longest word: FAMILIAL, FLIMFLAM.
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Thursday, September 17, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at this NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
4/10
Medium35th percentile
Avg Word Length
4.83
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
51/100
RareRarer than 51% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
30 minutes
Quicker than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
13
Few pairsUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: O, YAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
14
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 87 ptsVowel Split
39%
Balanced mix67 vowels · 107 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start6 PTS
- 15%Moving Up19 PTS
- 25%Good31 PTS
- 40%Solid50 PTS
- 50%Nice62 PTS
- 60%Great74 PTS
- 65%Amazing81 PTS
- 70%Genius87 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee124 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 36 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Thursday, September 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.
8-Letter Words 2 words
7-Letter Words 2 words
6-Letter Words 3 words
5-Letter Words 10 words
4-Letter Words 19 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution
Share of 36 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage
Share of 36 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution
Share of 36 words starting with each letter.
How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 124 ranks in the 15th percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-09-15.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 36 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 31st percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-09-15.
- 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 Medium puzzles, based on overall difficulty scoring.
- Compared to recent puzzles, today’s challenge is easier than usual.
- The letter set in this puzzle is considered Low, compared to typical puzzles.
- Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2026-09-15.
- The estimated solve time of 25–35 min is faster than typical puzzles.
- Players can expect a steady solving experience.
Other Dictionary Words Not on This Puzzle's Official List
Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:
- afoam
- alamo
- alima
- alma
- aloma
- amal
- amala
- amay
- amia
- amil
- amimia
- amla
- amli
- amma
- ammi
- amolilla
- amomal
- amoy
- amylo
- amylom
- fama
- familia
- filmily
- flam
- flamy
- flioma
- ilama
- ilima
- immi
- immy
- lamia
- lamm
- lammy
- limail
- limli
- limma
- limy
- liomyoma
- loamily
- loammi
- loma
- lomilomi
- lyam
- maam
- maffia
- mafoo
- maia
- maill
- maioli
- mala
- malam
- malay
- malaya
- malayalam
- malayalim
- mali
- mallam
- malloy
- malm
- malmy
- malo
- mamaloi
- mamilla
- mammalia
- mammilla
- mammy
- mamo
- maomao
- maya
- miami
- miamia
- miao
- miffy
- mila
- milfoil
- milia
- miliola
- milla
- millimol
- milly
- milo
- mima
- mimi
- mimly
- mmmm
- moff
- moio
- mola
- molal
- molala
- molify
- molilalia
- molla
- moly
- momi
- momo
- mool
- moya
- moyl
- moyo
- myal
- myalia
- myall
- myoma
- olam
- olomao
- omao
- yamamai
- yomim
*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.