September 18, 2026, Friday

Spelling Bee Answers for Friday, September 18, 2026

Sep 18, 2026, Friday Spelling Bee Answers for the A, C, I, N, Q, T, U honeycomb (center letter A) feature 41 words, a 209-point total, 1 Pangram (0 Perfect Pangram perfect), and the 9-letter longest word: TACTICIAN.

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Spelling Bee hive for September 18, 2026 with center letter A and surrounding letters C,I,N,Q,T and U

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Friday, September 18, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights

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

Difficulty

4/10

Medium

42nd percentile

Avg Word Length

5.66

Typical length

All-time avg: 5.4

Rarity

35/100

Uncommon

Rarer than 35% of puzzles

Avg Solve Time

34 minutes

Quicker than usual

To reach Genius

2LL

Few pairs

Unique two-letter openings

Bingo Status

Missing: U

All 7 letters start at least 1 word

GN4L

words to Genius

1×9L4×8L4×7L12×6L

GN4L OTN

Yes

Exact 146 pts

21 words1×9L4×8L4×7L10×6L2×5L

Vowel Split

45%

Balanced mix

105 vowels · 127 consonants

Score Milestones

0%Beginner0 PTS
5%Good Start10 PTS
15%Moving Up31 PTS
25%Good52 PTS
40%Solid84 PTS
50%Nice105 PTS
60%Great125 PTS
65%Amazing136 PTS
70%Genius146 PTS
100%Queen Bee209 PTS

Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Here is the complete list of 41 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Friday, September 18, 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

32%

29%

17%

Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.

Puzzle Letters

Previous2026-09-17

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

2024-11-10(T)2023-04-29(C)

Complete Answers

Sort it your way: longest words or highest scores.

Browse calendar of past puzzles

Word Length Distribution

10 words

9 words

13 words

4 words

4 words (Pangram)

1 word

Share of 41 answers at each word length.

Letter Coverage

41 words

100%

32 words

78%

30 words

73%

25 words

61%

23 words

56%

14 words

34%

10 words

24%

Share of 41 words using each hive letter.

Points by Length

10 pts

45 pts

78 pts

28 pts

39 pts (Pangram)

9 pts

Total points available at each word length.

Letter Frequency Distribution

1332%

1229%

717%

410%

37%

25%

Share of 41 words starting with each letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today’s score of 209 ranks in the 57th percentile among all puzzles.
The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-09-17.
The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
With 41 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 45th percentile overall.
The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-09-17.
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 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 Medium, compared to typical puzzles.
Puzzles with similar letter rarity last appeared on 2026-09-16.
The estimated solve time of 29–39 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*:

aani
acacian
acaciin
acacin
acana
acca
acct
acini
acinic
acinuni
acquaintant
acta
actian
actin
actinia
actinian
actinic
actu
acuan
aint
ainu
anan
anana
ananta
anaqua
anat
anatta
anicca
anicut
anita
anna
annat
anni
annicut
annuitant
anta
antiaquatic
antica
antiq
antiqua
antu
aquatinta
aquitanian
atactic
ataunt
atta
attacca
attaint
attn
atua
auantic
auca
aucan
aucanian
autunian
caca
cacan
cacana
cacatua
caccia
caci
caic
cain
cainian
cainitic
cana
canaan
canaanitic
canaut
canc
cann
cannat
cantic
cantut
cantuta
canun
cataian
catan
cattan
catti
cauqui
cicuta
cincinatti
cincinnati
cincinnatia
cincinnatian
citua
cuca
cuna
cunan
icica
inact
inactinic
inca
incaic
incan
incitant
inia
initiant
inta
itai
naiant
nain
nanitic
nant
natica
natt
natu
naunt
naut
nautic
nautica
niantic
niata
nictitant
nina
nitta
niuan
nutant
qanat
qiana
quai
quan
quanti
quantic
quat
quata
quia
quiaquia
quica
quiina
quina
quinaquina
quinia
quinina
quinnat
quinquina
quinta
quintain
quintan
quintant
quinua
taata
tacan
tacana
tacanan
tacca
tain
tainan
tainui
tait
tana
tanan
tania
tanica
tanitic
tanna
tannaic
tannaitic
tanti
taqua
tatian
tatta
tatu
taun
tautit
ticca
tictac
ticuna
ticunan
tina
tinta
titania
titanian
titanitic
titian
titianic
tuan
tuant
tucana
tucuna
tunca
tunica
tunican
tunicata
tunna
tutania
uinta
unacquaint
unacquit
unact
unactinic
unai
unattaint
unau
unca
uncia
uncinata
uniat
uniquantic
unta
untaint
untaut
utai

*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.