Today's NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Today's New York Times Spelling Bee honeycomb grid features Y as the mandatory center letter, surrounded by the letters E, G, I, L, N and T.
Today's puzzle has 37 possible words and 224 total points, including 4 pangrams. The longest word in today's puzzle is INTELLIGENTLY, a 13-letter word.
Reaching Genius takes 157 of the 224 points in today's puzzle. Depending on word length, that can be as few as 18 words or as many as 34. You also need at least one 9-letter word to get there. Queen Bee means finding all 37 words for 224 points.
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Today's NYT Spelling Bee Puzzle Insights
A closer look at today's NYT puzzle difficulty, word patterns, scoring, and solve time.
Difficulty
8/10
Hard78th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.95
Typical lengthAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
84/100
Very RareRarer than 84% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
36 minutes
Typical solveTo reach Genius
2LL
19
Typical spreadUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
Yes
All 7 coveredAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
18
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 157 ptsVowel Split
29%
Consonant-heavy puzzle64 vowels · 156 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start11 PTS
- 15%Moving Up34 PTS
- 25%Good56 PTS
- 40%Solid90 PTS
- 50%Nice112 PTS
- 60%Great134 PTS
- 65%Amazing146 PTS
- 70%Genius157 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee224 PTS
Full List of NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Here is the complete list of 37 answers for the New York Times Spelling Bee puzzle for Friday, October 9, 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
Try starting with these letters when you're stuck.
Puzzle Letters
Today's Pangrams
Today's Spelling Bee has 4 Pangrams. A pangram is a word that uses all seven letters in the puzzle at least once, which gives you a 7-point bonus.
Spelling Bee Answers Today
Here are all 37 answers in today's October 09, 2026 Spelling Bee puzzle, organized by word length and points.
13-Letter Words 1 word
11-Letter Words 1 word
9-Letter Words 3 words
8-Letter Words 1 word
7-Letter Words 2 words
6-Letter Words 10 words
5-Letter Words 11 words
4-Letter Words 8 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution (Today)
Share of 37 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage (Today)
Share of 37 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length (Today)
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution (Today)
Share of 37 words starting with each letter.
How does today's spelling bee compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 224 ranks in the 63rd percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-10-07.
- The highest score recorded is 506, seen on 2023-09-24.
- The lowest score recorded is 47, seen on 2023-03-27.
- With 37 possible answers, this puzzle falls in the 34th percentile overall.
- The last puzzle with fewer answers occurred on 2026-10-05.
- 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 2026-10-08.
- The estimated solve time of 31–41 min is comparable than typical puzzles.
- Players can expect a challenging solving experience.
Other Dictionary Words Not on Today's Official List
Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:
- elengely
- englyn
- eyeleting
- eyeletting
- eyeline
- eyen
- eyey
- eyne
- gelly
- genny
- genteelly
- genty
- gigglingly
- gilenyie
- gilly
- gillying
- gilty
- gingeley
- gingelly
- gingely
- ginglyni
- ginney
- ginny
- gleety
- glegly
- gletty
- gley
- gleying
- glyn
- glynn
- gyle
- gyne
- gyte
- gytling
- ineye
- ingeny
- inly
- inlying
- inneity
- lenny
- letty
- liegely
- lilly
- liltingly
- lineny
- liney
- lingy
- linley
- liny
- llyn
- lyingly
- lynette
- lynn
- lynne
- lynnette
- nelly
- nettly
- nigglingly
- nignye
- nitently
- nitty
- nyet
- teenty
- teety
- telly
- telyn
- tentily
- tenty
- tetty
- tilley
- tilly
- tilty
- tinety
- tinglingly
- tinnily
- tintingly
- tinty
- titty
- tyee
- tyne
- tyning
- yeel
- yeelin
- yegg
- yelt
- yengee
- yeni
- yenite
- yentnite
- yetlin
- yetling
- yett
- yill
- yilt
- yite
*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.
How to use Spelling Bee Answers and Analysis
Review puzzle stats
Check the word count, point targets, and score milestones to track your progress toward Genius and Queen Bee.
Reveal the pangram
Reveal the pangrams one letter at a time and use it as a clue while solving the rest of the puzzle.
Explore the answers
View the complete answer list and sort the words by length or points to find the words you're missing.
Review puzzle stats
Check the word count, point targets, and score milestones to track your progress toward Genius and Queen Bee.
Reveal the pangram
Reveal the pangrams one letter at a time and use it as a clue while solving the rest of the puzzle.
Explore the answers
View the complete answer list and sort the words by length or points to find the words you're missing.
Need Help?
Where can I find yesterday’s NYT Spelling Bee answers?
You can view yesterday’s Spelling Bee answers in our puzzle archive, where we publish the complete word list, pangrams, and score breakdown for each date. Simply navigate to the past dates section to access the full solution set for any previous honeycomb puzzle.
Does today’s Spelling Bee have a Bingo?
Yes. A "Bingo" occurs when the daily word list contains at least one word starting with each of the seven letters in the hive.
What is the NYT Spelling Bee "GN4L" ?
GN4L stands for "Genius, No 4-Letter words." It is an elite challenge metric indicating the minimum number of words (length 5+) required to reach the Genius score threshold for today's puzzle.
How many words are required for today’s GN4L?
You can reach the "Genius No 4-Letter words" (GN4L) rank for the E, G, I, L, N, T, Y honeycomb by finding 18 words words.
What are the letter combinations for reaching today's GN4L?
There are 1 13-letter word, 1 11-letter word, 3 9-letter words, 1 8-letter word, 2 7-letter words, 10 6-letter words possible word combinations to achieve GN4L today.
What is a "GN4L OTN" path?
GN4L OTN stands for "Genius No 4-Letter words - On The Nose." This refers to a specific combination of words (all 5 letters or longer) that totals the exact point requirement for the Genius rank without a single point of overage.
How many words are required for today’s GN4L OTN?
You must find exactly 18 words words to achieve GN4L OTN status.
What are the letter combinations for reaching today's GN4L OTN?
Today’s puzzle features 1 13-letter word, 1 11-letter word, 3 9-letter words, 1 8-letter word, 2 7-letter words, 6 6-letter words, 4 5-letter words unique "On The Nose" combinations.
What is the 2-Letter List (2LL)?
2LL shows how many words in today’s honeycomb start with specific two-letter pairs. For example, a "CA-4" entry indicates there are four words in the official list beginning with the letters "CA," helping you narrow down your search.
How many words are required for today’s 2LL?
Today's Two-Letter List (2LL) contains 19 unique two-letter starting combinations.
What constitutes a "Perfect Pangram" in the hive?
A Perfect Pangram is a word that uses all seven letters of the daily hive exactly once. Standard pangrams may repeat letters, but a Perfect Pangram is a mathematical "on the nose" solution using only seven characters.
Why are some words not accepted in the official NYT Spelling Bee game?
The official game uses a dictionary that excludes words deemed too obscure, offensive, or hyphenated.
How many pangrams are there in NYT Spelling Bee today?
4 Pangrams
What is today's NYT Spelling Bee pangram?
GENTILITY, INTELLIGENTLY, NEGLIGENTLY, TELLINGLY
Why is there never an "S" in the NYT Spelling Bee?
Editor Sam Ezersky intentionally excludes the letter "S" because adding it would make the puzzle too easy by allowing simple plurals.
Are plural words allowed in the game at all?
Yes. Even though you cannot use an "S", valid plural words that do not require the letter are still accepted.
Is the NYT Spelling Bee game free?
You can play a limited version for free on their site, but completing the entire daily puzzle requires an active NYT Games subscription. However, if you are looking for a completely free alternative, we offer a daily spelling bee game just like the NYT, plus a Spelling Bee Unlimited mode so you can play as much as you want without a paywall!
What time is the new NYT Spelling Bee released?
A new puzzle drops every day at exactly 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time (midnight Pacific Time). The game updates simultaneously for all players, no matter what time zone they are in.