NYT Spelling Bee Answers
Today's New York Times Spelling Bee honeycomb grid features L as the mandatory center letter, surrounded by the letters A, D, I, P, R and Y.
Today's puzzle has 56 possible words and 244 total points, including 2 pangrams and 1 perfect pangram. The longest word in today's puzzle is DILLYDALLY, a 10-letter word.
Reaching Genius takes 171 of the 244 points in today's puzzle. Depending on word length, that can be as few as 24 words or as many as 49. You also need at least one 7-letter word to get there. Queen Bee means finding all 56 words for 244 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
7/10
Hard68th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.29
Short wordsAll-time avg: 5.4
Rarity
65/100
RareRarer than 65% of puzzles
Avg Solve Time
54 minutes
Longer than usualTo reach Genius
2LL
16
Typical spreadUnique two-letter openings
Bingo Status
No
Missing: YAll 7 letters start at least 1 word
GN4L
24
words to GeniusGN4L OTN
Yes
Exact 171 ptsVowel Split
32%
Consonant-heavy puzzle95 vowels · 201 consonants
Score Milestones
- 0%Beginner0 PTS
- 5%Good Start12 PTS
- 15%Moving Up37 PTS
- 25%Good61 PTS
- 40%Solid98 PTS
- 50%Nice122 PTS
- 60%Great146 PTS
- 65%Amazing159 PTS
- 70%Genius171 PTS
- 100%Queen Bee244 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 Wednesday, October 21, 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
Pangrams
Oct 21, 2026 Spelling Bee has 2 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 Words
Here are all 56 answers in Oct 21, 2026 Spelling Bee puzzle, organized by word length and points.
10-Letter Words 1 word
9-Letter Words 1 word
8-Letter Words 3 words
7-Letter Words 5 words
6-Letter Words 10 words
5-Letter Words 14 words
4-Letter Words 22 words
Browse calendar of past puzzles
Word Length Distribution (Today)
Share of 56 answers at each word length.
Letter Coverage (Today)
Share of 56 words using each hive letter.
Points by Length (Today)
Total points available at each word length.
Letter Frequency Distribution (Today)
Share of 56 words starting with each letter.
How does Oct 21, 2026 spelling bee compare to other puzzles?
- Today’s score of 244 ranks in the 71st percentile among all puzzles.
- The last time a score this low appeared was on 2026-10-20.
- 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 2026-10-20.
- 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 2026-10-17.
- 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 Today's Official List
Wondering why these words aren't on the official list*:
- aalii
- adipyl
- adlai
- adlay
- adradial
- adradially
- alai
- alala
- alalia
- alap
- alapa
- alar
- alary
- alay
- alday
- alia
- alida
- alidad
- aliya
- allyl
- appal
- appl
- april
- aralia
- aridly
- arillary
- arilli
- arrayal
- aryl
- dail
- dali
- darryl
- daryl
- dayal
- diallyl
- diarial
- dilli
- dipala
- dipyridyl
- drail
- drily
- ilia
- iliad
- ilial
- ilpirra
- ilya
- ipil
- iridal
- iridial
- laari
- ladyly
- laidly
- laird
- lairy
- lall
- lally
- lapilli
- lapp
- lappa
- laralia
- lararia
- lardry
- lardy
- lari
- larid
- lariid
- larry
- liard
- lida
- lidar
- lidia
- lila
- lill
- lilly
- lipa
- liparid
- liri
- lydia
- lyra
- lyraid
- lyrid
- paillard
- pala
- palapalai
- palar
- palay
- pali
- palila
- palilalia
- palilia
- palla
- palladia
- pallar
- pallia
- pallial
- palliard
- pally
- palpal
- palpi
- paly
- papillar
- papyral
- paralalia
- pardal
- parial
- parilia
- parly
- parral
- pial
- pilar
- pilary
- pili
- pillary
- pilpai
- pilpay
- pily
- pipal
- pipil
- pirl
- plap
- playa
- playday
- prill
- pyal
- pyla
- pyral
- pyralid
- pyridyl
- pyrryl
- radialia
- railly
- rall
- rapilli
- rilly
- riparial
- ryal
- yald
- yali
- yalla
- yarl
- yill
*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.