All 43 valid words for the NYT Spelling Bee. Center letter: L.
💬 Join the discussionHeads up — this shows the hardest word of the day.
The NYT Spelling Bee for October 26, 2026 was a generous puzzle, with 43 valid words built entirely around the center letter L — which must appear in every answer.
With 43 valid words, this puzzle offered more paths to Genius than most, though finding every word still required broad vocabulary coverage. The outer letters were G, H, I, N, T, Y, and the longest answer aside from the pangram ran 12 letters for 12 points. Reaching Genius required 172 points out of a possible 245; see how this compares in the full answers archive.
The pangram was worth 14 points — more than any other word that day. With answers ranging from 4 letters up to 12, working methodically from the shortest words up is the surest route to Genius; see the full method in our strategy guide.
Prefer to solve it yourself? Get spoiler-free hints for today's Spelling Bee instead — the words grouped by starting letter and length, with a nudge toward the pangram, so nothing is spoiled until you ask.
Prefer a nudge over the full answer key? Here is how the 43 words for the October 26, 2026 Spelling Bee break down — how many begin with each letter, at each word length — followed by the two-letter start list. Work these first, then reveal the complete list only if you get stuck.
| Start \ Len | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | · | · | · | 7 |
| H | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | 1 | · | 1 | 7 |
| I | 1 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | 1 |
| L | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | · | · | 11 |
| N | · | · | 1 | 2 | 1 | · | 1 | · | 5 |
| T | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | · | · | · | 12 |
| Total | 10 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 43 |
GI5GL2HI7IL1LI10LY1NI5TH1TI11
Spoiler warning — the complete answer list is below.
Definitions for the October 26, 2026 answers — so you know exactly what you found, or what you missed. Pangrams are marked ★.
Spoiler warning — every answer word is spelled out and defined below.
Word definitions from WordNet® 3.1, Princeton University.
The players who find HIGHLIGHTING and NIGHTLIGHT consistently know their Latin and Greek roots. These books teach the exact system that unlocks words like NIGHTLY before you ever see the puzzle.
How did today go? Share your progress, favorite finds, or where you got stuck. Be kind — no spoilers-shaming.
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