NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Start with the shape of the puzzle, reveal only the help you want, and open the full list when you are ready.

GIKNRU L
42Answers
1Pangrams
212Maximum
149Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

G12
I1
K5
L16
N2
R3
U3

Words by length

414
53
68
79
87
91

Two-letter starts

GI4
GL3
GR2
GU3
IN1
KI3
KN1
KR1
LI5
LU11
NI1
NU1
RI2
RU1
UN3

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

7 letters · 14 points

First and last letters

L … G

Letter pattern

L•••••G

No repeated letters

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

lurking

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

G 12

  • giggling
  • gill
  • gilling
  • girl
  • glug
  • glugging
  • gluing
  • grill
  • grilling
  • gull
  • gulling
  • gurgling

I 1

  • inkling

K 5

  • kill
  • killing
  • kiln
  • knurl
  • krill

L 16

  • liking
  • linguini
  • lining
  • link
  • linking
  • lugging
  • luging
  • lull
  • lulling
  • lulu
  • lung
  • lunging
  • lunk
  • luring
  • lurk
  • lurkingPangram

N 2

  • niggling
  • null

R 3

  • riling
  • rill
  • ruling

U 3

  • unliking
  • unlink
  • unlinking

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Tricky at 61/100, compared with 53 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons