NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Monday, March 16, 2026

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

CEGILX N
38Answers
1Pangrams
225Maximum
158Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

C4
E5
G9
I5
L6
N9

Words by length

47
57
67
78
85
92
102

Two-letter starts

CE1
CL3
EG1
EN1
EX3
GE4
GI4
GL1
IC1
IN4
LE2
LI4
NE3
NI6

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

9 letters · 16 points

First and last letters

E … G

Letter pattern

E•••••••G

E × 2, L × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

excelling

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

C 4

  • ceiling
  • cling
  • clinging
  • clinic

E 5

  • egging
  • engine
  • excellence
  • excellingPangram
  • exiling

G 9

  • gelling
  • gene
  • genie
  • genii
  • gigging
  • giggling
  • gilling
  • ginning
  • glen

I 5

  • icing
  • incline
  • inclining
  • innie
  • inning

L 6

  • legging
  • lenience
  • lien
  • line
  • linen
  • lining

N 9

  • negligee
  • negligence
  • nene
  • nice
  • niece
  • niggle
  • niggling
  • nine
  • nixing

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Hard at 66/100, compared with 75 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons