NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Thursday, July 16, 2026

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

ACIRTY D
37Answers
1Pangrams
166Maximum
117Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

A10
C4
D16
R3
T3
Y1

Words by length

412
514
64
74
82
91

Two-letter starts

AC6
AD1
AR3
CA3
CI1
DA4
DI8
DR3
DY1
RA3
TA1
TI1
TR1
YA1

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

8 letters · 15 points

First and last letters

A … Y

Letter pattern

A••••••Y

I × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

acridity

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

A 10

  • acid
  • acidic
  • acidity
  • acidy
  • acrid
  • acridityPangram
  • addict
  • arcadia
  • arid
  • aridity

C 4

  • caddy
  • card
  • cardiac
  • cicada

D 16

  • daddy
  • dairy
  • dart
  • data
  • diacritic
  • diary
  • dicta
  • didact
  • didactic
  • dirt
  • dirty
  • ditty
  • drat
  • dray
  • dryad
  • dyad

R 3

  • radar
  • radii
  • raid

T 3

  • tardy
  • tidy
  • triad

Y 1

  • yard

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Tricky at 62/100, compared with 197 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons