NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Thursday, July 23, 2026

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

CDENOU F
40Answers
2Pangrams
239Maximum
168Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

C7
D7
F15
O3
U8

Words by length

49
54
613
72
87
92
103

Two-letter starts

CO5
CU2
DE4
DO2
DU1
FE8
FO5
FU2
OF3
UN8

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

9 letters · 16 points

First and last letters

C … D

Letter pattern

C•••••••D

O × 2, D × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

cofounded

Pangram 2
Length

10 letters · 17 points

First and last letters

C … D

Letter pattern

C••••••••D

O × 2, N × 2, D × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

confounded

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

C 7

  • coffee
  • cofound
  • cofoundedPangram
  • confound
  • confoundedPangram
  • cuff
  • cuffed

D 7

  • defend
  • defended
  • defund
  • defunded
  • doff
  • doffed
  • duff

F 15

  • fecund
  • feed
  • fence
  • fenced
  • fend
  • fended
  • feud
  • feuded
  • fond
  • fondue
  • food
  • found
  • founded
  • fund
  • funded

O 3

  • offed
  • offend
  • offended

U 8

  • uncuff
  • uncuffed
  • undefended
  • unfed
  • unfenced
  • unfounded
  • unfunded
  • unoffended

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Tricky at 55/100, compared with 204 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons