NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Sunday, August 16, 2026

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

BDELOU C
52Answers
2Pangrams
257Maximum
180Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

B5
C36
D6
E2
L1
O2

Words by length

415
512
611
711
82
91

Two-letter starts

BE2
BL1
BO2
CE7
CL7
CO15
CU7
DE6
ED2
LO1
OC2

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

7 letters · 14 points

First and last letters

B … D

Letter pattern

B•••••D

No repeated letters

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

becloud

Pangram 2
Length

9 letters · 16 points

First and last letters

B … D

Letter pattern

B•••••••D

E × 2, D × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

beclouded

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

B 5

  • becloudPangram
  • becloudedPangram
  • bloc
  • bocce
  • boucle

C 36

  • cede
  • ceded
  • celeb
  • cell
  • celled
  • cello
  • cellule
  • clod
  • cloud
  • clouded
  • club
  • clubbed
  • clue
  • clued
  • cobble
  • cobbled
  • coddle
  • coddled
  • code
  • coded
  • coed
  • cold
  • collude
  • colluded
  • cooed
  • cool
  • cooled
  • could
  • coulee
  • cube
  • cubed
  • cuddle
  • cuddled
  • cued
  • cull
  • culled

D 6

  • deco
  • decode
  • decoded
  • deduce
  • deduced
  • deuce

E 2

  • educe
  • educed

L 1

  • loco

O 2

  • occlude
  • occluded

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Moderate at 38/100, compared with 228 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons