NYT Spelling Bee

Answers · Analysis · Spoiler controlled

Spelling Bee Answers & Analysis

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

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

ADEGHN B
42Answers
2Pangrams
228Maximum
160Genius

Answer shape

Use the distributions before revealing any words.

Words by first letter

A1
B32
D1
E1
G1
H5
N1

Words by length

411
54
614
77
85
101

Two-letter starts

AB1
BA19
BE13
DA1
EB1
GA1
HA1
HE4
NA1

Pangram ladder

Open one clue at a time.

Pangram 1
Length

8 letters · 15 points

First and last letters

H … G

Letter pattern

H••••••G

A × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

headbang

Pangram 2
Length

10 letters · 17 points

First and last letters

H … D

Letter pattern

H••••••••D

E × 2, A × 2, D × 2

Reveal Pangram — spoiler

headbanged

Complete answer list

Reveal full answers — spoiler

A 1

  • abed

B 32

  • baaed
  • baba
  • babe
  • bade
  • badge
  • badged
  • baggage
  • bagged
  • banana
  • band
  • bandage
  • bandaged
  • bandana
  • bandanna
  • banded
  • bane
  • bang
  • banged
  • banned
  • bead
  • beaded
  • bean
  • beanbag
  • beaned
  • bedded
  • bedhead
  • been
  • began
  • begged
  • behead
  • beheaded
  • bend

D 1

  • dabbed

E 1

  • ebbed

G 1

  • gabbed

H 5

  • handbag
  • headband
  • headbangPangram
  • headbangedPangram
  • henbane

N 1

  • nabbed

How hard was this puzzle?

This puzzle's structural difficulty is Tricky at 54/100, compared with 230 available puzzles through this date.

Read the difficulty methodology and comparisons