Today's letters are below. The center letter, L, must be in every word.
Happy Spelling Bee day, puzzlers! With L in the center and GHINTY around it, this set looks nicely springy and a little tricky.
43 words · 245 points · 1 pangram
Hint 1: Word grid (first letter by word length)
How many words start with each letter, by length.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | 7 |
| H | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 7 |
| I | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| L | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 11 |
| N | - | - | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 5 |
| T | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | 12 |
Hint 2: Two-letter starts
GI-5 · GL-2 · HI-7 · IL-1 · LI-10 · LY-1 · NI-5 · TH-1 · TI-11
Hint 3: Pangram first letters
N (7 letters)
Show the pangrams
NIGHTLY
Show all 43 answers
G giggling, giggly, gill, gilling, gilt, glint, glinting
H highlight, highlighting, highly, hill, hilling, hilly, hilt
I illy
L light, lighting, lightly, lightning, lilt, lilting, lily, lining, lint, linty, lying
N niggling, niggly, nightlight, nightly, ninthly
T thinly, tightly, tiling, till, tilling, tilt, tilth, tilting, tingling, tingly, tinily, titling
Pangrams are in bold.
Spelling Bee deep dive
More about today's puzzle. Everything in this section can include the answer.
Ranks and point targets
Today's puzzle is worth 245 points in total. These are the usual rank targets, worked out as a share of the total.
| Rank | Points |
|---|---|
| Beginner | 0 |
| Good Start | 5 |
| Moving Up | 12 |
| Good | 20 |
| Solid | 37 |
| Nice | 61 |
| Great | 98 |
| Amazing | 123 |
| Genius | 172 |
| Queen Bee | 245 |
Longest words (spoiler)
The longest answer is HIGHLIGHTING, at 12 letters.
What every answer means (spoiler)
- giggling: The act of producing giggles; high-pitched laughter
- giggly: Prone to giggling.
- gill: (zootomy) A breathing organ of fish and other aquatic animals.
- gilling: Two villages in North Yorkshire, England:
- gilt: (uncountable) Gold or other metal in a thin layer; gilding.
- glint: A short flash of light, usually when reflected off a shiny surface.
- glinting: A glint.
- highlight: (transitive) To make prominent; emphasize.
- highlighting: The visual emphasis of text by means of a highlight.
- highly: Extremely; greatly; very much.
- hill: An elevated landmass smaller than a mountain.
- hilling: (horticulture) The act or process of heaping up earth around plants.
- hilly: (of a landscape) Abundant in hills; having many hills.
- hilt: The handle of a sword, consisting of grip, guard, and pommel, designed to facilitate use of the b...
- illy: Badly; poorly.
- light: (physics, uncountable) Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye...
- lighting: The equipment used to provide illumination; the illumination so provided.
- lightly: In a light manner.
- lightning: A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud...
- lilt: (intransitive) To do something rhythmically, with animation and quickness, usually of music.
- lilting: Having a lilt; with energy, spirit and sprightliness; lively and cheerful.
- lily: Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many o...
- lining: A covering for the inside surface of something.
- lint: Clinging fuzzy fluff that clings to fabric or accumulates in one's pockets or navel etc.
- linty: Covered with lint.
- lying: An act or telling a lie or falsehood; the practice of telling lies.
- niggling: Irritating.
- niggly: Pernickety, paying too much attention to small details.
- nightlight: a small, dim light or lamp left on overnight
- nightly: Performing, occurring, or taking place every night.
- ninthly: In the ninth place; ninth in a row.
- thinly: In a thin, loose, or scattered manner; scantily; not thickly.
- tightly: In a tight manner.
- tiling: A covering of tiles.
- till: (chiefly British) A cash register.
- tilling: The act of one who tills.
- tilt: (transitive) To slope or incline (something); to slant.
- tilth: The state of being tilled, or prepared for a crop; culture.
- tilting: The motion of something that tilts; a tilt.
- tingling: A tingling sensation; pins and needles.
- tingly: Producing or feeling tingles.
- tinily: In a tiny way.
- titling: The act of giving something a title, or of impressing the title on the back of a book.
Play today's Spelling Bee at The New York Times
More hints for October 26, 2026
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