NYT Spelling Bee Answers and Analysis

Sunday, August 30, 2026

Answers to yesterday's Bee

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The official answers for today's puzzle are:

Click on the arrow to show the definition.
Click outside the pop-up to close it.

cent ↗
cite ↗
egging ↗
engine ↗
entente ↗
entice ↗
enticing ↗
excite ↗
exciting ↗
exec ↗
exigent ↗
exit ↗
exiting ↗
extent ↗
extinct ↗
gene ↗
genetic ↗
genie ↗
genii ↗
gent ↗
getting ↗
ignite ↗
incite ↗
innie ↗
intent ↗
nene ↗
netting ↗
next ↗
nice ↗
niece ↗
nine ↗
nineteen ↗
nite ↗
teeing ↗
teen ↗
tenet ↗
tent ↗
tenting ↗
text ↗
texting ↗
tine ↗
tinge ↗
tingeing ↗

Words not in official answer list

Number of Pangrams: 1

Maximum Puzzle Score: 201

Number of Answers: 43

Points Needed for Genius: 141

Genius requires between 20 and 36 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 76% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 68% of the remaining points to reach genius.

Other days with this pangram:

September 12, 2022 (Center Letter: T)
June 17, 2021 (Center Letter: N)

The button below will reveal a chart with the number of words by each letter. Red bars indicate that there is a pangram(s) starting with that letter.

How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today's score of 201 was in the 63rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on August 27, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 43 possible answers rank it in the 58th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on August 27, 2026.
The highest number of answers was 81 on June 08, 2019.
The lowest number of answers was 16 on March 27, 2023.

It takes a 7-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on August 27, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.6.
For all Bees, the average word length has been 5.3.

Haven't I seen these letters before?

Hover over a letter to see its first and most recent appearance in the Bee!

Haven't I seen these words before?

The most common words in the Bee are:

noon 249
loll 228
toot 223
nana 208
naan 208
nene 161
tilt 160
till 160
mamma 160
mama 160
lilt 160
tint 159
onion 153
acai 151
acacia 151
toon 150
onto 150
olio 140
anon 140
anal 139
tact 130
dodo 130
papa 129
mitt 129
baba 129
lulu 126
lull 126
loon 124
booboo 123
boob 123
poop 122
calla 122
call 122
cocci 121
tattoo 120
tartar 120
tart 120
ratatat 120
moon 120
mono 120
attar 119
tutu 116
cancan 115
aria 115
natant 114
momma 114
meme 114
ammo 114
ally 114
allay 114

How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 122,462 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 11,127 unique words.
Below are the distributions of the lengths of these words.

Valid dictionary words not in today's official answers

You may be wondering why these words aren't here*:

cete
ciggie
cine
enceinte
engining
etic
exegete
exegetic
exigence
exine
exing
extincting
geeing
genet
genette
genic
genning
gieing
gien
gite
incent
incenting
intine
nett
niente
nixe
nixie
tectite
tegg
tein
tenge
tenne
tentie
tieing
tittie
xenic

*Because the New York Times considers them obscure or offensive.

cent

No Definition Found.

cite

No Definition Found.

egging

No Definition Found.

engine

noun

A large construction used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult etc.
A tool; a utensil or implement.
A complex mechanical device which converts energy into useful motion or physical effects.
A person or group of people which influence a larger group; a driving force.
The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion.
A self-powered vehicle, especially a locomotive, used for pulling cars along a track.
A software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task (usually with qualifying word).
Ingenuity; cunning, trickery, guile.
The result of cunning; something ingenious, a contrivance; (in negative senses) a plot, a scheme.
Natural talent; genius.
Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent.

verb

To equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels.
To assault with an engine.
To contrive; to put into action.
To rack; to torture.

entente

No Definition Found.

entice

verb

To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope.

enticing

No Definition Found.

excite

No Definition Found.

exciting

No Definition Found.

exec

No Definition Found.

exigent

No Definition Found.

exit

No Definition Found.

exiting

No Definition Found.

extent

No Definition Found.

extinct

No Definition Found.

gene

No Definition Found.

genetic

No Definition Found.

genie

No Definition Found.

genii

No Definition Found.

gent

No Definition Found.

getting

No Definition Found.

ignite

No Definition Found.

incite

No Definition Found.

intent

No Definition Found.

nene

No Definition Found.

netting

No Definition Found.

next

noun

The one that follows after this one.

adjective

Nearest in place or position, having nothing similar intervening; adjoining.
Nearest in order, succession, or rank; immediately following (or sometimes preceding) in order.
Following in a hypothetical sequence of some kind.
Nearest in relationship. (See also next of kin.)

adverb

In a time, place, rank or sequence closest or following.
On the first subsequent occasion.

preposition

On the side of; nearest or adjacent to; next to.

nice

Etymology 1

noun

Niceness.

adjective

Pleasant, satisfactory.
Of a person: friendly, attractive.
Respectable; virtuous.
(with and) Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite.
Silly, ignorant; foolish.
Particular in one's conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy.
Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict.
Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle.
Easily injured; delicate; dainty.
Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky.

adverb

Nicely.

interjection

Used to signify a job well done.
Used to signify approval.

Etymology 2

verb

To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.

niece

No Definition Found.

nine

No Definition Found.

nineteen

No Definition Found.

nite

No Definition Found.

teeing

No Definition Found.

teen

No Definition Found.

tenet

No Definition Found.

tent

No Definition Found.

tenting

No Definition Found.

text

No Definition Found.

texting

No Definition Found.

tine

No Definition Found.

tinge

No Definition Found.

tingeing

No Definition Found.

innie

No Definition Found.