All 55 valid words for the NYT Spelling Bee. Center letter: P.
💬 Join the discussionHeads up — this shows the hardest word of the day.
With P required in every answer, the September 16, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee was one of the more word-rich puzzle — 55 valid words in all.
With 55 valid words, this was an unusually large puzzle — patient, systematic solvers had plenty of material to work with. The outer letters were D, E, I, N, O, W, and the longest answer aside from the pangram ran 8 letters for 8 points. Reaching Genius required 174 points out of a possible 248; see how this compares in the full answers archive.
At 15 points, the pangram was the most valuable single word in the grid. 19 of the 55 answers were 4-letter words worth 1 point each, so the real climb toward Genius came from the longer finds — our Genius strategy guide breaks down how to spot them.
Prefer to solve it yourself? Get spoiler-free hints for today's Spelling Bee instead — the words grouped by starting letter and length, with a nudge toward the pangram, so nothing is spoiled until you ask.
Prefer a nudge over the full answer key? Here is how the 55 words for the September 16, 2026 Spelling Bee break down — how many begin with each letter, at each word length — followed by the two-letter start list. Work these first, then reveal the complete list only if you get stuck.
| Start \ Len | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 2 | 1 | 3 | · | 2 | 8 |
| E | 1 | 1 | · | · | · | 2 |
| N | 1 | · | 1 | 1 | · | 3 |
| O | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | · | 6 |
| P | 12 | 4 | 12 | · | 3 | 31 |
| W | 2 | 1 | 1 | · | 1 | 5 |
| Total | 19 | 8 | 20 | 2 | 6 | 55 |
DE5DI1DO2EP2NI2NO1OP6PE12PI11PO8WE2WI3
Spoiler warning — the complete answer list is below.
Definitions for the September 16, 2026 answers — so you know exactly what you found, or what you missed. Pangrams are marked ★.
Spoiler warning — every answer word is spelled out and defined below.
Word definitions from WordNet® 3.1, Princeton University.
The players who find DEEPENED and DEPENDED consistently know their Latin and Greek roots. These books teach the exact system that unlocks words like PINEWOOD before you ever see the puzzle.
How did today go? Share your progress, favorite finds, or where you got stuck. Be kind — no spoilers-shaming.
No comments yet — be the first!