All 41 valid words for the NYT Spelling Bee. Center letter: I.
💬 Join the discussionHeads up — this shows the hardest word of the day.
The NYT Spelling Bee for September 23, 2026 was a generous puzzle, with 41 valid words built entirely around the center letter I — which must appear in every answer.
With 41 valid words, this puzzle offered more paths to Genius than most, though finding every word still required broad vocabulary coverage. The outer letters were D, G, L, N, Y, Z, and the longest answer aside from the pangram ran 8 letters for 8 points. Reaching Genius required 157 points out of a possible 224; see how this compares in the full answers archive.
The pangram was worth 17 points — more than any other word that day. With answers ranging from 4 letters up to 8, working methodically from the shortest words up is the surest route to Genius; see the full method in our strategy guide.
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.
Not ready to spoil the whole puzzle? The grid below shows how many of the September 23, 2026 answers start with each letter and how long they run, and the two-letter list gives the count for each opening pair. It is the fastest way to close out the last few words without seeing every answer.
| Start \ Len | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| G | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | · | 12 |
| I | 3 | 1 | 2 | · | · | · | 6 |
| L | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | · | · | 3 |
| N | · | 1 | · | · | 1 | · | 2 |
| Z | 1 | 1 | · | 2 | · | · | 4 |
| Total | 9 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 41 |
DI13DY1GI11GL1ID4IL1IN1LI2LY1NI2ZI4
Spoiler warning — the complete answer list is below.
Definitions for the September 23, 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 DIDDLING and DIZZYING consistently know their Latin and Greek roots. These books teach the exact system that unlocks words like DIZZYINGLY 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.
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