Thursday, October 8, 2026
Spelling Bee answers for October 8, 2026
The Thursday NYT Spelling Bee had 60 words, 289 points and 2 pangrams. Every answer is listed below, with the letter grid and the points for each rank.
Puzzle by Sam Ezersky
The 2 pangrams
Words that use all seven letters, worth 7 bonus points each.
Showing all 2 words.
Pangrams2
All 60 answers
Grouped by first letter, shortest first.
Showing all 60 words.
a6
c11
e5
h5
i6
m18
n9
At a glance
- Words
- 60
- Points
- 289
- Pangrams
- 2
- Longest word
- 9 letters
- 1 perfect pangram (7 letters)
- Bingo: a word starts with every letter
- Average word: 5.4 letters
Maximum score 289. Genius takes 202 points: the fastest route is 29 words, starting with the longest ones, all 5 letters or longer.
Points for each rank
Genius takes 202 of 289 points.
| Rank | Share | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 0% | 0 |
| Good Start | 2% | 6 |
| Moving Up | 5% | 14 |
| Good | 8% | 23 |
| Solid | 15% | 43 |
| Nice | 25% | 72 |
| Great | 40% | 116 |
| Amazing | 50% | 145 |
| Genius | 70% | 202 |
| Queen Bee | 100% | 289 |
Real words that do not count
Everyday dictionary words that fit the letters but are not in the puzzle's word list. Save yourself the tries.
- immanence
- anaemia
- anaemic
Letter grid
| First letter | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | 6 |
| c | 2 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | 11 |
| e | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| h | - | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | - | 5 |
| i | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 1 | 6 |
| m | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | - | 18 |
| n (center letter) | 6 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 9 |
| Total | 17 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 60 |
Two-letter list
- ac1 word
- am1 word
- an4 words
- ca5 words
- ch4 words
- ci2 words
- ec1 word
- em1 word
- en3 words
- he5 words
- ic2 words
- im1 word
- in3 words
- ma7 words
- me4 words
- mi7 words
- na3 words
- ne1 word
- ni5 words
How the Oct 8, 2026 puzzle played
The center letter was N with A, C, E, H, I, M around it. Answers ran from 4 to 9 letters, 5.4 on average. It had 1 perfect pangram, using each letter exactly once. It was also a bingo day: at least one word started with each of the seven letters.
Genius needed 202 points. Browse other days in the Spelling Bee archive, try today's Spelling Bee hints or play a fresh puzzle in unlimited mode.