Spelling Bee answers for October 16, 2026
The Friday NYT Spelling Bee had 56 words, 339 points and 2 pangrams. This is today's puzzle, so the answers stay hidden until you tap. Get hints instead.
Puzzle by Sam Ezersky
The 2 pangrams
0 of 2 words shown. Tap a tile to peek.
Pangrams2
All 56 answers
0 of 56 words shown. Tap a tile to peek.
b12
g12
i3
n2
p11
r10
u6
At a glance
- Words
- 56
- Points
- 339
- Pangrams
- 2
- Longest word
- 10 letters
- 1 perfect pangram (7 letters)
- Bingo: a word starts with every letter
- Average word: 6.4 letters
Maximum score 339. Genius takes 237 points: the fastest route is 31 words, starting with the longest ones, all 7 letters or longer.
Points for each rank
| Rank | Share | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 0% | 0 |
| Good Start | 2% | 7 |
| Moving Up | 5% | 17 |
| Good | 8% | 27 |
| Solid | 15% | 51 |
| Nice | 25% | 85 |
| Great | 40% | 136 |
| Amazing | 50% | 170 |
| Genius | 70% | 237 |
| Queen Bee | 100% | 339 |
Real words that do not count
- gunrunning
- bunging
- burring
- pipping
- pupping
- piing
Letter grid
| First letter | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| b | 3 | 1 | - | 7 | 1 | - | - | 12 |
| g (center letter) | 4 | - | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | 12 |
| i | - | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
| n | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| p | 2 | - | 2 | 7 | - | - | - | 11 |
| r | 2 | 1 | - | 7 | - | - | - | 10 |
| u | - | 1 | 2 | - | - | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Total | 11 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 56 |
Two-letter list
- bi2 words
- br5 words
- bu5 words
- gi3 words
- gr7 words
- gu2 words
- in3 words
- ni2 words
- pi6 words
- pr2 words
- pu3 words
- ri5 words
- ru5 words
- un3 words
- up2 words
- ur1 word
How the Oct 16, 2026 puzzle played
The center letter was G with B, I, N, P, R, U around it. Answers ran from 4 to 10 letters, 6.4 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 237 points. Browse other days in the Spelling Bee archive, try today's Spelling Bee hints or play a fresh puzzle in unlimited mode.