Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Spelling Bee answers for October 21, 2026
The Wednesday NYT Spelling Bee had 56 words, 244 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 56 answers
Grouped by first letter, shortest first.
Showing all 56 words.
a7
d10
i4
l10
p16
r9
At a glance
- Words
- 56
- Points
- 244
- Pangrams
- 2
- Longest word
- 10 letters
- 1 perfect pangram (7 letters)
- No bingo
- Average word: 5.3 letters
Maximum score 244. Genius takes 171 points: the fastest route is 24 words, starting with the longest ones, all 5 letters or longer.
Points for each rank
Genius takes 171 of 244 points.
| Rank | Share | Points |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 0% | 0 |
| Good Start | 2% | 5 |
| Moving Up | 5% | 12 |
| Good | 8% | 20 |
| Solid | 15% | 37 |
| Nice | 25% | 61 |
| Great | 40% | 98 |
| Amazing | 50% | 122 |
| Genius | 70% | 171 |
| Queen Bee | 100% | 244 |
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.
- appal
- drily
Letter grid
| First letter | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 7 |
| d | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 1 | 10 |
| i | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| l (center letter) | 7 | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | 10 |
| p | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 16 |
| r | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 9 |
| Total | 22 | 14 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 56 |
Two-letter list
- ai2 words
- al2 words
- ap2 words
- ar1 word
- da3 words
- di5 words
- dr2 words
- id3 words
- il1 word
- la5 words
- li5 words
- pa11 words
- pi3 words
- pl2 words
- ra5 words
- ri4 words
How the Oct 21, 2026 puzzle played
The center letter was L with A, D, I, P, R, Y around it. Answers ran from 4 to 10 letters, 5.3 on average. It had 1 perfect pangram, using each letter exactly once. It was not a bingo day: some letters started no word at all.
Genius needed 171 points. Browse other days in the Spelling Bee archive, try today's Spelling Bee hints or play a fresh puzzle in unlimited mode.