Introduction
Ever stare at those seven honeycomb letters and just... blank? You're not alone. Thousands of people open the NYT Spelling Bee every morning, feel confident for about ten seconds, and then hit a wall around word twelve. That's exactly why a page like https://todayspellingbeeanswers.com/ exists — to hand you the full word list, the pangram, and enough hints to keep your streak alive without forcing you to guess blindly for twenty minutes.
Today's puzzle (Friday, September 18, 2026) runs on the center letter combination CINQTUA, and it's a tougher one. Only one pangram, a max score of 209, and 41 total answers waiting to be found. If you've already burned through the easy four-letter words and you're stuck chasing that last handful of points toward Genius, here's everything laid out.
Today's Full Word List
Let's get straight to it since that's probably why you clicked. The puzzle has 41 valid words spread across four length categories, and knowing how they break down actually helps you hunt more efficiently instead of typing random letter combos.
The four-letter words are the bulk of your early score: acai, anti, aqua, aunt, cant, naan, nana, tact, taut, and tuna — ten words, one point each. Move up to five letters and you'll find antic, attic, cacti, canna, quant, tacit, taint, taunt, and titan, each worth five points. The six-letter tier is the meatiest group at thirteen words: acacia, acquit, attain, cancan, incant, intact, natant, niacin, quaint, quanta, tactic, tannic, and tannin.
Seven-letter words are rarer today, just four of them: aquatic, cantata, cantina, and titanic. And at the top, five words of eight-plus letters: aquanaut, aquatint, cinquain, tactician, and the pangram itself, acquaint, which uses every one of today's seven letters and is worth a full 15 points on its own.
How the NYT Spelling Bee Actually Works
If you're newer to this puzzle, the mechanics are simple but the execution isn't. The New York Times gives you seven letters arranged in a honeycomb, one of them sitting in the center hexagon. Every word you submit has to include that center letter, and it needs to be at least four letters long to count at all. You're allowed to reuse letters as many times as a word requires — that's how "cacti" and "canna" both work despite repeating letters.
The board resets daily, right at 3:00 AM Eastern. So whatever letters you're staring at right now will be gone by tomorrow morning, replaced with a fresh set and a fresh challenge. That daily reset is part of why so many people build it into their morning routine — coffee, news, Spelling Bee, in that order for a lot of players.
Scoring rewards length. A four-letter word nets you exactly one point, no more. Once you hit five letters, the word's length becomes its point value directly, so a five-letter word earns five points, a six-letter word earns six, and so on. Then there's the pangram bonus — find the one word using all seven letters, and you get seven extra points stacked on top of whatever that word was already worth. It's usually the single biggest point jump available in any given puzzle, which is why so many people go hunting for it first.
Ranks, Genius, and Chasing Queen Bee
Here's where the puzzle gets a little competitive, even against yourself. Your score determines your rank, climbing through tiers with names like Good Start, Moving Up, Good, Solid, Nice, Great, Amazing, and eventually Genius. Genius usually sits around 70% of the maximum possible score, though the exact cutoff shifts day to day depending on the letter combination.
Beyond Genius sits the real prize: Queen Bee. That status means you didn't just do well, you found every single valid word in the entire puzzle. No partial credit, no "close enough." Today, that means all 41 words including the acquaint pangram. Most players never chase full completion daily, but on a day like this with only 41 words and a max score of 209, it's a realistic target if you're patient with the six-letter tier especially.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a pangram in the Spelling Bee?
It's a word that uses every one of the day's seven letters at least once. It scores normally plus a seven-point bonus, and most puzzles have exactly one, occasionally two.
How is the puzzle scored?
Four-letter words earn one point flat. Anything five letters or longer scores points equal to its length. Pangrams add seven bonus points on top.
Is the Spelling Bee free to play?
Playing directly on the Times site requires a Games subscription. Answer pages, hints, and pangram reveals elsewhere are typically free.
What does Bingo mean in this puzzle?
It's an unofficial personal challenge — finding at least one word that starts with each of the seven available letters, not something the Times itself tracks or rewards.
When does a new puzzle appear?
Every day at 3:00 AM Eastern, without fail, so there's always a fresh board waiting each morning.
Conclusion
Some Spelling Bee days feel generous, others feel like the puzzle is actively working against you. Today's CINQTUA board leans toward the tougher side — plenty of overlapping letters, a tricky six-letter cluster, and just one pangram to anchor the whole thing.
Whether you're chasing Genius or going all the way for Queen Bee, having the full list in front of you turns a frustrating morning into a quick win. Come back tomorrow at 3 AM Eastern for a brand new set of letters and a brand new challenge.
