NYT Spelling Bee Answers for December 26, 2025
Game Summary
| Center Letter | N |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, d, e, j, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 37 words |
| Total Points | 171 points |
| Genius Level | 120 points |
| Bingo? | Yes |
Table of Contents
As you scroll down this page, the clues get progressively more revealing. So scroll slowly!
- Spelling Bee Grid
- Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
- Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
- Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing) 🤯
- Today's Complete Solution
- Answer Definitions
If you're just here for a list of NYT Spelling Bee answers, Jump down to the answers ↓ (Spoiler Alert!).
Spelling Bee Grid
The following table shows the standard Spelling Bee summary grid, which lists word lengths across the top and letters down the left-hand side. The cell where the word lengths and letters intersect displays the number of words in today's puzzle with the corresponding first letter and word length.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 4 |
| C | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 10 |
| D | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| E | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| J | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| N | 5 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | 8 |
| Y | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 12 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 37 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×1 AD×3 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×9 CY×1 |
| D | DA×3 DE×6 DY×1 |
| E | EN×2 |
| J | JE×2 |
| N | NA×4 NE×4 |
| Y | YE×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACN×1 ADD×2 ADJ×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAD×1 CAN×7 CAY×1 CYA×1 |
| D | DAN×3 DEA×3 DEC×2 DEN×1 DYN×1 |
| E | END×1 ENN×1 |
| J | JEA×1 JEN×1 |
| N | NAA×1 NAD×1 NAN×2 NEE×3 NEN×1 |
| Y | YEN×1 |
Extra Letter Hints (Incrementally Revealing)
The table below lists all of the solutions to today's puzzle, but they're concealed. You can click the plus button (+) to reveal additional letters, one-by-one.
Concealed definitions are provided as additional clues. You can toggle concealment of the definitions by clicking on the concealer bar or the text that appears when the definition is visible.
Pangrams are marked with a dagger symbol (†).
| Word | 2L Ref | Definition (click to reveal) |
|---|---|---|
| ad....... † | AD9 | The quality of being adjacent, or near enough so as to touch. |
| ac.. | AC4 | A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection. |
| ad.... | AD6 | Addendum, any one of two or more numbers or other terms that are to be added together. |
| ad..... | AD7 | plural of addendum |
| ca..... | CA7 | The act or state of declining or sinking. |
| ca.... | CA6 | A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France. |
| ca... | CA5 | Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors. |
| ca.. | CA4 | A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae |
| ca... | CA5 | simple past tense and past participle of cane |
| ca... | CA5 | Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers. |
| ca.... | CA6 | Preserved in cans. |
| ca... | CA5 | Careful, prudent, cautious. |
| ca..... | CA7 | Ellipsis of cayenne pepper. |
| cy.. | CY4 | A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light. |
| da... | DA5 | A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction. |
| da.... | DA6 | simple past tense and past participle of dance |
| da... | DA5 | A man very concerned about his physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self. |
| de.... | DE6 | To render less lively; to diminish; to muffle. |
| de...... | DE8 | simple past tense and past participle of deaden |
| de.. | DE4 | A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students). |
| de....... | DE9 | A state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay |
| de..... | DE7 | The quality of being decent; propriety. |
| de.. | DE4 | To disallow or reject. |
| dy.. | DY4 | A unit of force in the CGS system; the force required to accelerate a mass of one gram by one centimetre per second per second. Symbol: dyn. |
| en... | EN5 | simple past tense and past participle of end |
| en.... | EN6 | The number nine. |
| je.. | JE4 | Denim. |
| je... | JE5 | A device for spinning thread from fiber onto multiple spindles (also called spinning jenny). |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | Nothing. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
| na... | NA5 | A child's nurse. |
| ne.. | NE4 | A requirement for something; something needed. |
| ne.... | NE6 | Necessary; being required. |
| ne... | NE5 | In need; poor. |
| ne.. | NE4 | The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957. |
| ye.... | YE6 | simple past tense and past participle of yen |
Today's Complete Solution
The words that follow are a complete listing of all acceptable words in today's New York Time Spelling Bee puzzle.
Next to the answer word you'll see the two-letter reference (2L Ref) in parentheses. We added that 2L Ref for easier translation of the spoiler-avoidant language you see on the Spelling Bee Forum and Twitter. The 2L Ref signifies a word's two start letters followed by the total number of letters in the word.
- adjacency† (AD9)
- acne (AC4)
- addend (AD6)
- addenda (AD7)
- cadence (CA7)
- cancan (CA6)
- candy (CA5)
- cane (CA4)
- caned (CA5)
- canna (CA5)
- canned (CA6)
- canny (CA5)
- cayenne (CA7)
- cyan (CY4)
- dance (DA5)
- danced (DA6)
- dandy (DA5)
- deaden (DE6)
- deadened (DE8)
- dean (DE4)
- decadence (DE9)
- decency (DE7)
- deny (DE4)
- dyne (DY4)
- ended (EN5)
- ennead (EN6)
- jean (JE4)
- jenny (JE5)
- naan (NA4)
- nada (NA4)
- nana (NA4)
- nanny (NA5)
- need (NE4)
- needed (NE6)
- needy (NE5)
- nene (NE4)
- yenned (YE6)
Answer Definitions
- adjacency† (noun): The quality of being adjacent, or near enough so as to touch.
- acne (noun): A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
- addend (noun): Addendum, any one of two or more numbers or other terms that are to be added together.
- addenda (noun): plural of addendum
- cadence (noun): The act or state of declining or sinking.
- cancan (noun): A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
- candy (noun): Edible, sweet-tasting confectionery containing sugar, or sometimes artificial sweeteners, and often flavored with fruit, chocolate, nuts, herbs and spices, or artificial flavors.
- cane (noun): A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof The slender, flexible main stem of a plant such as bamboo, including many species in the grass family Gramineae
- caned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cane
- canna (noun): Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.
- canned (adjective): Preserved in cans.
- canny (adjective): Careful, prudent, cautious.
- cayenne (noun): Ellipsis of cayenne pepper.
- cyan (noun): A vibrant pale greenish-blue colour between blue and green in the visible spectrum; the complementary colour of red; the colour obtained by subtracting red from white light.
- dance (noun): A sequence of rhythmic steps or movements usually performed to music, for pleasure or as a form of social interaction.
- danced (verb): simple past tense and past participle of dance
- dandy (noun): A man very concerned about his physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of self.
- deaden (verb): To render less lively; to diminish; to muffle.
- deadened (verb): simple past tense and past participle of deaden
- dean (noun): A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty (for example, the dean of science) or have some other advisory or disciplinary function (for example, the dean of students).
- decadence (noun): A state of moral or artistic decline or deterioration; decay
- decency (noun): The quality of being decent; propriety.
- deny (verb): To disallow or reject.
- dyne (noun): A unit of force in the CGS system; the force required to accelerate a mass of one gram by one centimetre per second per second. Symbol: dyn.
- ended (verb): simple past tense and past participle of end
- ennead (noun): The number nine.
- jean (noun): Denim.
- jenny (noun): A device for spinning thread from fiber onto multiple spindles (also called spinning jenny).
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nada (pronoun): Nothing.
- nana (noun): A banana.
- nanny (noun): A child's nurse.
- need (noun): A requirement for something; something needed.
- needed (adjective): Necessary; being required.
- needy (adjective): In need; poor.
- nene (noun): The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957.
- yenned (verb): simple past tense and past participle of yen