NYT Spelling Bee Answers for January 9, 2026
Game Summary
| Center Letter | H |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, c, d, e, i, p |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 37 words |
| Total Points | 174 points |
| Genius Level | 122 points |
| Bingo? | No |
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 | 10 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| C | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | 18 |
| D | - | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| E | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| H | 4 | - | 4 | - | 1 | 1 | - | 10 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| P | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 12 | 10 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 37 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AC×2 AH×1 AP×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CA×2 CH×16 |
| D | DA×1 DE×2 |
| E | EA×1 |
| H | HE×8 HI×2 |
| I | |
| P | PE×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ACH×2 AHE×1 APH×1 |
|---|---|
| C | CAC×2 CHA×4 CHE×4 CHI×8 |
| D | DAC×1 DEA×2 |
| E | EAC×1 |
| H | HEA×6 HEE×2 HID×1 HIP×1 |
| I | |
| P | PEA×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) |
|---|---|---|
| he....... † | HE9 | The head; the brain. |
| ac.. | AC4 | To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed. |
| ac... | AC5 | simple past tense and past participle of ache |
| ah... | AH5 | At or towards the front; in the direction one is facing or moving. |
| ap... | AP5 | Sapsucking pest insect of the superfamily Aphidoidea; an aphidian. |
| ca... | CA5 | A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way. |
| ca.... | CA6 | simple past tense and past participle of cache |
| ch.. | CH4 | Small pieces of paper punched out from the edges of continuous stationery, or from ballot papers, paper tape, punched cards, etc. |
| ch.. | CH4 | A female gypsy. |
| ch.. | CH4 | A man, a fellow. |
| ch..... | CH7 | Dry and flaky due to excessive evaporation of water from its surface. |
| ch... | CH5 | Trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering. |
| ch..... | CH7 | Cheap; inferior. |
| ch... | CH5 | Of a small bird, to make short, high-pitched sounds. |
| ch..... | CH7 | simple past tense and past participle of cheep |
| ch.. | CH4 | A Mexican sage grown for its edible seeds, Salvia hispanica. |
| ch.. | CH4 | Elegant, stylish. |
| ch... | CH5 | A Latin-American girl; a Latina. |
| ch.... | CH6 | Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way. |
| ch... | CH5 | To admonish in blame; to reproach angrily. |
| ch.... | CH6 | simple past tense and past participle of chide |
| ch.. | CH4 | A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material. |
| ch..... | CH7 | simple past tense and past participle of chip |
| da... | DA5 | A Russian villa or summer house in the countryside. |
| de...... | DE8 | A person either admitted to a theatrical or musical performance without charge, or paid to attend. |
| de........ | DE10 | simple past tense and past participle of deadhead |
| ea.. | EA4 | All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every). |
| he.. | HE4 | The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs. |
| he...... | HE8 | A pain or ache in the head. |
| he.... | HE6 | Of a sheet of paper: having the sender's name, address, etc. preprinted at the top. |
| he.. | HE4 | A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people. |
| he.... | HE6 | In a heap. |
| he.. | HE4 | Careful attention. |
| he.... | HE6 | simple past tense and past participle of heed |
| hi.. | HI4 | To put (something) in a place where it will be harder to discover or out of sight. |
| hi.... | HI6 | A teenager who imitated the beatniks. |
| pe... | PE5 | A tree (Prunus persica), native to China and now widely cultivated throughout temperate regions, having pink flowers and edible fruit. |
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.
- headpiece† (HE9)
- ache (AC4)
- ached (AC5)
- ahead (AH5)
- aphid (AP5)
- cache (CA5)
- cached (CA6)
- chad (CH4)
- chai (CH4)
- chap (CH4)
- chapped (CH7)
- cheap (CH5)
- cheapie (CH7)
- cheep (CH5)
- cheeped (CH7)
- chia (CH4)
- chic (CH4)
- chica (CH5)
- chichi (CH6)
- chide (CH5)
- chided (CH6)
- chip (CH4)
- chipped (CH7)
- dacha (DA5)
- deadhead (DE8)
- deadheaded (DE10)
- each (EA4)
- head (HE4)
- headache (HE8)
- headed (HE6)
- heap (HE4)
- heaped (HE6)
- heed (HE4)
- heeded (HE6)
- hide (HI4)
- hippie (HI6)
- peach (PE5)
Answer Definitions
- headpiece† (noun): The head; the brain.
- ache (verb): To suffer pain; to be the source of, or be in, pain, especially continued dull pain; to be distressed.
- ached (verb): simple past tense and past participle of ache
- ahead (adverb): At or towards the front; in the direction one is facing or moving.
- aphid (noun): Sapsucking pest insect of the superfamily Aphidoidea; an aphidian.
- cache (noun): A store of things that may be required in the future, which can be retrieved rapidly, protected or hidden in some way.
- cached (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cache
- chad (noun): Small pieces of paper punched out from the edges of continuous stationery, or from ballot papers, paper tape, punched cards, etc.
- chai (noun): A female gypsy.
- chap (noun): A man, a fellow.
- chapped (adjective): Dry and flaky due to excessive evaporation of water from its surface.
- cheap (noun): Trade; traffic; chaffer; chaffering.
- cheapie (adjective): Cheap; inferior.
- cheep (verb): Of a small bird, to make short, high-pitched sounds.
- cheeped (verb): simple past tense and past participle of cheep
- chia (noun): A Mexican sage grown for its edible seeds, Salvia hispanica.
- chic (adjective): Elegant, stylish.
- chica (noun): A Latin-American girl; a Latina.
- chichi (adjective): Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish in a pretentious way.
- chide (verb): To admonish in blame; to reproach angrily.
- chided (verb): simple past tense and past participle of chide
- chip (noun): A small piece broken from a larger piece of solid material.
- chipped (verb): simple past tense and past participle of chip
- dacha (noun): A Russian villa or summer house in the countryside.
- deadhead (noun): A person either admitted to a theatrical or musical performance without charge, or paid to attend.
- deadheaded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of deadhead
- each (determiner): All; every; qualifying a singular noun, indicating all examples of the thing so named seen as individual or separate items (compare every).
- head (noun): The part of the body of an animal or human which contains the brain, mouth, and main sense organs.
- headache (noun): A pain or ache in the head.
- headed (adjective): Of a sheet of paper: having the sender's name, address, etc. preprinted at the top.
- heap (noun): A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people.
- heaped (adjective): In a heap.
- heed (noun): Careful attention.
- heeded (verb): simple past tense and past participle of heed
- hide (verb): To put (something) in a place where it will be harder to discover or out of sight.
- hippie (noun): A teenager who imitated the beatniks.
- peach (noun): A tree (Prunus persica), native to China and now widely cultivated throughout temperate regions, having pink flowers and edible fruit.