NYT Spelling Bee Answers for May 24, 2026
Game Summary
| Center Letter | K |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | g, i, n, o, t, u |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 26 words |
| Total Points | 131 points |
| Genius Level | 92 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 | 10 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| I | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| K | 5 | - | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | 10 |
| N | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| O | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| T | 2 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| U | - | - | 3 | - | - | 1 | 2 | 6 | Σ | 10 | - | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 26 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| G | GI×1 GU×1 |
|---|---|
| I | IN×1 |
| K | KI×5 KN×4 KO×1 |
| N | NO×1 NU×1 |
| O | OI×2 |
| T | TI×1 TO×2 |
| U | UN×6 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| G | GIN×1 GUN×1 |
|---|---|
| I | INK×1 |
| K | KIN×4 KIT×1 KNI×2 KNO×2 KOO×1 |
| N | NOO×1 NUK×1 |
| O | OIN×2 |
| T | TIK×1 TOK×1 TOO×1 |
| U | UNK×6 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| un........ † | UN10 | present participle and gerund of unknot |
| gi.... | GI6 | Ginkgo biloba, a tree native to China with small, fan-shaped leaves and edible seeds. |
| gu.. | GU4 | Dirt or grime; any vague, messy, or unknown substance. |
| in.... | IN6 | present participle of ink |
| ki.. | KI4 | A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy. If it is an absolute monarchy, then he is the supreme ruler of his nation. |
| ki..... | KI7 | present participle of king |
| ki.. | KI4 | To laugh loudly. |
| ki..... | KI7 | present participle of kink |
| ki.... | KI6 | No definition found; request failed |
| kn.. | KN4 | To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine. |
| kn...... | KN8 | No definition found; request failed |
| kn.. | KN4 | A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops. |
| kn...... | KN8 | present participle and gerund of knot |
| ko.. | KO4 | An eccentric, strange or crazy person. |
| no.. | NO4 | A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove. |
| nu.... | NU6 | present participle of nuke |
| oi.. | OI4 | Representing the sound made by a pig. |
| oi..... | OI7 | present participle of oink |
| ti.. | TI4 | Carved talisman in humanoid form, common to the cultures of the Pacific Ocean. |
| to.... | TO6 | present participle and gerund of toke |
| to.. | TO4 | simple past tense of take |
| un.... | UN6 | To remove the kinks from. |
| un....... | UN9 | present participle of unkink |
| un.... | UN6 | No definition found; request failed |
| un........ | UN10 | No definition found; request failed |
| un.... | UN6 | In knot theory, a loop that is not knotted. |
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.
- unknotting† (UN10)
- ginkgo (GI6)
- gunk (GU4)
- inking (IN6)
- king (KI4)
- kinging (KI7)
- kink (KI4)
- kinking (KI7)
- kiting (KI6)
- knit (KN4)
- knitting (KN8)
- knot (KN4)
- knotting (KN8)
- kook (KO4)
- nook (NO4)
- nuking (NU6)
- oink (OI4)
- oinking (OI7)
- tiki (TI4)
- toking (TO6)
- took (TO4)
- unkink (UN6)
- unkinking (UN9)
- unknit (UN6)
- unknitting (UN10)
- unknot (UN6)
Answer Definitions
- unknotting† (verb): present participle and gerund of unknot
- ginkgo (noun): Ginkgo biloba, a tree native to China with small, fan-shaped leaves and edible seeds.
- gunk (noun): Dirt or grime; any vague, messy, or unknown substance.
- inking (verb): present participle of ink
- king (noun): A male monarch; a man who heads a monarchy. If it is an absolute monarchy, then he is the supreme ruler of his nation.
- kinging (verb): present participle of king
- kink (verb): To laugh loudly.
- kinking (verb): present participle of kink
- kiting (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- knit (verb): To turn thread or yarn into a piece of fabric by forming loops that are pulled through each other. This can be done by hand with needles or by machine.
- knitting (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- knot (noun): A looping of a piece of string or of any other long, flexible material that cannot be untangled without passing one or both ends of the material through its loops.
- knotting (verb): present participle and gerund of knot
- kook (noun): An eccentric, strange or crazy person.
- nook (noun): A small corner formed by two walls; an alcove.
- nuking (verb): present participle of nuke
- oink (interjection): Representing the sound made by a pig.
- oinking (verb): present participle of oink
- tiki (noun): Carved talisman in humanoid form, common to the cultures of the Pacific Ocean.
- toking (verb): present participle and gerund of toke
- took (verb): simple past tense of take
- unkink (verb): To remove the kinks from.
- unkinking (verb): present participle of unkink
- unknit (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- unknitting (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- unknot (noun): In knot theory, a loop that is not knotted.