NYT Spelling Bee Answers for July 12, 2026
Game Summary
| Center Letter | K |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, e, g, i, n, w |
| # of Pangrams | 3 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 33 words |
| Total Points | 163 points |
| Genius Level | 114 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 | - | 1 | 5 |
| E | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| G | 2 | - | - | 2 | - | - | 4 |
| I | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| K | 6 | - | - | 4 | - | - | 10 |
| N | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| W | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | Σ | 14 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 33 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AK×1 AW×4 |
|---|---|
| E | EK×1 |
| G | GA×2 GE×2 |
| I | IN×1 |
| K | KE×2 KI×5 KN×3 |
| N | NA×1 |
| W | WA×4 WE×4 WI×3 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AKI×1 AWA×4 |
|---|---|
| E | EKI×1 |
| G | GAW×2 GEE×2 |
| I | INK×1 |
| K | KEE×2 KIN×4 KIW×1 KNE×3 |
| N | NAN×1 |
| W | WAK×4 WEA×3 WEE×1 WIK×1 WIN×2 |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| aw....... † | AW9 | Rousing from sleep, in a natural or a figurative sense; rousing into activity; exciting |
| wa...... † | WA8 | present participle of waken |
| we....... † | WE9 | present participle of weaken |
| ak.. | AK4 | Of the same kin; related by blood. |
| aw... | AW5 | Not asleep; conscious. |
| aw.... | AW6 | To cause to become awake. |
| aw..... | AW7 | present participle of awake |
| ek... | EK5 | The act or process of adding. |
| ga.. | GA4 | A cuckoo. |
| ga..... | GA7 | present participle of gawk |
| ge.. | GE4 | A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior. |
| ge..... | GE7 | present participle of geek |
| in.... | IN6 | present participle of ink |
| ke.. | KE4 | Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested. |
| ke..... | KE7 | Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound. |
| 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.. | KI4 | A flightless bird of the genus Apteryx native to New Zealand. |
| kn.. | KN4 | In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank. |
| kn..... | KN7 | present participle of knee |
| kn.. | KN4 | simple past tense of know |
| na..... | NA7 | A type of cotton cloth originally from Nanking in China. |
| wa.. | WA4 | (often followed by up) To stop sleeping. |
| wa... | WA5 | To wake or rouse from sleep. |
| wa.... | WA6 | Occurring during wakefulness. |
| we.. | WE4 | Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability. |
| we.... | WE6 | To make weaker or less strong. |
| we.. | WE4 | Any period of seven consecutive days. |
| wi.. | WI4 | A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone with access to it. |
| wi.. | WI4 | To close one's eyes in sleep. |
| wi..... | WI7 | present participle of wink |
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.
- awakening† (AW9)
- wakening† (WA8)
- weakening† (WE9)
- akin (AK4)
- awake (AW5)
- awaken (AW6)
- awaking (AW7)
- eking (EK5)
- gawk (GA4)
- gawking (GA7)
- geek (GE4)
- geeking (GE7)
- inking (IN6)
- keen (KE4)
- keening (KE7)
- king (KI4)
- kinging (KI7)
- kink (KI4)
- kinking (KI7)
- kiwi (KI4)
- knee (KN4)
- kneeing (KN7)
- knew (KN4)
- nankeen (NA7)
- wake (WA4)
- waken (WA5)
- waking (WA6)
- weak (WE4)
- weaken (WE6)
- week (WE4)
- wiki (WI4)
- wink (WI4)
- winking (WI7)
Answer Definitions
- awakening† (adjective): Rousing from sleep, in a natural or a figurative sense; rousing into activity; exciting
- wakening† (verb): present participle of waken
- weakening† (verb): present participle of weaken
- akin (adjective): Of the same kin; related by blood.
- awake (adjective): Not asleep; conscious.
- awaken (verb): To cause to become awake.
- awaking (verb): present participle of awake
- eking (noun): The act or process of adding.
- gawk (noun): A cuckoo.
- gawking (verb): present participle of gawk
- geek (noun): A carnival performer specializing in bizarre and unappetizing behavior.
- geeking (verb): present participle of geek
- inking (verb): present participle of ink
- keen (adjective): Often with a prepositional phrase, or with to and an infinitive: showing a quick and ardent responsiveness or willingness; eager, enthusiastic, interested.
- keening (adjective): Sharp, shrill, especially of a sound.
- 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
- kiwi (noun): A flightless bird of the genus Apteryx native to New Zealand.
- knee (noun): In humans, the joint or the region of the joint in the middle part of the leg between the thigh and the shank.
- kneeing (verb): present participle of knee
- knew (verb): simple past tense of know
- nankeen (noun): A type of cotton cloth originally from Nanking in China.
- wake (verb): (often followed by up) To stop sleeping.
- waken (verb): To wake or rouse from sleep.
- waking (adjective): Occurring during wakefulness.
- weak (adjective): Lacking in force (usually strength) or ability.
- weaken (verb): To make weaker or less strong.
- week (noun): Any period of seven consecutive days.
- wiki (noun): A collaborative website which can be directly edited merely by using a web browser, often by anyone with access to it.
- wink (verb): To close one's eyes in sleep.
- winking (verb): present participle of wink