NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 13, 2026
Today's NYT Spelling Bee uses center letter N with outer letters A, D, I, O, T, X. The puzzle contains 40 words worth 222 points, including 3 pangrams. The longest word is 11 letters. To reach Genius you need 155 points; Queen Bee requires all 222 points. Today is not a bingo — at least one letter starts no words. Compared with the eight-year average of about 183 points per puzzle, this is a larger-than-average day.
Game Summary
| Center Letter | N |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, d, i, o, t, x |
| # of Pangrams | 3 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 40 words |
| Total Points | 222 points |
| Genius Level | 155 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 | 11 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| D | 2 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 4 |
| I | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | 3 |
| N | 4 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 9 |
| O | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | 4 |
| T | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 8 |
| X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Σ | 13 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 40 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AD×1 AN×9 AT×1 AX×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DI×3 DO×1 |
| I | IN×3 |
| N | NA×6 NO×3 |
| O | ON×2 OX×2 |
| T | TA×4 TI×2 TO×2 |
| X |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ADD×1 ANI×1 ANN×2 ANO×3 ANT×3 ATT×1 AXO×1 |
|---|---|
| D | DIN×2 DIO×1 DON×1 |
| I | INI×1 INT×2 |
| N | NAA×1 NAD×1 NAI×1 NAN×1 NAT×2 NOO×1 NOT×2 |
| O | ONI×1 ONT×1 OXI×2 |
| T | TAI×1 TAN×1 TAX×2 TIN×1 TIT×1 TOO×1 TOX×1 |
| X |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| an......... † | AN11 | Any substance that acts to slow or prevent the oxidation of another chemical. |
| ox..... † | OX7 | an oxidizing agent |
| ox....... † | OX9 | The combination of a substance with oxygen. |
| ad...... | AD8 | The act of adding anything. |
| an... | AN5 | A negatively charged ion. |
| an..... | AN7 | A tropical American evergreen shrub, Bixa orellana; the lipstick tree; the fruit of the tree. |
| an........ | AN10 | A critical or explanatory commentary or analysis. |
| an.... | AN6 | To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil. |
| an.. | AN4 | Straight away; at once. |
| an.... | AN6 | A condition in which a tissue or environment is severely or totally deprived of oxygen, severe hypoxia. |
| an.. | AN4 | Opposed to something. |
| an....... | AN9 | A medicine able to neutralize a toxin. |
| at.... | AT6 | To gain (an object or desired result). |
| ax.. | AX4 | A nerve fibre which is a long slender projection of a nerve cell, and which conducts nerve impulses away from the body of the cell to a synapse. |
| di.. | DI4 | dinosaur. |
| di.. | DI4 | A blow, stroke, especially dealt in a fight. |
| di.... | DI6 | The unsaturated six-membered heterocycle having four carbon atoms, two oxygen atoms, and two double bonds (molecular formula C₄H₄O₂); 1,2-dioxin and 1,4-dioxin. |
| do...... | DO8 | A voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause. |
| in........ | IN10 | The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced |
| in.. | IN4 | To or towards the inside of. |
| in........ | IN10 | The rise and fall of the voice in speaking. |
| na.. | NA4 | A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine. |
| na.. | NA4 | Nothing. |
| na... | NA5 | A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water. |
| na.. | NA4 | A banana. |
| na.... | NA6 | floating or swimming (in water) |
| na.... | NA6 | A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture. |
| no.. | NO4 | The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday. |
| no...... | NO8 | The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters. |
| no.... | NO6 | Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept. |
| on... | ON5 | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| on.. | ON4 | Upon; on top of. |
| ta... | TA5 | A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food. |
| ta.... | TA6 | Tannic acid or any of its derivatives. |
| ta...... | TA8 | The act of imposing taxes and the fact of being taxed. |
| ta... | TA5 | A group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. |
| ti.. | TI4 | A slight coloring. |
| ti... | TI5 | Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness. |
| to.. | TO4 | A cartoon, especially an animated television show. |
| to... | TO5 | A toxic substance, specifically a poison produced by the biological processes of organisms. |
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.
- antioxidant† (AN11)
- oxidant† (OX7)
- oxidation† (OX9)
- addition (AD8)
- anion (AN5)
- annatto (AN7)
- annotation (AN10)
- anoint (AN6)
- anon (AN4)
- anoxia (AN6)
- anti (AN4)
- antitoxin (AN9)
- attain (AT6)
- axon (AX4)
- dino (DI4)
- dint (DI4)
- dioxin (DI6)
- donation (DO8)
- initiation (IN10)
- into (IN4)
- intonation (IN10)
- naan (NA4)
- nada (NA4)
- naiad (NA5)
- nana (NA4)
- natant (NA6)
- nation (NA6)
- noon (NO4)
- notation (NO8)
- notion (NO6)
- onion (ON5)
- onto (ON4)
- taint (TA5)
- tannin (TA6)
- taxation (TA8)
- taxon (TA5)
- tint (TI4)
- titan (TI5)
- toon (TO4)
- toxin (TO5)
Answer Definitions
- antioxidant† (noun): Any substance that acts to slow or prevent the oxidation of another chemical.
- oxidant† (noun): an oxidizing agent
- oxidation† (noun): The combination of a substance with oxygen.
- addition (noun): The act of adding anything.
- anion (noun): A negatively charged ion.
- annatto (noun): A tropical American evergreen shrub, Bixa orellana; the lipstick tree; the fruit of the tree.
- annotation (noun): A critical or explanatory commentary or analysis.
- anoint (verb): To smear or rub over with oil or an unctuous substance; also, to spread over, as oil.
- anon (adverb): Straight away; at once.
- anoxia (noun): A condition in which a tissue or environment is severely or totally deprived of oxygen, severe hypoxia.
- anti (adjective): Opposed to something.
- antitoxin (noun): A medicine able to neutralize a toxin.
- attain (verb): To gain (an object or desired result).
- axon (noun): A nerve fibre which is a long slender projection of a nerve cell, and which conducts nerve impulses away from the body of the cell to a synapse.
- dino (noun): dinosaur.
- dint (noun): A blow, stroke, especially dealt in a fight.
- dioxin (noun): The unsaturated six-membered heterocycle having four carbon atoms, two oxygen atoms, and two double bonds (molecular formula C₄H₄O₂); 1,2-dioxin and 1,4-dioxin.
- donation (noun): A voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause.
- initiation (noun): The act of initiating, or the process of being initiated or introduced
- into (preposition): To or towards the inside of.
- intonation (noun): The rise and fall of the voice in speaking.
- naan (noun): A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.
- nada (pronoun): Nothing.
- naiad (noun): A female deity (nymph) associated with water, especially a spring, stream, or other fresh water.
- nana (noun): A banana.
- natant (adjective): floating or swimming (in water)
- nation (noun): A historically constituted, stable community of people, formed based on a common language, territory, economic life, ethnicity and/or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.
- noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
- notation (noun): The act, process, method, or an instance of representing by a system or set of marks, signs, figures, or characters.
- notion (noun): Mental apprehension of whatever may be known, thought, or imagined; idea, concept.
- onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- onto (preposition): Upon; on top of.
- taint (noun): A contamination, decay or putrefaction, especially in food.
- tannin (noun): Tannic acid or any of its derivatives.
- taxation (noun): The act of imposing taxes and the fact of being taxed.
- taxon (noun): A group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit.
- tint (noun): A slight coloring.
- titan (noun): Something or someone of very large stature, greatness, or godliness.
- toon (noun): A cartoon, especially an animated television show.
- toxin (noun): A toxic substance, specifically a poison produced by the biological processes of organisms.