NYT Spelling Bee Answers for September 22, 2026
Today's NYT Spelling Bee uses center letter N with outer letters O, Q, U, X, E, I. The puzzle contains 18 words worth 78 points, including 1 pangram. The longest word is 8 letters. To reach Genius you need 55 points; Queen Bee requires all 78 points. Today is a bingo — every letter starts at least one word. Compared with the eight-year average of about 183 points per puzzle, this is a smaller-than-average day.
Game Summary
| Center Letter | N |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | o, q, u, x, e, i |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 18 words |
| Total Points | 78 points |
| Genius Level | 55 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 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | - | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 |
| I | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 |
| N | 6 | - | - | - | 1 | 7 |
| O | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| Q | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| U | - | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 |
| X | - | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 7 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 18 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| E | EN×1 EQ×2 |
|---|---|
| I | IN×1 |
| N | NE×2 NI×1 NO×4 |
| O | ON×1 OX×1 |
| Q | QU×2 |
| U | UN×2 |
| X | XE×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| E | ENN×1 EQU×2 |
|---|---|
| I | INN×1 |
| N | NEN×1 NEO×1 NIN×1 NON×2 NOO×1 NOU×1 |
| O | ONI×1 OXE×1 |
| Q | QUE×1 QUI×1 |
| U | UNI×2 |
| X | XEN×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) |
|---|---|---|
| eq..... † | EQ7 | No definition found; request failed |
| en... | EN5 | A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression. |
| eq.... | EQ6 | Of or relating to a horse or horses. |
| in... | IN5 | A navel that is formed of a hollow in the abdomen (as opposed to one that protrudes from the abdomen). |
| ne.. | NE4 | The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957. |
| ne.. | NE4 | The chemical element (symbol Ne) with an atomic number of 10. The second of the noble gases, it is a colourless, odorless inert gas. |
| ni.. | NI4 | NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 9. |
| no.. | NO4 | Not any of a given number or group. |
| no...... | NO8 | Not part of a labor union; not unionized. |
| no.. | NO4 | The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday. |
| no.. | NO4 | A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English. |
| on... | ON5 | A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice. |
| ox.. | OX4 | plural of ox |
| qu... | QU5 | The wife, consort, or widow of a king. |
| qu..... | QU7 | An alkaloid with the chemical formula C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ originally derived from cinchona bark (from plants of the genus Cinchona) used to treat malaria and as an ingredient of tonic water, which presents as a bitter colourless powder; also, a drug containing quinine or a chemical compound derived from it. |
| un... | UN5 | The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one. |
| un.... | UN6 | Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched. |
| xe... | XE5 | The chemical element (symbol Xe) with an atomic number of 54. It is a colorless, odorless, unreactive noble gas, used notably in camera flash technology. |
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.
- equinox† (EQ7)
- ennui (EN5)
- equine (EQ6)
- innie (IN5)
- nene (NE4)
- neon (NE4)
- nine (NI4)
- none (NO4)
- nonunion (NO8)
- noon (NO4)
- noun (NO4)
- onion (ON5)
- oxen (OX4)
- queen (QU5)
- quinine (QU7)
- union (UN5)
- unique (UN6)
- xenon (XE5)
Answer Definitions
- equinox† (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- ennui (noun): A gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom; depression.
- equine (adjective): Of or relating to a horse or horses.
- innie (noun): A navel that is formed of a hollow in the abdomen (as opposed to one that protrudes from the abdomen).
- nene (noun): The Hawaiian goose, Branta sandvicensis, which was designated the state bird of Hawaii in 1957.
- neon (noun): The chemical element (symbol Ne) with an atomic number of 10. The second of the noble gases, it is a colourless, odorless inert gas.
- nine (numeral): NATO & ICAO phonetic alphabet code for the numeral 9.
- none (pronoun): Not any of a given number or group.
- nonunion (adjective): Not part of a labor union; not unionized.
- noon (noun): The time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
- noun (noun): A word that functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
- onion (noun): A monocotyledonous plant (Allium cepa), allied to garlic, used as vegetable and spice.
- oxen (noun): plural of ox
- queen (noun): The wife, consort, or widow of a king.
- quinine (noun): An alkaloid with the chemical formula C₂₀H₂₄N₂O₂ originally derived from cinchona bark (from plants of the genus Cinchona) used to treat malaria and as an ingredient of tonic water, which presents as a bitter colourless powder; also, a drug containing quinine or a chemical compound derived from it.
- union (noun): The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
- unique (adjective): Being the only one of its kind; unequaled, unparalleled or unmatched.
- xenon (noun): The chemical element (symbol Xe) with an atomic number of 54. It is a colorless, odorless, unreactive noble gas, used notably in camera flash technology.