NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 5, 2026
Today's NYT Spelling Bee uses center letter V with outer letters A, I, L, O, R, T. The puzzle contains 24 words worth 125 points, including 1 pangram. The longest word is 8 letters. To reach Genius you need 88 points; Queen Bee requires all 125 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 smaller-than-average day.
Game Summary
| Center Letter | V |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, i, l, o, r, t |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 24 words |
| Total Points | 125 points |
| Genius Level | 88 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 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 4 |
| I | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| L | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 3 |
| O | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| R | - | 1 | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| T | - | - | 1 | 2 | - | 3 |
| V | 3 | 6 | - | 1 | 1 | 11 | Σ | 5 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 24 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AR×1 AV×3 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| L | LA×3 |
| O | OV×1 |
| R | RA×1 RI×1 |
| T | TR×3 |
| V | VA×1 VI×8 VO×2 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | ARR×1 AVA×2 AVI×1 |
|---|---|
| I | |
| L | LAR×2 LAV×1 |
| O | OVA×1 |
| R | RAV×1 RIV×1 |
| T | TRA×1 TRI×2 |
| V | VAL×1 VIA×1 VIL×1 VIO×3 VIR×1 VIT×2 VOI×1 VOL×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) |
|---|---|---|
| vi...... † | VI8 | One who violates (a rule, a boundary, another person's body, etc.); offender One who violates another person's body as through forced sexual activity |
| ar..... | AR7 | The act of arriving (reaching a certain place). |
| av... | AV5 | To turn to the advantage of. |
| av.... | AV6 | An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu. |
| av..... | AV7 | An aircraft pilot, especially a military pilot. The use of the word may imply claims of superior airmanship, as in navy aviator vs. air force pilot. |
| la... | LA5 | An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish. |
| la.... | LA6 | Of or relating to a larva or larvae. |
| la.. | LA4 | The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides. |
| ov.. | OV4 | An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse. |
| ra..... | RA7 | plural of raviolo |
| ri... | RI5 | A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor. |
| tr..... | TR7 | Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship. |
| tr.... | TR6 | Insignificant trifles of little importance, especially items of unimportant information. |
| tr..... | TR7 | Ignorable; of little significance or value. |
| va... | VA5 | Value; worth. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals. |
| vi... | VI5 | A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat. |
| vi.. | VI4 | A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold |
| vi... | VI5 | A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone. |
| vi... | VI5 | Of or relating to a biological virus. |
| vi... | VI5 | Relating to, or characteristic of life. |
| vi..... | VI7 | any of various metal sulphates. |
| vo... | VO5 | Alternative spelling of voilà |
| vo.. | VO4 | In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electrical potential and electromotive force (voltage); the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere uses one watt of power. Symbol: V |
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.
- violator† (VI8)
- arrival (AR7)
- avail (AV5)
- avatar (AV6)
- aviator (AV7)
- larva (LA5)
- larval (LA6)
- lava (LA4)
- oval (OV4)
- ravioli (RA7)
- rival (RI5)
- travail (TR7)
- trivia (TR6)
- trivial (TR7)
- valor (VA5)
- vial (VI4)
- villa (VI5)
- viol (VI4)
- viola (VI5)
- viral (VI5)
- vital (VI5)
- vitriol (VI7)
- voila (VO5)
- volt (VO4)
Answer Definitions
- violator† (noun): One who violates (a rule, a boundary, another person's body, etc.); offender One who violates another person's body as through forced sexual activity
- arrival (noun): The act of arriving (reaching a certain place).
- avail (verb): To turn to the advantage of.
- avatar (noun): An incarnation of a deity, particularly Vishnu.
- aviator (noun): An aircraft pilot, especially a military pilot. The use of the word may imply claims of superior airmanship, as in navy aviator vs. air force pilot.
- larva (noun): An early stage of growth for some insects and amphibians, in which after hatching from their egg, insects are wingless and resemble a caterpillar or grub, and amphibians lack limbs and resemble fish.
- larval (adjective): Of or relating to a larva or larvae.
- lava (noun): The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
- oval (noun): An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse.
- ravioli (noun): plural of raviolo
- rival (noun): A competitor (person, team, company, etc.) with the same goal as another, or striving to attain the same thing. Defeating a rival may be a primary or necessary goal of a competitor.
- travail (noun): Arduous or painful exertion; excessive labor, suffering, hardship.
- trivia (noun): Insignificant trifles of little importance, especially items of unimportant information.
- trivial (adjective): Ignorable; of little significance or value.
- valor (noun): Value; worth.
- vial (noun): A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemicals.
- villa (noun): A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
- viol (noun): A stringed instrument related to the violin family, but held in the lap between the legs like a cello, usually with C-holes, a flat back, a fretted neck and six strings, played with an underhanded bow hold
- viola (noun): A stringed instrument of the violin family, somewhat larger than a violin, played under the chin, and having a deeper tone.
- viral (adjective): Of or relating to a biological virus.
- vital (adjective): Relating to, or characteristic of life.
- vitriol (noun): any of various metal sulphates.
- voila (interjection): Alternative spelling of voilà
- volt (noun): In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electrical potential and electromotive force (voltage); the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere uses one watt of power. Symbol: V