NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 9, 2026
Today's NYT Spelling Bee uses center letter Y with outer letters E, G, I, L, N, T. The puzzle contains 37 words worth 224 points, including 4 pangrams. The longest word is 13 letters. To reach Genius you need 157 points; Queen Bee requires all 224 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 larger-than-average day.
Game Summary
| Center Letter | Y |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | e, g, i, l, n, t |
| # of Pangrams | 4 (Perfect: none) |
| Total Words | 37 words |
| Total Points | 224 points |
| Genius Level | 157 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 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| G | - | - | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| I | 2 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 4 |
| L | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| N | - | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 5 |
| T | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 7 |
| Y | 2 | 1 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | Σ | 8 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 37 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| E | EE×1 EG×1 EL×1 EN×1 EY×3 |
|---|---|
| G | GE×2 GI×1 |
| I | IL×1 IN×2 IT×1 |
| L | LE×3 LI×2 LY×1 |
| N | NE×2 NI×3 |
| T | TE×2 TI×4 TY×1 |
| Y | YE×5 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| E | EEL×1 EGG×1 ELE×1 ENT×1 EYE×2 EYI×1 |
|---|---|
| G | GEN×2 GIG×1 |
| I | ILL×1 INT×2 ITT×1 |
| L | LEG×1 LEN×2 LIL×1 LIN×1 LYI×1 |
| N | NEG×1 NET×1 NIG×1 NIN×2 |
| T | TEE×1 TEL×1 TIN×4 TYI×1 |
| Y | YEL×2 YEN×2 YET×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) |
|---|---|---|
| ge....... † | GE9 | No definition found; request failed |
| in........... † | IN13 | No definition found; request failed |
| ne......... † | NE11 | No definition found; request failed |
| te....... † | TE9 | No definition found; request failed |
| ee.. | EE4 | Resembling an eel: long, thin and slippery. |
| eg.. | EG4 | Covered with or dipped in egg. |
| el... | EL5 | A mournful or plaintive poem; a funeral song; a poem of lamentation. |
| en.... | EN6 | That which has a distinct existence as an individual unit. Often used for organisations which have no physical form. |
| ey.... | EY6 | present participle of eye |
| ey.... | EY6 | An object that consists of a rim and small hole or perforation to receive a cord or fastener, as in garments, sails, etc. |
| ey... | EY5 | present participle of eye |
| ge.... | GE6 | In a gentle manner. |
| gi.... | GI6 | Prone to giggling. |
| il.. | IL4 | Badly; poorly. |
| in...... | IN8 | In an intent or focused manner. |
| it.. | IT4 | Extremely small. |
| le... | LE5 | Having long, attractive legs; long-legged. |
| le....... | LE9 | In a lenient manner. |
| le.... | LE6 | leniency, mercy, forgiveness |
| li.. | LI4 | Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species. |
| li... | LI5 | Covered with lint. |
| ly... | LY5 | present participle of lie (“to rest in a horizontal position”). |
| ne... | NE5 | Neat, well-groomed, natty. |
| ni.... | NI6 | No definition found; request failed |
| ni.... | NI6 | The cardinal number occurring after eighty-nine and before ninety-one, represented in Roman numerals as XC and in Arabic numerals as 90. |
| ni... | NI5 | A silly or foolish person. |
| te... | TE5 | Very small; tiny. |
| ti.... | TI6 | Producing or feeling tingles. |
| ti.... | TI6 | In a tiny way. |
| ti... | TI5 | having a displeasingly thin, metallic sound. |
| ti.. | TI4 | Very small. |
| ty... | TY5 | Action of the verb to tie; ligature. |
| ye.. | YE4 | shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice. |
| ye..... | YE7 | No definition found; request failed |
| ye..... | YE7 | present participle of yen |
| ye... | YE5 | Alternative spelling of yenta |
| ye.. | YE4 | An unidentified humanoid animal said to live in the Himalayas. |
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.
- gentility† (GE9)
- intelligently† (IN13)
- negligently† (NE11)
- tellingly† (TE9)
- eely (EE4)
- eggy (EG4)
- elegy (EL5)
- entity (EN6)
- eyeing (EY6)
- eyelet (EY6)
- eying (EY5)
- gently (GE6)
- giggly (GI6)
- illy (IL4)
- intently (IN8)
- itty (IT4)
- leggy (LE5)
- leniently (LE9)
- lenity (LE6)
- lily (LI4)
- linty (LI5)
- lying (LY5)
- netty (NE5)
- niggly (NI6)
- ninety (NI6)
- ninny (NI5)
- teeny (TE5)
- tingly (TI6)
- tinily (TI6)
- tinny (TI5)
- tiny (TI4)
- tying (TY5)
- yell (YE4)
- yelling (YE7)
- yenning (YE7)
- yente (YE5)
- yeti (YE4)
Answer Definitions
- gentility† (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- intelligently† (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- negligently† (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- tellingly† (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- eely (adjective): Resembling an eel: long, thin and slippery.
- eggy (adjective): Covered with or dipped in egg.
- elegy (noun): A mournful or plaintive poem; a funeral song; a poem of lamentation.
- entity (noun): That which has a distinct existence as an individual unit. Often used for organisations which have no physical form.
- eyeing (verb): present participle of eye
- eyelet (noun): An object that consists of a rim and small hole or perforation to receive a cord or fastener, as in garments, sails, etc.
- eying (verb): present participle of eye
- gently (adverb): In a gentle manner.
- giggly (adjective): Prone to giggling.
- illy (adverb): Badly; poorly.
- intently (adverb): In an intent or focused manner.
- itty (adjective): Extremely small.
- leggy (adjective): Having long, attractive legs; long-legged.
- leniently (adverb): In a lenient manner.
- lenity (noun): leniency, mercy, forgiveness
- lily (noun): Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species.
- linty (adjective): Covered with lint.
- lying (verb): present participle of lie (“to rest in a horizontal position”).
- netty (adjective): Neat, well-groomed, natty.
- niggly (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- ninety (numeral): The cardinal number occurring after eighty-nine and before ninety-one, represented in Roman numerals as XC and in Arabic numerals as 90.
- ninny (noun): A silly or foolish person.
- teeny (adjective): Very small; tiny.
- tingly (adjective): Producing or feeling tingles.
- tinily (adverb): In a tiny way.
- tinny (adjective): having a displeasingly thin, metallic sound.
- tiny (adjective): Very small.
- tying (noun): Action of the verb to tie; ligature.
- yell (verb): shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice.
- yelling (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- yenning (verb): present participle of yen
- yente (noun): Alternative spelling of yenta
- yeti (noun): An unidentified humanoid animal said to live in the Himalayas.