NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 12, 2026
Today's NYT Spelling Bee uses center letter E with outer letters A, H, M, P, T, Y. The puzzle contains 55 words worth 183 points, including 1 pangram. The longest word is 8 letters. To reach Genius you need 128 points; Queen Bee requires all 183 points. Today is a bingo — every letter starts at least one word. Compared with the eight-year average of about 184 points per puzzle, this is a smaller-than-average day.
Game Summary
| Center Letter | E |
|---|---|
| Outer Letters | a, h, m, p, t, y |
| # of Pangrams | 1 (Perfect: 1) |
| Total Words | 55 words |
| Total Points | 183 points |
| Genius Level | 128 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | - | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| E | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| H | 6 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 8 |
| M | 7 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 11 |
| P | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | 7 |
| T | 10 | 6 | 4 | - | 1 | 21 |
| Y | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | Σ | 29 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 55 |
Two-Letter List (2LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding two letters.
| A | AH×1 AT×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EM×3 EP×1 EY×1 |
| H | HA×2 HE×5 HY×1 |
| M | MA×4 ME×7 |
| P | PA×2 PE×5 |
| T | TA×3 TE×11 TH×6 TY×1 |
| Y | YE×1 |
Three-Letter List (3LL) Hints
The following list shows the number of solution words that begin with the corresponding three letters.
| A | AHE×1 ATT×1 |
|---|---|
| E | EMP×3 EPE×1 EYE×1 |
| H | HAM×1 HAT×1 HEA×3 HEM×2 HYP×1 |
| M | MAT×3 MAY×1 MEA×2 MEE×1 MEM×1 MET×3 |
| P | PAT×1 PAY×1 PEA×2 PEE×1 PEP×1 PET×1 |
| T | TAM×1 TAP×2 TEA×3 TEE×4 TEM×3 TEP×1 THE×5 THY×1 TYP×1 |
| Y | YEA×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) |
|---|---|---|
| em..... † | EM7 | Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person. |
| ah.. | AH4 | the sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat |
| at..... | AT7 | To try. |
| em.... | EM6 | One who has the ability to sense emotions; someone who is empathic or practises empathy. |
| em... | EM5 | Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant. |
| ep.. | EP4 | A sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing. |
| ey...... | EY8 | plural of eyetooth |
| ha.... | HA6 | Hooked at the end. |
| ha.. | HA4 | An object of hatred. |
| he.. | HE4 | A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people. |
| he.. | HE4 | Thermal energy. |
| he... | HE5 | A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland. |
| he.. | HE4 | The component of hemoglobin (and other hemoproteins) responsible for binding oxygen. It consists of an iron ion that binds oxygen and a porphyrin ring that binds the globin molecules; one molecule binds one molecule of oxygen. |
| he.. | HE4 | A tall annual herb, Cannabis sativa, native to Asia. |
| hy.. | HY4 | Promotion or propaganda; especially exaggerated claims. |
| ma.. | MA4 | A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate. |
| ma... | MA5 | Sociable or friendly. |
| ma... | MA5 | A decorative border around a picture used to inset and center the contents of a frame. |
| ma.... | MA6 | A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos. |
| me.. | ME4 | The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food. |
| me... | ME5 | Of, relating to, or containing meat. |
| me.. | ME4 | To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter. |
| me.. | ME4 | Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes. |
| me.. | ME4 | Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level. |
| me.. | ME4 | To measure. |
| me.. | ME4 | Methamphetamine, especially in the form of the crystalline hydrochloride. |
| pa.. | PA4 | The head, particularly the top or crown. |
| pa... | PA5 | one to whom money is paid. |
| pe.. | PE4 | Soil formed of dead but not fully decayed plants found in bog areas, often burned as fuel. |
| pe... | PE5 | Of or resembling peat; peatlike. |
| pe.. | PE4 | A short, soft, high-pitched sound, as made by a baby bird. |
| pe... | PE5 | Full of pep; energetic, cheerful, and vigorous; bouncy |
| pe... | PE5 | Having little or no importance. |
| ta.. | TA4 | Not or no longer wild; domesticated. |
| ta.. | TA4 | Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape. |
| ta.... | TA6 | No definition found; request failed |
| te.. | TE4 | A set of draught animals, such as two horses in front of a carriage. |
| te...... | TE8 | One who is on the same team. |
| te.. | TE4 | The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted. |
| te.. | TE4 | To be stocked to overflowing. |
| te.... | TE6 | A cone-shaped tent traditionally used by many native peoples of the Great Plains of North America. |
| te... | TE5 | plural of tooth |
| te.... | TE6 | To grow teeth. |
| te.. | TE4 | Abbreviation of temperature. |
| te.... | TE6 | An Indonesian food made from partially-cooked fermented soybeans, mixed with a fungus (Rhizopus oligosporus). |
| te... | TE5 | To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice. |
| te... | TE5 | Alternative form of teepee |
| th.. | TH4 | Objective and reflexive case of thou. |
| th.. | TH4 | Those ones. Used as the direct object of a verb. |
| th... | TH5 | A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic. |
| th... | TH5 | The eighth letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, ninth in Old Greek: Θ, θ. |
| th.. | TH4 | A group of entities previously mentioned. |
| th... | TH5 | Any plant of the labiate genus Thymus, such as the garden thyme, Thymus vulgaris, a warm, pungent aromatic, that is much used to give a relish to seasoning and soups. |
| ty.. | TY4 | A grouping based on shared characteristics; a class. |
| ye.. | YE4 | yes. |
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.
- empathy† (EM7)
- ahem (AH4)
- attempt (AT7)
- empath (EM6)
- empty (EM5)
- epee (EP4)
- eyeteeth (EY8)
- hamate (HA6)
- hate (HA4)
- heap (HE4)
- heat (HE4)
- heath (HE5)
- heme (HE4)
- hemp (HE4)
- hype (HY4)
- mate (MA4)
- matey (MA5)
- matte (MA5)
- mayhem (MA6)
- meat (ME4)
- meaty (ME5)
- meet (ME4)
- meme (ME4)
- meta (ME4)
- mete (ME4)
- meth (ME4)
- pate (PA4)
- payee (PA5)
- peat (PE4)
- peaty (PE5)
- peep (PE4)
- peppy (PE5)
- petty (PE5)
- tame (TA4)
- tape (TA4)
- tappet (TA6)
- team (TE4)
- teammate (TE8)
- teat (TE4)
- teem (TE4)
- teepee (TE6)
- teeth (TE5)
- teethe (TE6)
- temp (TE4)
- tempeh (TE6)
- tempt (TE5)
- tepee (TE5)
- thee (TH4)
- them (TH4)
- theme (TH5)
- theta (TH5)
- they (TH4)
- thyme (TH5)
- type (TY4)
- yeah (YE4)
Answer Definitions
- empathy† (noun): Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.
- ahem (interjection): the sound of a quiet cough or of clearing one's throat
- attempt (verb): To try.
- empath (noun): One who has the ability to sense emotions; someone who is empathic or practises empathy.
- empty (adjective): Devoid of content; containing nothing or nobody; vacant.
- epee (noun): A sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing.
- eyeteeth (noun): plural of eyetooth
- hamate (adjective): Hooked at the end.
- hate (noun): An object of hatred.
- heap (noun): A crowd; a throng; a multitude or great number of people.
- heat (noun): Thermal energy.
- heath (noun): A tract of level uncultivated land with sandy soil and scrubby vegetation; heathland.
- heme (noun): The component of hemoglobin (and other hemoproteins) responsible for binding oxygen. It consists of an iron ion that binds oxygen and a porphyrin ring that binds the globin molecules; one molecule binds one molecule of oxygen.
- hemp (noun): A tall annual herb, Cannabis sativa, native to Asia.
- hype (noun): Promotion or propaganda; especially exaggerated claims.
- mate (noun): A fellow, comrade, colleague, partner or someone with whom something is shared, e.g. shipmate, classmate.
- matey (adjective): Sociable or friendly.
- matte (noun): A decorative border around a picture used to inset and center the contents of a frame.
- mayhem (noun): A state or situation of great confusion, disorder, trouble or destruction; chaos.
- meat (noun): The flesh (muscle tissue) of an animal used as food.
- meaty (adjective): Of, relating to, or containing meat.
- meet (verb): To make contact (with) while in proximity. To come face to face with by accident; to encounter.
- meme (noun): Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
- meta (adjective): Self-referential; structured analogously (structured by relationships), but at a higher level.
- mete (verb): To measure.
- meth (noun): Methamphetamine, especially in the form of the crystalline hydrochloride.
- pate (noun): The head, particularly the top or crown.
- payee (noun): one to whom money is paid.
- peat (noun): Soil formed of dead but not fully decayed plants found in bog areas, often burned as fuel.
- peaty (adjective): Of or resembling peat; peatlike.
- peep (noun): A short, soft, high-pitched sound, as made by a baby bird.
- peppy (adjective): Full of pep; energetic, cheerful, and vigorous; bouncy
- petty (adjective): Having little or no importance.
- tame (adjective): Not or no longer wild; domesticated.
- tape (noun): Flexible material in a roll with a sticky surface on one or both sides; adhesive tape.
- tappet (n/a): No definition found; request failed
- team (noun): A set of draught animals, such as two horses in front of a carriage.
- teammate (noun): One who is on the same team.
- teat (noun): The projection of a mammary gland from which, on female mammals, milk is secreted.
- teem (verb): To be stocked to overflowing.
- teepee (noun): A cone-shaped tent traditionally used by many native peoples of the Great Plains of North America.
- teeth (noun): plural of tooth
- teethe (verb): To grow teeth.
- temp (noun): Abbreviation of temperature.
- tempeh (noun): An Indonesian food made from partially-cooked fermented soybeans, mixed with a fungus (Rhizopus oligosporus).
- tempt (verb): To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.
- tepee (noun): Alternative form of teepee
- thee (pronoun): Objective and reflexive case of thou.
- them (pronoun): Those ones. Used as the direct object of a verb.
- theme (noun): A subject, now especially of a talk or an artistic piece; a topic.
- theta (noun): The eighth letter of the Modern Greek alphabet, ninth in Old Greek: Θ, θ.
- they (pronoun): A group of entities previously mentioned.
- thyme (noun): Any plant of the labiate genus Thymus, such as the garden thyme, Thymus vulgaris, a warm, pungent aromatic, that is much used to give a relish to seasoning and soups.
- type (noun): A grouping based on shared characteristics; a class.
- yeah (particle): yes.