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Thursday, February 5, 2026

Welcome to today’s New York Times Spelling Bee hints and answers. Today’s puzzle features an average-looking board with a center letter of “O”. With a total of 36 words to find resulting in 136 total possible points, we are looking at a lower point cap, so every word counts. There is just a single pangram hiding in today’s letter set. Whether you’re stuck looking for those elusive final few words to reach Genius rank, or simply seeking a gentle nudge to get the ball rolling, you’re in the right place. Dive into our comprehensive two-letter lists, explore our word length grid, and uncover targeted Merriam-Webster definitions tailored specifically to help you without giving the entire game away immediately. Good luck mastering the hive!

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Puzzle Stats

Total Words :

36

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

136

Genius Score :

95

Pangram

Finding the nyt pangram is key to reaching “Genius” status.
Below is progressive reveal to help you achieve it.

8-letter pangram 0 / 8 letters revealed
????????

NYT Spelling Bee Hints & Grid

Maximize your score without ruining the fun.

The grid shows how many words start with each letter, broken down by word length.

4 5 6 7 8 Σ
D 4 2 1 – 1 8
H 2 – 1 1 1 5
I 1 2 – – – 3
M 5 3 2 – 1 11
N 1 – 1 – – 2
O 2 1 – – – 3
T 2 1 1 – – 4
Σ 17 9 6 1 3 36

Knowing the first two letters of a missing word is often the perfect clue. Here is the two letter list for today’s puzzle.

  • DH 1
  • DI 2
  • DO 5
  • HO 5
  • ID 2
  • IN 1
  • MI 2
  • MO 9
  • NO 2
  • OM 1
  • ON 2
  • TO 4

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

DH

  1. DH5 — sounds like dirty, ditty, duty, goatee

DI

  1. DI4 — sounds like dean, depot, keno, wino
  2. DI5 — having qualities in common; akin; alike; analogous; cognate sounds like deter

DO

  1. DO4 — a person with old-fashioned ideas; a stupid person; antediluvian; Colonel Blimp; fogy sounds like bode, coco, cocoa, code, dad
  2. DO8 — controlling power or influence over others; the right or means to command or control others; ascendance; ascendancy; dominance sounds like minion, opinion
  3. DO6 — as in mask, veil; as in poncho, pelisse; mask; veil; visor sounds like almond, common, commoner, commons, demon
  4. DO4 — a decision made by a court or tribunal regarding a case it has heard; a state or end that seemingly has been decided beforehand; the permanent stopping of all the vital bodily activities; finding; holding sounds like boom, dam, dame, damn, deem
  5. DO4 — sounds like both, dearth, death

HO

  1. HO7 — as in humanoid, humanlike; anthropoid; creatural; humanlike; humanoid sounds like admitted, almond, calmness, comical, committed
  2. HO8 — sounds like almond
  3. HO4 — a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang; bully; gangbanger; gangsta; gangster sounds like could, good, had, hadd, head
  4. HO6 — language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense; something that brings bad luck; applesauce; balderdash; baloney
  5. HO4 — a loud vocal expression of strong emotion; a vocal sound made to express scorn or disapproval; the smallest amount or part imaginable; cry; holler sounds like boot, chute, hat, hate, heat

ID

  1. ID5 — a sequence of words having a specific meaning; expression; phrase sounds like indium
  2. ID5 — a stupid person; airhead; birdbrain; blockhead; bonehead

IN

  1. IN4 — in addition to what has been said; additionally; again; also; besides sounds like ensue, onto, unto

MI

  1. MI8 — sounds like madman
  2. MI6 — a person or thing that is preferred over others; darling; fave; favorite; pet

MO

  1. MO5 — sounds like condo
  2. MO4 —
  3. MO5 — sounds like munch
  4. MO4 — a state of mind dominated by a particular emotion; a special quality or impression associated with something; an intense emotional state of displeasure with someone or something; cheer; feather sounds like food, lewd, mad, made, maid
  5. MO4 — a long or seemingly long period of time; age; blue moon; coon’s age; cycle sounds like boon, dune, goon, loon, main
  6. MO4 — open to question or dispute; arguable; controvertible; debatable; disputable sounds like boot, chute, hoot, jute, loot
  7. MO4 — having passed its time of use or usefulness; showing signs of advanced wear and tear and neglect; used or heard so often as to be dull; antiquated; archaic sounds like mall, math, maul, mauve, maw
  8. MO6 — the act or an instance of changing position; move; movement; shift; shifting sounds like e******, lotion, mission, notion, ocean
  9. MO5 — a short sentence or phrase that expresses a rule guiding the behavior of a particular person or group; axiom; precept; truism; truth sounds like macho, mater

NO

  1. NO4 — the middle of the day; the highest part or point; high noon; lunch time; midday sounds like boon, dune, goon, knew, known
  2. NO6 — small useful items; a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action; an idea that is believed to be true or valid without positive knowledge; etceteras; novelties sounds like lotion, motion, nation, ocean, potion

OM

  1. OM4 — to miss the opportunity or obligation; fail; forget; neglect sounds like emit, mitt

ON

  1. ON5 — sounds like undone
  2. ON4 — as in hit (upon), pitch (upon); chance (upon); encounter; find; happen (on or upon) sounds like into, unto

TO

  1. TO6 — sounds like admit, armpit, atomic, bombing, calming
  2. TO4 — a lower limb of an animal; a portion of a trip; pin; lap; stage sounds like attune, boon, dune, goon, loon
  3. TO4 — a bout of prolonged or excessive drinking; bender; binge; bust; carousal sounds like boot, chute, hoot, jute, loot
  4. TO5 — as in desire, taste; appetite; fancy; favor; fondness sounds like booth, truth, tube, tune, two

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

Ready to see the words? Use the toggles below to reveal today’s nyt spelling bee answers.

  • dino
  • dodo
  • doom
  • doth
  • hood
  • hoot
  • into
  • mono
  • mood
  • moon
  • moot
  • moth
  • noon
  • omit
  • onto
  • toon
  • toot

  • dhoti
  • ditto
  • dominion
  • domino
  • hominid
  • hominoid
  • hoodoo
  • idiom
  • idiot
  • midmonth
  • minion
  • mondo
  • month
  • motion
  • motto
  • notion
  • onion
  • tomtit
  • tooth

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 62 valid dictionary words that are excluded. If you found a valid dictionary word that wasn’t accepted, it’s likely due to the New York Times Spelling Bee’s strict editorial criteria. Sam Ezersky, the puzzle’s editor, manually curates the daily word list to balance difficulty and fairness.

  • Obscure or Highly Technical Words: Medical, legal, and intensely specific scientific jargon is frequently omitted to keep the puzzle accessible to a general audience.
  • Offensive Language: Vulgar or derogatory words are universally banned.
  • Proper Nouns: Capitalized names of people or places are never allowed.
  • Hyphenated Words: Multi-word combinations containing hyphens are excluded.
  • Letter S / Plurals: The letter “S” is generally never included on a Spelling Bee board to avoid making the game too simple by tacking plurals onto every word.

  • DHOOTI
  • DIDO
  • DINMONT
  • DOIT
  • DOITIT
  • DONNOT
  • DOODOO
  • DOON
  • HIOI
  • HODDIN
  • HOMININ
  • HOMO
  • HOMODONT
  • HOND
  • HOON
  • IMIDO
  • IMINO
  • INION
  • IODID
  • IODIN
  • MIDNOON
  • MINIMOTO
  • MINO
  • MODI
  • MODII
  • MOIT
  • MOMI
  • MONITION
  • MONODONT
  • MONOTINT
  • MOOI
  • MOTI
  • MOTMOT
  • MOTT
  • NINON
  • NITON
  • NODI
  • NOINT
  • NOMOI
  • NONI
  • NOOIT
  • NOTODONTID
  • NOTT
  • ODONTOID
  • OIDIOID
  • OINT
  • OONT
  • OOTID
  • OTTO
  • THIO
  • THIONIN
  • THON
  • TIMON
  • TOHO
  • TOIT
  • TOITOI
  • TOMO
  • TONDI
  • TONDINI
  • TONDINO
  • TONDO
  • TOOM