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Thursday, February 12, 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 “N”. With a total of 41 words to find resulting in 188 total possible points, we are looking at an average number of points. 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 :

41

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

188

Genius Score :

132

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 9 Σ
A 1 1 2 1 5
F 1 1 1 1 4
M 4 4 4 1 13
N 4 3 1 1 9
O 1 1 2
R 2 1 3
T 2 2 1 5
Σ 15 5 11 6 3 1 41

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

  • AF 1
  • AN 3
  • AR 1
  • FO 2
  • FR 2
  • MA 7
  • MO 6
  • NA 4
  • NO 5
  • ON 1
  • OT 1
  • RA 2
  • RO 1
  • TA 3
  • TO 2

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AF

  1. AF7 — an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another’s feelings; barb; brickbat; cut; dart sounds like front

AN

  1. AN7sounds like aunt, chateau, natty, plateau
  2. AN9 — as in analyst, commentator; analyst; columnist; commentator; observer sounds like agitator, innovator
  3. AN4 — at or within a short time; before long; by and by; directly; momentarily sounds like upon

AR

  1. AR6 — having no exceptions or restrictions; absolute; all-out; blank; blooming sounds like bunt, current, hunt, punt, urgent

FO

  1. FO4 — a point or place at which something is invented or provided; cradle; fountain; fountainhead; origin sounds like faint, feint, want
  2. FO7 — as in manservant, butler; as in infantryman, grunt; butler; groom; houseboy sounds like boatman, famine, fatten, fireman, freeman

FR

  1. FR5 — being at or in the part of something opposite the back part; anterior; fore; forward; frontal sounds like af*****, aren’t, brunt, errant, grunt
  2. FR8

MA

  1. MA6sounds like famine, salmon
  2. MA5 — a source of great satisfaction; something that provides happiness or does good for a person or thing; delectation; delight; feast
  3. MA5 — a large impressive residence; castle; château; estate; hacienda sounds like banner, meaner, miner, minor
  4. MA5 — any of several extremely large rays; devilfish; manta ray; sea devil
  5. MA6sounds like pantry, tantrum
  6. MA6 — to cause to remain behind; abandon; desert; forsake; leave sounds like moon, moraine
  7. MA6 — a dignified usually elderly woman of some rank or authority; dame; dowager; grande dame; matriarch sounds like patron

MO

  1. MO4 — a long low sound indicating pain or grief; a crying out in grief; an expression of dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment; groan; wail sounds like bone, cone, hone, known, loan
  2. MO4
  3. MO4 — a long or seemingly long period of time; age; blue moon; coon’s age; cycle sounds like boon, dune, goon, loon, main
  4. MO8sounds like sunroof
  5. MO4 — the first appearance of light in the morning or the time of its appearance; the time from sunrise until noon; aurora; cockcrow; dawn sounds like born, corn, horn, shorn, thorn
  6. MO5 — a stupid person; airhead; birdbrain; blockhead; bonehead sounds like run

NA

  1. NA4sounds like con, don, john, knob, knock
  2. NA4sounds like manna
  3. NA8 — to give an oral or written account of in some detail; chart; chronicle; describe; recite
  4. NA6sounds like latent

NO

  1. NO6sounds like monarch
  2. NO6 — as in lean, defatted; as in plain, natural; defatted; lean; natural sounds like bonfire, bonnet, combat, concert, conferee
  3. NO4 — the middle of the day; the highest part or point; high noon; lunch time; midday sounds like boon, dune, goon, knew, known
  4. NO4 — what is typical of a group, class, or series; the code of good conduct for an individual or group; average; normal; par sounds like dorm, form, warm
  5. NO7sounds like narrator, rotate

ON

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

OT

  1. OT7 — as in bench, banquette; banquette; bench; daybed; sofa bed sounds like omen, showman, stolen, token, yachtsman

RA

  1. RA4 — a long angry speech or scolding; boastful speech or writing; diatribe; harangue; jeremiad sounds like ant, aunt, can’t, chant, g****
  2. RA6 — as in birch, cowhide; birch; blacksnake; bullwhip; cat-o’-nine-tails sounds like cotton, gotten, robin, written

RO

  1. RO4 — as in blotchy, piebald; blotched; blotchy; piebald; pinto sounds like bone, cone, crone, drone, g****

TA

  1. TA7
  2. TA6
  3. TA6sounds like carton, hearten

TO

  1. TO4 — a lower limb of an animal; a portion of a trip; pin; lap; stage sounds like attune, boon, dune, goon, loon
  2. TO4 — to cause (something) to separate into jagged pieces by violently pulling at it; to separate or remove by forceful pulling; to proceed or move quickly; rent; ribboned sounds like born, corn, horn, mourn, shorn

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • anon
  • font
  • moan
  • mono
  • moon
  • morn
  • naan
  • nana
  • noon
  • norm
  • onto
  • rant
  • roan
  • toon
  • torn

  • affront
  • annatto
  • annotator
  • arrant
  • footman
  • front
  • frontman
  • mammon
  • manna
  • manor
  • manta
  • mantra
  • maroon
  • matron
  • moonroof
  • moron
  • narrator
  • natant
  • nonart
  • nonfat
  • notator
  • ottoman
  • rattan
  • tantara
  • tantra
  • tartan

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 109 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.

  • AFRONT
  • AMARANT
  • AMARNA
  • AMMAN
  • AMMON
  • AMMONO
  • AMORANT
  • AMTMAN
  • ANAN
  • ANANA
  • ANATA
  • ANATMAN
  • ANATTA
  • ANATTO
  • ANNA
  • ANNAT
  • ANNATTA
  • ANNO
  • ANNONA
  • ANOA
  • ANTA
  • ANTAR
  • ANTARA
  • ANTRA
  • ARNA
  • ARNATTO
  • ARNOTTO
  • ATAMAN
  • ATMAN
  • ATTORN
  • FAAN
  • FANFARON
  • FANFARONA
  • FANO
  • FANON
  • FANTOM
  • FARRANT
  • FORMANT
  • FRONTON
  • FRONTOON
  • FRORN
  • MANA
  • MANANA
  • MANAT
  • MANNAN
  • MANO
  • MANOAO
  • MANTO
  • MANTRAM
  • MARANTA
  • MARON
  • MARRANO
  • MARRON
  • MONA
  • MONOAO
  • MONTAN
  • MONTANT
  • MONTANTO
  • MOORMAN
  • MOOTMAN
  • MORTARMAN
  • MOTORMAN
  • NAAM
  • NAFF
  • NAMMA
  • NANNA
  • NATRON
  • NOMA
  • NONA
  • NONFAN
  • NONFARM
  • NONMAN
  • NORMA
  • NORMAN
  • NOTA
  • NOTT
  • OONT
  • ORANT
  • ORRAMAN
  • RAFTMAN
  • RAMONA
  • RANA
  • RATAN
  • RATOON
  • RATTON
  • RATTOON
  • ROMAN
  • ROMANO
  • RONT
  • ROON
  • ROTAN
  • ROTON
  • ROTTAN
  • TANA
  • TANNA
  • TANTARARA
  • TANTO
  • TARANTARA
  • TARATANTARA
  • TARN
  • TARTANA
  • TOMAN
  • TONANT
  • TORAN
  • TORANA
  • TRAMONTANA
  • TRANT
  • TRON
  • TRONA