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Monday, February 16, 2026

Welcome to today’s New York Times Spelling Bee hints and answers. Today’s puzzle features a substantially larger than average board today, promising plenty of opportunities with a center letter of “A”. With a total of 57 words to find resulting in 221 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 :

57

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

221

Genius Score :

155

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
A 3 4 7
B 6 1 2 3 5 17
C 6 8 14
K 3 1 4
M 4 5 1 10
O 2 2
R 3 3
Σ 24 21 4 3 5 57

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

  • AB 1
  • AM 2
  • AR 4
  • BA 13
  • BO 4
  • CA 5
  • CO 5
  • CR 4
  • KA 3
  • KO 1
  • MA 9
  • MO 1
  • OK 1
  • OR 1
  • RA 1
  • RO 2

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AB

  1. AB5 — without warning; suddenly; unanticipatedly; unaware; unawares sounds like attack, back

AM

  1. AM4sounds like arrow, mow
  2. AM4 — in a confused and reckless manner; berserk; berserkly; frantically; frenetically sounds like muck

AR

  1. AR5 — a wooden shelter in a garden that is shaped like an arch and that plants grow over; bower; pergola; awning; canopy sounds like barber, h*****
  2. AR4sounds like n****
  3. AR5 — means or method of defending; something that encloses another thing especially to protect it; aegis; ammunition; buckler sounds like charmer, farmer
  4. AR5 — a sweet or pleasant smell; the quality of a thing that makes it perceptible to the sense organs in the nose; a special quality or impression associated with something; attar; balm sounds like coma, soma

BA

  1. BA4sounds like bobby
  2. BA5sounds like bobby, box, vodka
  3. BA4 — earlier than the present time; toward the opposite direction; toward the rear; ago; agone
  4. BA8sounds like become
  5. BA8
  6. BA6sounds like amber, bimbo, shampoo, taboo
  7. BA6sounds like blob, blobby, bobby, bombast, buyback
  8. BA4 — an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another’s feelings; affront; brickbat; cut; dart sounds like borrow, garb
  9. BA7sounds like buyback, tarmac
  10. BA8
  11. BA4 — to remove the natural covering of; flay; hull; husk; peel sounds like arc, borrow, dark, lark, mark
  12. BA7 — as in taunt, heckle; as in house, bivouac; bait; bug; catcall
  13. BA7 — a place of business where alcoholic beverages are sold to be consumed on the premises; bar; café; cantina; dramshop sounds like bedroom, boardroom, broom, darkroom

BO

  1. BO4sounds like balk, ball, bar, bare, bawl
  2. BO4
  3. BO8sounds like pockmark
  4. BO8sounds like barrack, bullock

CA

  1. CA5sounds like cocaine, coco, cocoa, cocoon, cuckoo
  2. CA4 — as in camouflage; camouflage; greasepaint; cold cream; cream sounds like combo, comma, commie
  3. CA4sounds like barb, garb
  4. CA5sounds like cherub
  5. CA5 — to strike and fly off at an angle; bounce; glance; rebound; ricochet sounds like chrome, come, cram, cream, crime

CO

  1. CO5 — as in python, boa; adder; anaconda; asp; black racer sounds like ogre, phobia, zebra
  2. CO4
  3. CO5
  4. CO4 — as in sleep, rest; hibernation; hypnosis; repose; rest sounds like aroma, soma
  5. CO5 — as in space, window; caesura; interspace; lag; pause sounds like calm, calmer, mama

CR

  1. CR4 — an irritable and complaining person; bear; bellyacher; complainer; crank sounds like cab, drab
  2. CR5 — to break suddenly with an explosive sound; to yield to mental or emotional stress; to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language; pop; snap
  3. CR4 — a great number of persons or things massed together; army; bike; crowd; crush sounds like chrome, clam
  4. CR5 — to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely; to stop living; to deprive of life; beef; bellyache sounds like broke, chrome, cloak, coke

KA

  1. KA5sounds like cabin
  2. KA6sounds like boom, cab, cabaret, cabbage, cabin
  3. KA5 — a special quality or impression associated with something; air; ambience; aroma; atmosphere sounds like comma

KO

  1. KO5sounds like aorta, aura, choral, chord, chorus

MA

  1. MA5sounds like micro
  2. MA4sounds like mock, morrow, motto, taco
  3. MA4 — a female human parent; ma; mammy; mater; mom sounds like comma, mom
  4. MA5 — as in rattlesnake, cobra; adder; anaconda; asp; black racer
  5. MA5 — as in tango, jive; boogie; bop; fox-trot; gavotte sounds like mumbo
  6. MA5 — a female human parent; ma; mammy; mater; mom sounds like comma, mom
  7. MA6
  8. MA4 — to attach an identifying slip to; to be an important feature of; to make a written note of; label; tag sounds like arc, bark, dark, lark
  9. MA4sounds like arm, charm, farm, harm

MO

  1. MO5 — a female human parent; ma; mammy; mater; mom sounds like comma, mana

OK

  1. OK4sounds like opera

OR

  1. OR4sounds like aura

RA

  1. RA4 — a place set aside for sleeping; a state of great suffering of body or mind; bed; bunk; doss sounds like back, c****, hack, jack, knack

RO

  1. RO4 — to move about from place to place aimlessly; bat; cruise; drift; float sounds like chrome, comb, dome, foam, gnome
  2. RO4 — a violent shouting; loud, confused, and usually inharmonious sound; clamor; howl; hubbub sounds like boar, bore, chore, core, door

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • ammo
  • amok
  • arco
  • baba
  • back
  • barb
  • bark
  • boar
  • boba
  • camo
  • carb
  • coca
  • coma
  • crab
  • cram
  • mako
  • mama
  • mark
  • marm
  • okra
  • orca
  • rack
  • roam
  • roar

  • aback
  • arbor
  • armor
  • aroma
  • babka
  • backcomb
  • backroom
  • bamboo
  • baobab
  • barback
  • barbacoa
  • barrack
  • barroom
  • bookmark
  • bookrack
  • cacao
  • carob
  • carom
  • cobra
  • cocoa
  • comma
  • crack
  • croak
  • kabob
  • kaboom
  • karma
  • korma
  • macro
  • mamba
  • mambo
  • mamma
  • maraca
  • momma

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 117 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.

  • ABAC
  • ABACA
  • ABAKA
  • ABBA
  • ABOMA
  • ABRAM
  • ACCA
  • ACOCK
  • AMBO
  • ARAARA
  • ARABA
  • ARAK
  • ARAR
  • ARAROBA
  • ARBA
  • AROBA
  • ARRACK
  • ARROBA
  • BABACO
  • BABOO
  • BACCA
  • BACCARA
  • BACCO
  • BACKRA
  • BAKRA
  • BARCA
  • BARM
  • BARMBRACK
  • BAROCCO
  • BAROCK
  • BARRA
  • BARRO
  • BOAB
  • BOAK
  • BOBAC
  • BOBAK
  • BOCCA
  • BOMA
  • BOMBORA
  • BOORKA
  • BORA
  • BORAK
  • BRACK
  • BRAK
  • BROCKRAM
  • CABA
  • CABOB
  • CABOC
  • CABOMBA
  • CACA
  • CACK
  • CAMA
  • CAMORRA
  • CARABAO
  • CARACARA
  • CARACK
  • CARAMBA
  • CARBO
  • CARBORA
  • CARK
  • CARR
  • CARRACK
  • CARROM
  • COARB
  • COMARB
  • CORAM
  • CRACKA
  • CRACKBACK
  • CRAMBO
  • CROMACK
  • CROOKBACK
  • KAAMA
  • KABAB
  • KABAKA
  • KABAR
  • KACK
  • KAKA
  • KAMA
  • KAMOKAMO
  • KARA
  • KARAKA
  • KARK
  • KARO
  • KAROO
  • KARORO
  • KARROO
  • KBAR
  • KOKA
  • KOKAKO
  • KOKRA
  • KORA
  • KORORA
  • KRAB
  • MAAR
  • MACACO
  • MACK
  • MAKAR
  • MAMAKO
  • MAMMOCK
  • MAOMAO
  • MAORMOR
  • MARA
  • MARC
  • MARKA
  • MARKKA
  • MARKKAA
  • MAROR
  • MARRAM
  • MORA
  • MORMAOR
  • MORRA
  • OCCAM
  • ORRA
  • RACA
  • RARK
  • ROMA
  • ROORBACK