A
R
O
D
W
K
L

Monday, January 19, 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 “D”. With a total of 31 words to find resulting in 118 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!

Rather see todays puzzle?

Puzzle Stats

Total Words :

31

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

118

Genius Score :

83

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 2 1 3
D 6 4 3 13
L 3 3
O 1 1
R 2 1 1 4
W 3 1 1 2 7
Σ 15 8 3 2 3 31

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

  • AR 1
  • AW 2
  • DA 1
  • DO 8
  • DR 4
  • LA 1
  • LO 2
  • OD 1
  • RA 1
  • RO 3
  • WA 2
  • WO 5

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AR

  1. AR5 — depth of feeling; urgent desire or interest; intense sexual desire; ardency; emotion sounds like harder, larder, order

AW

  1. AW5 — something given in recognition of achievement; a position arrived at after consideration; accolade; blue ribbon; decoration sounds like aboard, accord, afford, toward, ward
  2. AW7 — lacking social grace and assurance; showing or marked by a lack of skill and tact (as in dealing with a situation); causing embarrassment; clumsy; gauche sounds like acquired, armored, backward, byword, coward

DA

  1. DA4 — being without light or without much light; not having a light complexion; causing or marked by an atmosphere lacking in cheer; black; caliginous sounds like arc, bark, dock, lark, mark

DO

  1. DO4 — a person with old-fashioned ideas; a stupid person; antediluvian; Colonel Blimp; fogy sounds like bode, coco, cocoa, code, dad
  2. DO4 — a small figure often of a human being used especially as a child’s plaything; a physically attractive person; action figure; dolly; poppet sounds like dale, deal, dell, dill
  3. DO6 — a U.S. currency bill representing 100 cents; bone; buck; clam; one sounds like collar, dealer, duller, holler
  4. DO5 — deep sadness especially for the loss of someone or something loved; affliction; anguish; dolefulness; grief sounds like color, dealer, duffer, dull, dumber
  5. DO6 — a small article the actual name of which one either does not know or cannot remember; a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest; something that decorates or beautifies; dingus; doohickey sounds like dad
  6. DO4 — a barrier by which an entry is closed and opened; the opening through which one can enter or leave a structure; the means or right of entering or participating in; gate; hatch sounds like adore, boar, bore, chore, core
  7. DO6sounds like board, border, bored, chord, cord
  8. DO4 — a person slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits; a stupid person; bookworm; dink; geek sounds like cork, dark, fork, pork, torque

DR

  1. DR4 — to make a representation of by producing lines on a surface; to cause to follow by applying steady force on; to give a representation or account of in words; picture; drag
  2. DR5 — to speak slowly with vowel sounds that are longer than usual; breathe; chirp; gasp; lip sounds like brawl, crawl, thrall
  3. DR5 — causing or intended to cause laughter; antic; chucklesome; comedic; comic sounds like dole, role, roll
  4. DR5 — language, behavior, or ideas that are absurd and contrary to good sense; the fluid that is secreted into the mouth by certain glands; applesauce; balderdash; baloney sounds like rule

LA

  1. LA4 — as in weave, interline; as in pitch, tar; interfile; interline; weave sounds like bard, card, charred, guard, hard

LO

  1. LO4 — to place a weight or burden on; to put into (something) as much as can be held or contained; burden; encumber; freight sounds like bode, code, goad, lad, lade
  2. LO4 — a person of rank, power, or influence in a particular field; the being worshipped as the creator and ruler of the universe; a man of high birth or social position; baron; captain sounds like board, bored, chord, cord, ford

OD

  1. OD4 — a special quality or impression associated with something; the quality of a thing that makes it perceptible to the sense organs in the nose; overall quality as seen or judged by people in general; air; ambience sounds like loader, ochre, older, over, owner

RA

  1. RA5

RO

  1. RO4 — a passage cleared for public vehicular travel; a roadway overlaid with parallel steel rails over which trains travel; arterial; artery; avenue sounds like bode, code, erode, goad, load
  2. RO8sounds like beadwork, homework, rework, woodwork
  3. RO4sounds like could, good, hood, raid, read

WA

  1. WA4 — means or method of defending; responsibility for the safety and well-being of someone or something; aegis; ammunition; armor sounds like a****, board, bored, chord, cord
  2. WA7 — as in overlord, caudillo; caudillo; overlord; authoritarian; Big Brother

WO

  1. WO4 — tree logs as prepared for human use; a dense growth of trees and shrubs covering a large area; lumber; timber; forest sounds like could, good, hood, should, wad
  2. WO8sounds like beadwork, bulwark, footwork
  3. WO4 — a pronounceable series of letters having a distinct meaning especially in a particular field; something that is said; a report of recent events or facts not previously known; expression; term sounds like bird, curd, gird, heard, herd
  4. WO8 — the amount of work that is expected to be done; duty; function; job; load
  5. WO5 — human beings in general; the celestial body on which we live; the whole body of things observed or assumed; folks; humanity sounds like walled, weld, wheeled, whirl, whorl

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • dark
  • dodo
  • doll
  • door
  • dork
  • draw
  • lard
  • load
  • lord
  • odor
  • road
  • rood
  • ward
  • wood
  • word

  • ardor
  • award
  • awkward
  • dollar
  • dolor
  • doodad
  • dorado
  • drawl
  • droll
  • drool
  • radar
  • roadwork
  • warlord
  • woodwork
  • workload
  • world

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 41 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.

  • ADAW
  • ADRAD
  • ADWARD
  • ALDOL
  • ALLOD
  • ALOD
  • ARROWWOOD
  • AWDL
  • DAAL
  • DADA
  • DADO
  • DAWD
  • DAWK
  • DODDARD
  • DOODOO
  • DOOK
  • DOOL
  • DORAD
  • DORR
  • DOWAR
  • DOWD
  • DOWL
  • DRAD
  • DROOK
  • DROW
  • DWAAL
  • KOODOO
  • LOORD
  • ODAL
  • ORAD
  • ORDO
  • WADD
  • WALD
  • WALDO
  • WOAD
  • WOALD
  • WOLD
  • WOODLARK
  • WOODWARD
  • WOOLD
  • WOOLWARD