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Thursday, February 19, 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 “M”. With a total of 55 words to find resulting in 213 total possible points, we are looking at an average number of points. Impressively, there are 2 pangrams to uncover. 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 :

55

Total Pangrams :

2

Total Points:

213

Genius Score :

149

Pangram

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

10-letter pangram 0 / 10 letters revealed
??????????
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 10 Σ
A 2 2
C 2 1 3
E 1 1 1 1 4
H 1 1 1 1 4
I 2 1 3
M 16 5 1 4 1 1 28
T 5 1 1 2 2 11
Σ 29 8 4 8 5 1 55

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

  • AC 1
  • AH 1
  • CA 2
  • CH 1
  • EM 4
  • HA 2
  • HE 2
  • IM 2
  • IT 1
  • MA 13
  • ME 8
  • MI 7
  • TA 2
  • TE 4
  • TH 3
  • TI 2

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AC

  1. AC4 — the highest part or point; the most perfect type or example; apex; apogee; capstone sounds like axe

AH

  1. AH4sounds like gem, hem, them

CA

  1. CA4 — to move closer to; to get to a destination; to eventually have as a state or quality; advanced; approached sounds like aim, claim, comb
  2. CA4sounds like balmy, cocky, coffee, collie, comma

CH

  1. CH5 — a series of short high ringing sounds; peaceful coexistence; jingle; tinkle; tintinnabulation sounds like dime, lime, rhyme, time

EM

  1. EM8 — to lose bodily strength or vigor; decay; droop; fade; fail sounds like initiate, irradiate
  2. EM5 — a person who conducts a program of entertainment by making introductions and providing continuity; announcer; host; MC sounds like airy, any, assay, chassis, edgy
  3. EM6sounds like aesthetic, ascetic, medic, metric, poetic
  4. EM4 — to throw or give off; to send forth using the vocal cords; cast; discharge; emanate sounds like mitt, omit

HA

  1. HA7sounds like amity, amply, banshee, family, flashy
  2. HA6sounds like comet, heart, hot, humped, inmate

HE

  1. HE8
  2. HE4 — the line or relatively narrow space that marks the outer limit of something; border; borderline; bound; boundary sounds like beam, deem, ham

IM

  1. IM4sounds like mom
  2. IM7 — to use (someone or something) as the model for one’s speech, mannerisms, or behavior; to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of; to make an exact likeness of; ape; copy sounds like acetate, agitate, annotate, emanate, estate

IT

  1. IT4 — a separate part in a list, account, or series; a report of recent events or facts not previously known; detail; particular; point sounds like atom, autumn

MA

  1. MA4 — as in blackjack, knobkerrie; blackjack; knobkerrie; bastinado; bat sounds like ace, base, case, chase, face
  2. MA7 — as in dagger, pocketknife; bayonet; bodkin; bolo; bowie knife sounds like mushy
  3. MA7 — as in guru, swami; guru; pandit; swami; yogi
  4. MA8
  5. MA4 — to cause severe or permanent injury to; cripple; disable; incapacitate; lame sounds like aim, came, dame, fame, game
  6. MA4 — a female human parent; ma; mammy; mater; mom sounds like comma, mom
  7. MA5 — a female human parent; ma; mammy; mater; mom sounds like comma, mom
  8. MA5 — a competitive encounter between individuals or groups carried on for amusement, exercise, or in pursuit of a prize; a union representing a special kind of social and legal partnership between two people; either of a pair matched in one or more qualities; bout; competition sounds like batch, catch, hatch, latch
  9. MA6
  10. MA4 — either of a pair matched in one or more qualities; a person frequently seen in the company of another; a person who helps a more skilled person; companion; fellow sounds like ate, bait, date, eight, fate
  11. MA4 — the act or process of performing mathematical operations to find a value; arithmetic; calculation; calculus; ciphering sounds like bath
  12. MA10 — meeting the highest standard of accuracy; accurate; close; delicate; exact
  13. MA5 — lacking a surface luster or gloss; dim; dull; dulled; flat sounds like bat, cat, chat, fat, hat

ME

  1. ME4 — animal and especially mammal tissue used as food; substances intended to be eaten; the central part or aspect of something under consideration; flesh; bread sounds like beat, beet, cheat, eat, feat
  2. ME5 — a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest; axis; base; capital; center sounds like mica
  3. ME4 — to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face; to come together into one body or place; to come upon unexpectedly or by chance; catch; chance (upon) sounds like beat, beet, cheat, eat, feat
  4. ME4sounds like beam, deem, mien, mom
  5. ME7sounds like aesthetic, ascetic, athletic, cosmetic, domestic
  6. ME4
  7. ME4 — to give out (something) to appropriate individuals; administer; allocate; apportion; deal (out) sounds like beat, beet, cheat, eat, feat
  8. ME4sounds like death, mare, math, mirth, moth

MI

  1. MI4sounds like mecca
  2. MI4 — as in cowards, pussies; as in icebergs, cold fishes; cowards; milquetoasts; nebbishes sounds like dice, ice, lice, mass, mess
  3. MI4 — an actor in a story performed silently and entirely by body movements; a movement of the body or limbs that expresses or emphasizes an idea or feeling; mimic; mummer; pantomime sounds like chime, dime, lime, mom, mum
  4. MI7 — using or marked by the use of something else as a basis or model; apish; canned; emulative; epigonic sounds like mystic
  5. MI5 — to copy or exaggerate (someone or something) in order to make fun of; to use (someone or something) as the model for one’s speech, mannerisms, or behavior; burlesque; caricature; do sounds like gimmick, mythic
  6. MI4 — a very small sum of money; something (such as an animal) much smaller than others of its kind; a very small amount; chicken feed; chump change sounds like bite, byte, cite, fight, height
  7. MI4sounds like bit, chit, emit, fit, hit

TA

  1. TA4 — changed from the wild state so as to become useful and obedient to humans; causing weariness, restlessness, or lack of interest; domestic; domesticated; tamed sounds like aim, came, dame, fame, game
  2. TA6sounds like anatomy, atom, balmy, battery, catty

TE

  1. TE4 — a group of people working together on a task; army; band; brigade; company sounds like beam, deem, ream, seam, seem
  2. TE8 — a person who is on the same team as someone else; classmate; housemate; messmate; playfellow sounds like automate, cremate, female, inmate, mate
  3. TE7sounds like airtime, anytime, daytime, mealtime, meantime
  4. TE4 — to be copiously supplied; abound; brim; bristle; bulge sounds like beam, deem, ream, seam, seem

TH

  1. TH4 — to strike with fear; affright; alarm; fright; frighten sounds like gem, hem
  2. TH8sounds like pneumatic, rheumatic
  3. TH5 — a major object of interest or concern (as in a discussion or artistic composition); a short piece of writing done as a school exercise; a short piece of writing typically expressing a point of view; content; matter sounds like beam, deem, ream, seam, seem

TI

  1. TI4 — a particular point at which an event takes place; an exciting or noteworthy event that one experiences firsthand; an extent of time associated with a particular person or thing; moment; occasion sounds like chime, dime, lime, rhyme, tam
  2. TI7sounds like litmus

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • acme
  • ahem
  • came
  • cami
  • emit
  • heme
  • imam
  • item
  • mace
  • maim
  • mama
  • mate
  • math
  • meat
  • meet
  • meme
  • meta
  • mete
  • meth
  • mica
  • mice
  • mime
  • mite
  • mitt
  • tame
  • team
  • teem
  • them
  • time

  • chime
  • emaciate
  • emcee
  • emetic
  • hamachi
  • hamate
  • hematite
  • imitate
  • machete
  • mahatma
  • mahimahi
  • mamma
  • match
  • matcha
  • mathematic
  • matte
  • mecca
  • memetic
  • mimetic
  • mimic
  • tatami
  • teammate
  • teatime
  • thematic
  • theme
  • titmice

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 84 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.

  • ACMATIC
  • ACMIC
  • ACMITE
  • AMAH
  • AMATE
  • AMIA
  • AMICE
  • AMICI
  • AMIE
  • ATACAMITE
  • ATHAME
  • ATHEMATIC
  • ATMA
  • CACHAEMIA
  • CACHAEMIC
  • CAIMAC
  • CAIMACAM
  • CAMA
  • CAMMIE
  • CATAMITE
  • CHACMA
  • CHAM
  • CHEMIC
  • EMIC
  • EMICATE
  • EMMA
  • EMMET
  • HAEM
  • HAEMATIC
  • HAEMATITE
  • HAEMATITIC
  • HAEMIC
  • HAME
  • HAMMAM
  • HEAME
  • HEMATIC
  • HEMATITIC
  • HEMIC
  • HIMATIA
  • IMAMATE
  • IMMIT
  • MACCHIA
  • MACCHIE
  • MACH
  • MACHE
  • MACHI
  • MAHA
  • MAIHEM
  • MAMEE
  • MAMIE
  • MAMMAE
  • MAMMATE
  • MAMMATI
  • MAMMEE
  • MAMMET
  • MAMMIE
  • MATAI
  • MATAMATA
  • MATATA
  • MATCHET
  • MATT
  • MATTIE
  • MEATH
  • MEATHE
  • MEEMIE
  • MEITH
  • METAMICT
  • METATE
  • METATHETIC
  • METIC
  • MICATE
  • MICH
  • MICHE
  • MICHT
  • MIHA
  • MIHI
  • MIMETITE
  • MITCH
  • TACAMAHAC
  • TAMMIE
  • TEME
  • THAIM
  • THEMA
  • THEMATA