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Monday, February 23, 2026

Welcome to today’s New York Times Spelling Bee hints and answers. Today’s puzzle features a noticeably smaller, perhaps trickier board than usual with a center letter of “H”. With a total of 23 words to find resulting in 92 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 :

23

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

92

Genius Score :

64

Pangram

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

7-letter pangram 0 / 7 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 9 Σ
A 1 1 1 3
C 6 3 1 10
G 1 1 2
H 3 1 4
P 1 1 1 3
R 1 1
Σ 11 6 2 2 2 23

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

  • AA 1
  • AR 2
  • CH 10
  • GR 2
  • HA 2
  • HI 2
  • PA 3
  • RI 1

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AA

  1. AA5sounds like arc, arch, are, arm, art

AR

  1. AR4 — coming before all others in importance; displaying or marked by rude boldness; tending to or exhibiting reckless playfulness; big; capital sounds like m****, p****
  2. AR7 — having passed its time of use or usefulness; antiquated; dated; démodé; demoded

CH

  1. CH4sounds like awry, buy, die, dye
  2. CH5 — a person in charge of a meeting; the place of leadership or command; chairman; chairperson; moderator sounds like air, bare, bear, care
  3. CH4 — an adult male human being; a young person who is between infancy and adulthood; bastard; bloke; buck sounds like cap, gap, lap
  4. CH4 — a female domestic servant; biddy; charwoman; handmaiden; house girl sounds like are, bar, car
  5. CH4sounds like keel, keen, keep, key, keyed
  6. CH4 — being in the latest or current fashion; à la mode; au courant; cool; exclusive sounds like beak, eke, geek, leak, meek
  7. CH5
  8. CH6 — as in extravagant, ostentatious; extravagant; exuberant; fancified; flamboyant
  9. CH4 — a small flat piece separated from a whole; a V-shaped cut usually on an edge or a surface; something (as pieces of stamped metal or printed paper) customarily and legally used as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment; flake; sliver
  10. CH5 — to make a short sharp sound like a small bird; cheep; chirrup; chitter; jargon sounds like burp

GR

  1. GR5 — to show and compare the values of variables in a set of data by means of a drawing; chart; delineate; diagram; draw sounds like gaffe
  2. GR7 — something that visually explains or decorates a text; diagram; figure; illustration; plate sounds like traffic

HA

  1. HA4 — a very small distance or degree; a thin, flexible structure that resembles a hair; the hairy covering of a mammal especially when fine, soft, and thick; ace; hairbreadth sounds like air, bare, bear, care, c****
  2. HA4 — to speak or write about insistently and usually tiresomely; belabor; dwell (on or upon) sounds like carp, heart, hearth, hop, s****

HI

  1. HI4 — extending to a great distance upward; being at a higher level than average; located at a greater height than average or usual; altitudinous; lofty sounds like awry, buy, die, dye, eye
  2. HI9sounds like chair, eyewear, hair, hare

PA

  1. PA9sounds like anagram, autograph, choreograph, lithograph, monograph
  2. PA5 — to make dry; dehydrate; desiccate; dry; scorch sounds like arch, march, porch
  3. PA6 — one who is cast out or rejected by society; castaway; castoff; leper; offscouring sounds like arise, arrive, awry, derive, pearl

RI

  1. RI4 — having goods, property, or money in abundance; containing much seasoning, fat, or sugar; having an abundance of some characteristic quality (as flavor); affluent; deep-pocketed sounds like bitch, ditch, hitch, itch, niche

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • arch
  • chai
  • chap
  • char
  • chia
  • chic
  • chip
  • hair
  • harp
  • high
  • rich

  • aargh
  • archaic
  • chair
  • chica
  • chichi
  • chirp
  • graph
  • graphic
  • highchair
  • paragraph
  • parch
  • pariah

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.

  • AARRGH
  • AARRGHH
  • ACHAR
  • AGHA
  • AGRAPHA
  • AGRAPHIA
  • AGRAPHIC
  • AHIGH
  • AIRGRAPH
  • APHAGIA
  • ARCHICARP
  • ARGH
  • ARRACACHA
  • ARRAH
  • CACHACA
  • CAPH
  • CHARA
  • CHARPAI
  • CHARR
  • CHICH
  • CHICHA
  • CHIGGA
  • CHIRAGRA
  • CHIRAGRIC
  • CHIRR
  • CRACHACH
  • GHARRI
  • HAAR
  • HAGG
  • HAHA
  • HAIRCAP
  • HAIRGRIP
  • HARIRA
  • HIPPARCH
  • HIPPIC
  • PACHA
  • PARAGRAPHIA
  • PARAGRAPHIC
  • PARAPH
  • RACH
  • RAPHIA