A
L
C
P
E
I
B

Friday, February 27, 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 “P”. With a total of 55 words to find resulting in 241 total possible points, we are looking at a massively high scoring ceiling. 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:

241

Genius Score :

169

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
??????????
9-letter pangram 0 / 9 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 10 Σ
A 2 4 1 2 9
B 2 2 4
C 3 1 1 5
E 2 2
I 1 1
L 1 1 2
P 16 5 4 2 4 1 32
Σ 24 10 9 3 5 2 2 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.

  • AL 1
  • AP 8
  • BE 1
  • BI 1
  • BL 2
  • CA 2
  • CL 3
  • EP 2
  • IP 1
  • LA 1
  • LE 1
  • PA 13
  • PE 8
  • PI 5
  • PL 6

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AL

  1. AL6sounds like aspect, bloc, block, blocked, blocker

AP

  1. AP5 — with great speed; briskly; chop-chop; double-quick; fast sounds like pace, space
  2. AP6 — for each one; all; each; per; per capita sounds like eyepiece, peace, piece
  3. AP6 — to cause an unpleasant surprise for; floor; jolt; shake up; shock
  4. AP6 — an earnest request; the power of irresistible attraction; adjuration; conjuration; cry sounds like peal, peel, spiel
  5. AP10 — to make a request to (someone) in an earnest or urgent manner; beg; beseech; besiege; conjure sounds like achievable, available, peaceable
  6. AP8 — as in defendant, plaintiff; accuser; appellant; petitioner; pleader sounds like belly, especially, jelly, lapel
  7. AP5 — to use flattery or the doing of favors in order to win approval especially from a superior; bootlick; fawn; fuss; kowtow sounds like addle, agile, ample, annul, chapel
  8. AP10 — capable of being put to use or account; having to do with the matter at hand; meeting the requirements of a purpose or situation; actionable; applicative sounds like actionable, amicable, eligible, implacable, in**********

BE

  1. BE4 — as in buzz; buzz; call; dial; phone

BI

  1. BI5

BL

  1. BL5 — as in remove, cut; blip; clip; cut; excise sounds like beep, leap, sleep
  2. BL4 — as in cut, remove; bleep; clip; cut; excise sounds like clip, flip, lip, slip

CA

  1. CA7 — having the required skills for an acceptable level of performance; able; competent; equal; fit sounds like culpable, in*******, payable, salable
  2. CA4 — a sleeveless garment worn so as to hang over the shoulders, arms, and back; capote; cloak; frock; manteau sounds like ape, coop

CL

  1. CL4 — a loud explosive sound; a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument; bang; blast; boom sounds like cap
  2. CL4 — to make (something) shorter or smaller with the use of a cutting instrument; to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner; bob; crop; cut sounds like blip, flip, lip, quip, slip
  3. CL9sounds like capable, culpable, livable

EP

  1. EP4sounds like easy, pea
  2. EP4 — large and impressive in size, grandeur, extent, or conception; august; baronial; gallant; glorious sounds like ethic, pick

IP

  1. IP6sounds like attack, epitaph, epoch, epochal, epoxy

LA

  1. LA5sounds like appall, appeal, compel, couple, gazelle

LE

  1. LE4 — an act of leaping into the air; bound; hop; jump; spring sounds like beep, cheap, deep, heap, jeep

PA

  1. PA4 — as in rate, tempo; clip; gait; rate; tempo sounds like ace, a****, base, case, chase
  2. PA6
  3. PA4 — a round container that is open at the top and outfitted with a handle; bucket sounds like ail, ale, bail, bale, dale
  4. PA6 — showing obvious signs of wealth and comfort; Babylonian; deluxe; lavish; Lucullan sounds like callous, malice, plus, polis
  5. PA6sounds like plaza, plop
  6. PA4 — lacking intensity of color; lacking a healthy skin color; not seen or understood clearly; dull; dulled sounds like ail, ale, bail, bale, dale
  7. PA4 — a boxlike container for holding a dead body; an overspreading element that produces an atmosphere of gloom; something that covers or conceals like a piece of cloth; bier; box sounds like doll, loll, peal, pearl, peel
  8. PA4 — as in palpate; palpate; feel; touch; brush sounds like pulp
  9. PA8 — able to be perceived by a sense or by the mind; capable of being perceived by the sense of touch; not subject to misinterpretation or more than one interpretation; appreciable; apprehensible sounds like culpable, fallible, malleable, pliable, valuable
  10. PA4 — a male human parent; dad; daddy; father; old man sounds like pop, poppy
  11. PA5 — as in priestly, apostolic; apostolic; canonical; clerical; episcopal sounds like maple, people, purple
  12. PA7
  13. PA8

PE

  1. PE5 — a state without war; freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions; a state of freedom from storm or disturbance; peacefulness; calm sounds like apiece, cease, eyepiece, lease, niece
  2. PE9 — inclined to live in peace and to avoid war; not involving violence or force; dovish; pacific; pacifist sounds like passable, possible
  3. PE4 — to make the clear sound heard when metal vibrates; bong; chime; knell; ring sounds like ap****, deal, eel, feel, heal
  4. PE6sounds like rebel
  5. PE4 — to remove the natural covering of; bark; flay; hull; husk sounds like appeal, deal, eel, feel, heal
  6. PE8 — to remove the natural covering of; bark; flay; hull; husk
  7. PE4 — an instance of looking especially briefly; cast; eye; gander; glance sounds like beep, cheap, deep, heap, jeep
  8. PE8sounds like pickle

PI

  1. PI4sounds like peak, peaked, peek
  2. PI5 — a broken or irregular part of something that often remains incomplete; a literary, musical, or artistic production; a portable weapon from which a shot is discharged by gunpowder; bit; fraction sounds like a*****, cease, eye*****, lease, niece
  3. PI4 — a quantity of things thrown or stacked on one another; a considerable amount; a very large amount of money; cock; heap sounds like aisle, bile, file, guile, isle
  4. PI4 — a small mass containing medicine to be taken orally; a person whose behavior is offensive to others; cap; capsule; lozenge sounds like bill, chill, dill, fill, hill
  5. PI4 — a long hollow cylinder for carrying a substance (as a liquid or gas); an enclosed wooden vessel for holding beverages; channel; conduit; duct sounds like hype, pap, peep, pop, pope

PL

  1. PL5 — the area or space occupied by or intended for something; a building, room, or suite of rooms occupied by a service business; an assignment at which one regularly works for pay; emplacement; locale sounds like lace, pace
  2. PL4 — an earnest request; an explanation that frees one from fault or blame; adjuration; appeal; conjuration sounds like alley, early, flea, flee, glee
  3. PL4 — as in commoner, plebeian; commoner; plebeian; prole; proletarian
  4. PL5 — as in commoner, plebeian; commoner; plebeian; prole; proletarian
  5. PL7 — able to bend easily without breaking; capable of being readily changed; bendy; flexible; limber sounds like liable
  6. PL4sounds like alley, early, flea, flee, glee

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • beep
  • blip
  • cape
  • clap
  • clip
  • epee
  • epic
  • leap
  • pace
  • pail
  • pale
  • pall
  • palp
  • papa
  • peal
  • peel
  • peep
  • pica
  • pile
  • pill
  • pipe
  • plea
  • pleb
  • plie

  • alpaca
  • apace
  • apiece
  • appall
  • appeal
  • appealable
  • appellee
  • apple
  • applicable
  • bicep
  • bleep
  • capable
  • clippable
  • ipecac
  • lapel
  • paella
  • palace
  • palapa
  • palpable
  • papal
  • papilla
  • papillae
  • peace
  • peaceable
  • pebble
  • peelable
  • pellicle
  • piece
  • place
  • plebe
  • pliable

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 80 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.

  • ABAPICAL
  • ALAAP
  • ALAP
  • ALAPA
  • ALPACCA
  • APICAL
  • APPAL
  • APPEL
  • APPLIABLE
  • BECAP
  • BELEAP
  • CALIPEE
  • CALLIPEE
  • CALP
  • CALPA
  • CALPAC
  • CAPA
  • CAPI
  • CAPLE
  • CEPE
  • CIPPI
  • CLEEP
  • CLEPE
  • CLIPE
  • CLIPPIE
  • ELPEE
  • EPICAL
  • ICECAP
  • ILLIPE
  • LAPILLI
  • LAPPEL
  • LAPPIE
  • LEEP
  • LIPA
  • LIPE
  • LIPPIE
  • PAAL
  • PACA
  • PACABLE
  • PALEA
  • PALEAE
  • PALEAL
  • PALILALIA
  • PALLA
  • PALLAE
  • PALLIA
  • PALLIAL
  • PALPAL
  • PALPI
  • PAPABLE
  • PAPE
  • PAPPI
  • PEBA
  • PECCABLE
  • PEECE
  • PEEPE
  • PELA
  • PELE
  • PELL
  • PEPLA
  • PIAL
  • PIBAL
  • PICAL
  • PICCALILLI
  • PICE
  • PILA
  • PILEA
  • PILEI
  • PILI
  • PILLIE
  • PIPA
  • PIPAL
  • PIPI
  • PLACABLE
  • PLACEABLE
  • PLAICE
  • PLAP
  • PLICA
  • PLICAE
  • PLICAL