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Friday, January 16, 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 “C”. With a total of 45 words to find resulting in 178 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 :

45

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

178

Genius Score :

125

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 8 Σ
A 2 1 1 4
C 9 7 1 1 18
E 1 1 2
F 1 1 3 5
I 1 1 1 3
L 3 1 1 5
M 3 3 1 1 8
Σ 18 14 9 3 1 45

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 4
  • CA 9
  • CE 3
  • CI 1
  • CL 5
  • EF 1
  • EM 1
  • FA 3
  • FE 1
  • FL 1
  • IC 2
  • IL 1
  • LA 3
  • LI 2
  • MA 4
  • ME 1
  • MI 3

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

AC

  1. AC6sounds like occasion
  2. AC4sounds like occur, sky
  3. AC7 — public acknowledgment or admiration for an achievement; accolade; applause; bay(s); credit sounds like claim
  4. AC4 — the highest part or point; the most perfect type or example; apex; apogee; capstone sounds like axe

CA

  1. CA4 — a bar or restaurant offering special nighttime entertainment (as music, dancing, or comedy acts); a place of business where alcoholic beverages are sold to be consumed on the premises; a public establishment where meals are served to paying customers for consumption on the premises; bistro; boîte sounds like cuff
  2. CA4 — the muscular back part of the leg below the knee; drumstick; ham; shank; shin sounds like chaff, cough
  3. CA4 — to speak so as to be heard at a distance; to make a telephone call to; to make a brief visit; bawl; bay sounds like all, ball, bawl, coal, cog
  4. CA5 — to speak so as to be heard at a distance; to make a telephone call to; to make a brief visit; bawl; bay sounds like cola, gala
  5. CA4 — free from storms or physical disturbance; free from emotional or mental agitation; free from disturbing noise or uproar; halcyon; hushed sounds like balm, bomb, cock, cod, comb
  6. 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
  7. CA5sounds like mammal
  8. CA8sounds like chameleon, comely, complete
  9. CA4sounds like balmy, cocky, coffee, collie, comma

CE

  1. CE6sounds like setback, slack, sleek
  2. CE4 — an area within a building that has been set apart from surrounding space by a wall; one of the parts into which an enclosed space is divided; a local unit of an organization; apartment; chamber sounds like bell, dell, fell, gel, hell
  3. CE5sounds like belly, jelly, sally, self, sell

CI

  1. CI5sounds like psyllium, sillier, silly

CL

  1. CL5 — to state as a fact usually forcefully; to ask for (something) earnestly or with authority; to deprive of life; affirm; allege sounds like ac*****, blame, came, flame, lame
  2. CL4 — a U.S. currency bill representing 100 cents; bone; buck; dollar; one
  3. CL4
  4. CL5 — a steep wall of rock, earth, or ice; barranca; bluff; crag; escarpment
  5. CL5 — the circumstances, conditions, or objects by which one is surrounded; ambient; atmosphere; climate; context sounds like crime, lime, slime

EF

  1. EF6 — to destroy all traces of; abolish; annihilate; black out; blot out sounds like face

EM

  1. 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

FA

  1. FA4 — to stand or sit with the face or front toward; to oppose (something hostile or dangerous) with firmness or courage; to cover with something that protects; front; look (toward) sounds like ace, base, case, chase
  2. FA6sounds like racial
  3. FA6 — having or showing a lack of depth of understanding or character; involving minimal difficulty or effort; one-dimensional; shallow; skin-deep sounds like passel

FE

  1. FE5sounds like fickle, focal

FL

  1. FL6 — the hairy covering of a mammal especially when fine, soft, and thick; coat; fur; hair; jacket sounds like lease

IC

  1. IC7sounds like asphalt, befall, eyeball, eyesore, fall
  2. IC6 — a cold aloof person; cold fish; cold turkey; iceberg sounds like bicycle, sickle

IL

  1. IL5sounds like black, bleak, clique, elite, flak

LA

  1. LA4 — a length of braided, flexible material that is used for tying or connecting things; a length of something formed of three or more strands woven together; cable; cord; lacing sounds like ace, base, case, chase, face
  2. LA4 — as in lay, nonclerical; lay; nonclerical; atheistic; godless sounds like lick
  3. LA6 — as in lay, nonclerical; lay; nonclerical; atheistic; godless sounds like cul, cull, local, loyal, lull

LI

  1. LI4 — a person whose behavior is offensive to others; bastard; beast; bleeder; blighter sounds like dice, ice, lace, lass, lease
  2. LI5sounds like black, buyback, eyelash, flak, hijack

MA

  1. MA4 — as in blackjack, knobkerrie; blackjack; knobkerrie; bastinado; bat sounds like ace, base, case, chase, face
  2. MA7sounds like arabic, balloting, delphic, galloping
  3. MA5sounds like alike, bulk, click, flick, hulk
  4. MA6 — the desire to cause pain for the satisfaction of doing harm; cattiness; despite; hatefulness; malevolence sounds like callous, palace

ME

  1. ME5 — a thing or place that is of greatest importance to an activity or interest; axis; base; capital; center sounds like mica

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. 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

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • acai
  • acme
  • cafe
  • calf
  • call
  • calm
  • came
  • cami
  • cell
  • clam
  • clef
  • face
  • lace
  • laic
  • lice
  • mace
  • mica
  • mice

  • acacia
  • acclaim
  • calla
  • camel
  • camellia
  • celiac
  • celli
  • cilia
  • claim
  • cliff
  • clime
  • efface
  • emcee
  • facial
  • facile
  • fecal
  • fleece
  • icefall
  • icicle
  • iliac
  • laical
  • lilac
  • malefic
  • malic
  • malice
  • mecca
  • mimic

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 73 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.

  • ACCA
  • ACMIC
  • AECIA
  • AECIAL
  • ALCAIC
  • ALEC
  • ALLELIC
  • ALLICE
  • AMICE
  • AMICI
  • CACA
  • CAECA
  • CAECAL
  • CAFF
  • CAFFILA
  • CAFILA
  • CAILLE
  • CAIMAC
  • CAIMACAM
  • CALAMI
  • CALCIC
  • CALCIFIC
  • CALICLE
  • CALIF
  • CALIMA
  • CALLEE
  • CAMA
  • CAMAIL
  • CAMELIA
  • CAMMIE
  • CECA
  • CECAL
  • CEIL
  • CEILI
  • CELLA
  • CELLAE
  • CICALA
  • CICALE
  • CIEL
  • CILICE
  • CILL
  • CIMELIA
  • CLAME
  • CLEM
  • ECCE
  • EMIC
  • FACEMAIL
  • FACIA
  • FACIAE
  • FAECAL
  • FECIAL
  • FELICIA
  • FELICIFIC
  • FICE
  • FILMIC
  • FLEECIE
  • FLIC
  • ILEAC
  • LIMACEL
  • MACLE
  • MAFIC
  • MALACCA
  • MALACIA
  • MALEFICE
  • MALEFICIAL
  • MALEIC
  • MELIC
  • MELLIFIC
  • MICELL
  • MICELLA
  • MICELLAE
  • MICELLE
  • MIMICAL