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Thursday, January 29, 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 “T”. With a total of 29 words to find resulting in 125 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!

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Puzzle Stats

Total Words :

29

Total Pangrams :

1

Total Points:

125

Genius Score :

88

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 9 Σ
E – 1 1 – 2 – 4
G 2 – 1 – – – 3
H 2 2 – – – – 4
L 1 1 – – – – 2
O – – – 1 – – 1
T 7 2 4 – 1 1 15
Σ 12 6 6 1 3 1 29

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

  • ET 1
  • EY 3
  • GE 1
  • GH 1
  • GO 1
  • HO 4
  • LO 2
  • OT 1
  • TE 4
  • TH 3
  • TO 8

Dictionary Clues for Todays List.

ET

  1. ET5 — sounds like m*****

EY

  1. EY6 — sounds like glut, pilot
  2. EY8 — sounds like eighth, eighty, heath, icy, idea
  3. EY8 — sounds like tooth

GE

  1. GE4 — to deprive of emotional or intellectual vitality; castrate; damp; dampen; deaden sounds like belt, dealt, felt, gilt, guest

GH

  1. GH6 — as in hood, enclave; barrio; enclave; hood; district sounds like get

GO

  1. GO4 — sounds like both, girth

HO

  1. HO4 — sounds like bolt, colt, halt, hilt, jolt
  2. HO4 — a loud vocal expression of strong emotion; a vocal sound made to express scorn or disapproval; the smallest amount or part imaginable; cry; holler sounds like boot, chute, hat, hate, heat
  3. HO5 — a place that provides rooms and usually a public dining room for overnight guests; auberge; caravansary; hospice; hostel sounds like motel
  4. HO5 — sounds like motley

LO

  1. LO4 — valuables stolen or taken by force; 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; booty; pillage; plunder sounds like boot, chute, flute, hoot, jute
  2. LO5 — sounds like lat, motto

OT

  1. OT7 — sounds like apology, biology, ecology, geology, theology

TE

  1. TE5 — as in desires, tastes; appetites; fancies; favors; likes sounds like heath, sheath
  2. TE6 — sounds like seethe, tier
  3. TE9 —
  4. TE4 — to give an oral or written account of in some detail; to express (a thought or emotion) in words; to find the sum of (a collection of things) by noting each one as it is being added; chart; chronicle sounds like bell, cell, dell, fell, gel

TH

  1. TH4 — sounds like bee, earthy, fee, key, knee
  2. TH8 — a body of beliefs and practices regarding the supernatural and the worship of one or more deities; doctrine; dogma; church; communion sounds like geology
  3. TH4 — sounds like array, bay, day, gay, hay

TO

  1. TO6 — to fasten with a device in which a small piece of wood, plastic, metal, etc. is pushed through a loop or hole; adhere; bolt; cinch; clamp sounds like boggle, goggle
  2. TO4 — as in expense; as in tariff, income tax; expense; cost; price sounds like boll, bowl, coal, dole, foal
  3. TO4 — an article intended for use in work; one that is or can be used to further the purposes of another; one who is easily deceived or cheated; device; implement sounds like cool, fool, pool, rule, s****
  4. TO4 — a bout of prolonged or excessive drinking; bender; binge; bust; carousal sounds like boot, chute, hoot, jute, loot
  5. TO5 — as in desire, taste; appetite; fancy; favor; fondness sounds like booth, truth, tube, tune, two
  6. TO6 — very pleasing to the sense of taste; ambrosial; appetizing; dainty; delectable
  7. TO6 — sounds like title, turtle
  8. TO4 — to support and take from one place to another; bear; carry; cart; convey sounds like boat, coat, goat, moat, note

The Complete Word List (Spoiler Alert!)

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

  • gelt
  • goth
  • holt
  • hoot
  • loot
  • tell
  • thee
  • they
  • toll
  • tool
  • toot
  • tote

  • ethyl
  • eyelet
  • eyeteeth
  • eyetooth
  • ghetto
  • hotel
  • hotly
  • lotto
  • otology
  • teeth
  • teethe
  • teleology
  • theology
  • toggle
  • tooth
  • toothy
  • tootle

Valid dictionary words not in today’s official answers

Today’s puzzle have total of 62 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.

  • ETHE
  • ETHOLOGY
  • ETTLE
  • EYOT
  • GLEET
  • GLEETY
  • GLOTTOLOGY
  • GOETH
  • GOETY
  • GOGLET
  • GYTE
  • HELOT
  • HETE
  • HETH
  • HOGGET
  • HOOTY
  • HOTE
  • HOTTY
  • HYETOLOGY
  • HYTE
  • HYTHE
  • LEET
  • LEETLE
  • LEGLET
  • LETHE
  • LETHEE
  • LOGOTHETE
  • LOTE
  • LOTH
  • LOTO
  • LOTTE
  • LYTE
  • LYTHE
  • OTTO
  • TEEL
  • TEGG
  • TELE
  • TELLY
  • TELT
  • TETE
  • TETH
  • THEELOL
  • THEOLOG
  • THETE
  • THOLE
  • TOETOE
  • TOEY
  • TOGE
  • TOHO
  • TOLE
  • TOLLEY
  • TOLLY
  • TOLT
  • TOLYL
  • TOTTY
  • TOYO
  • TYEE
  • TYLOTE
  • TYTE
  • TYTHE
  • YELT
  • YETT