NYT Spelling Bee Answers for August 20, 2026

Complete verified solutions for the August 20, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. All 47 words, pangrams, and point totals included below.

Last updated: August 20, 2026 at 3:00 AM ET

B

Quick Answer Summary

The puzzle on August 20, 2026 had 47 words worth 262 points total. Pangram(s) included quoting. You needed 183 points (70%) to reach Genius rank.

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πŸ“Š Puzzle insights for August 20, 2026

Historical comparisons use our archive of 190 daily NYT Spelling Bee puzzles starting May 2, 2026 (2026-05-02).

πŸ“ˆ View All-Time Stats Hub
Difficulty Score
246 Medium
68th percentile
Total Words
47
54th percentile
Total Points
262
73th percentile
Avg Word Length
6.19
All-time avg: 5.3
🎯
183
Genius Threshold
70% of max points
πŸ‘‘
262
Queen Bee Score
100% β€” all words
πŸ…±οΈ
Yes
Bingo Status
All letters start
πŸ“ˆ
23
GN4L Value
Words after Genius
2️⃣
12
Unique 2L Starts
Two-letter openings
⏱️
53m
Est. Solve Time
To reach Genius

🧠 Genius path (high-value words first)

Reaching Genius (183 pts) takes about 24 words (188 points) if you prioritize the highest-scoring answers first β€” typical of a late-day push, not a minimum word count.

  • 0 four-letter words Β· 0 pts
  • 1 five–six-letter words Β· 6 pts
  • 23 seven-plus-letter words Β· 182 pts

High-value examples in this path: quoting, outgunning, intuiting, intuition, igniting, ignition…

Tricky spots on this hive often hide 10-letter stems such as outgunning, intuition, intuiting, untuning. After you pass 92 points, sweep those lengths before chasing Queen Bee.

πŸ“Š Words by Length

12 words
4L 12
4 words
5L 4
8 words
6L 8
13 words (Pangram)
7L 13⭐
7 words
8L 7
2 words
9L 2
1 word
10L 1

πŸ…±οΈ Words Starting with Each Letter

T🐝
21
I
8
O
6
Q
4
U
4
G
2
N
2
Metric August 20, 2026 Average Record High Record Low
Total Words 47 ~45.3 79 16
Total Points 262 ~211.8 431 60
Avg Word Length 6.19 ~5.4 6.689655172413793 4.578947368421052
Pangram Count 1 ~1.5 4 1

πŸ“… Previous Puzzles with This Pangram

This is the first time this pangram has appeared in our archives.

🧩 Pangram Pattern Analysis

Today's featured pangram is QUOTING. It consists of 7 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 43% (3 vowels and 4 consonants).

  • ⚑ Structure: Perfect pangram (uses each letter exactly once)
  • ⚑ Suffix: Ends with the common suffix -ing
Understanding spelling bee pangram patterns helps players identify long, high-scoring words early in their daily solving run.

πŸ“š Etymology & Word Origins

Germanic/Old English QUOTING

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Germanic/Old English vocabulary, evolving through traditional Anglo-Saxon suffixes and base structures.

Germanic/Old English GUTTING

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Germanic/Old English vocabulary, evolving through traditional Anglo-Saxon suffixes and base structures.

Latin IGNITING

Contains the root ign, which is from the Latin "ignis", meaning "fire" (as in ignite).

Linguistic history study helps in spotting letter clusters in the spelling bee glossary based on classical word origins.

🚫 Near-miss dictionary words

These valid English words can be formed with today's letters but were not accepted by the NYT editor:

quinto quito quoit tigon tungo ungot
NYT Spelling Bee rules exclude proper nouns, hyphenated terms, offensive words, and highly obscure vocabulary at the editor's discretion.

Pangram

quoting (14 pts)
Click to Reveal Pangram

Try finding the longest word yourself first with our guide.

4-Letter Words12 words

gout
into
onto
quit
tint
tong
toon
toot
tout
tutu
unit
unto
Click to Reveal 12 4-Letter Words

5-Letter Words4 words

ingot
outgo
quint
tutti
Click to Reveal 4 5-Letter Words

6-Letter Words8 words

intuit
noting
notion
outgun
outing
toning
toting
tuning
Click to Reveal 8 6-Letter Words

7-Letter Words13 words

gutting
quoting
tinging
tinning
tinting
togging
tonging
tooting
touting
tugging
tuition
tutting
Click to Reveal 13 7-Letter Words

8-Letter Words7 words

igniting
ignition
intoning
outgoing
quitting
tonguing
untuning
Click to Reveal 7 8-Letter Words

9-Letter Words2 words

intuiting
intuition
Click to Reveal 2 9-Letter Words

10-Letter Words1 words

outgunning
Click to Reveal 1 10-Letter Words

About Today's Spelling Bee Puzzle

Today's NYT Spelling Bee features T as the center letter, with 47 words worth 262 points total. The pangram is "quoting" β€” a 7-letter word that uses all seven hive letters.

You need 183 points to reach Genius rank. Want to solve it yourself first? Our hints page gives you two-letter lists without revealing the full answers.

New to Spelling Bee? Check out our complete rules guide or beginner's guide to learn the basics.

πŸŽ“ Want to Get Better?

Memorizing answers is fun, but improving your skills is more rewarding. Try our strategy guide with 15 proven tips, explore our Spelling Bee glossary, or try our Chrome extension for in-game hints.

🧩 NYT Puzzle Hub

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