Answers for September 16, 2026

Complete verified solutions for the September 16, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. All 55 words, pangrams, and point totals included below.

Last updated: September 16, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST

B

Quick Answer Summary

The puzzle on 2026-09-16 had 55 words worth 248 points total. Pangram(s) included pinewood. You needed 174 points (70%) to reach Genius rank.

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πŸ“Š Today's Puzzle Insights

How today's puzzle compares to all-time Spelling Bee history

πŸ“ˆ View All-Time Stats Hub
Difficulty Score
236 Medium
64th percentile
Total Words
55
74th percentile
Total Points
248
69th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.42
All-time avg: 5.3
🎯
174
Genius Threshold
70% of max points
πŸ‘‘
248
Queen Bee Score
100% β€” all words
πŸ…±οΈ
No
Bingo Status
Not all letters start
πŸ“ˆ
29
GN4L Value
Words after Genius
2️⃣
12
Unique 2L Starts
Two-letter openings
⏱️
57m
Est. Solve Time
To reach Genius

πŸ“Š Words by Length

19 words
4L 19
8 words
5L 8
20 words
6L 20
2 words
7L 2
6 words (Pangram)
8L 6⭐

πŸ…±οΈ Words Starting with Each Letter

P🐝
31
D
8
O
6
W
5
N
3
E
2
I
0
Metric Today Average Record High Record Low
Total Words 55 ~44.54 79 16
Total Points 248 ~206.68 406 60
Avg Word Length 5.42 ~5.42 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 PINEWOOD. It consists of 8 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 50% (4 vowels and 4 consonants).

  • ⚑ Structure: Standard pangram (features letter repetition)
  • ⚑ Repeated letters: O (x2)
Understanding spelling bee pangram patterns helps players identify long, high-scoring words early in their daily solving run.

πŸ“š Etymology & Word Origins

Latinate PINEWOOD

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Latinate vocabulary, evolving through latin-derived prefixes and suffixes.

Germanic/Old English DEEPENED

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

Germanic/Old English DEPENDED

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

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

🚫 Rejected Word List

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

depe depone deponed dipnoi dipnoid dipode dipodid dopped doppio downpipe dowp endopod epinine epop epopee
NYT Spelling Bee rules exclude proper nouns, hyphenated terms, offensive words, and highly obscure vocabulary at the editor's discretion.

Pangram

pinewood (15 pts)
Click to Reveal Pangram

4-Letter Words19 words

deep
dope
epee
nope
open
peed
peen
peep
pend
peon
pied
pine
Click to Reveal 19 4-Letter Words

5-Letter Words8 words

doped
epode
opine
penne
pewee
pined
piped
wiped
Click to Reveal 8 5-Letter Words

6-Letter Words20 words

deepen
depend
dipped
nipped
opened
opined
opioid
peeped
peewee
pended
penned
pepped
Click to Reveal 20 6-Letter Words

7-Letter Words2 words

ninepin
opinion
Click to Reveal 2 7-Letter Words

8-Letter Words6 words

deepened
depended
pinewood
pinioned
pinniped
windpipe
Click to Reveal 6 8-Letter Words

About Today's Spelling Bee Puzzle

Today's NYT Spelling Bee features P as the center letter, with 55 words worth 248 points total. The pangram is "pinewood" β€” a 8-letter word that uses all seven hive letters.

You need 174 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.

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🧩 NYT Puzzle Hub

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