Answers for September 20, 2026

Complete verified solutions for the September 20, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. All 79 words, pangrams, and point totals included below.

Last updated: September 20, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST

B

Quick Answer Summary

The puzzle on 2026-09-20 had 79 words worth 353 points total. Pangram(s) included athletic, ethical. You needed 247 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
287 Medium
97th percentile
Total Words
79
99th percentile
Total Points
353
96th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.32
All-time avg: 5.3
🎯
247
Genius Threshold
70% of max points
πŸ‘‘
353
Queen Bee Score
100% β€” all words
πŸ…±οΈ
Yes
Bingo Status
All letters start
πŸ“ˆ
42
GN4L Value
Words after Genius
2️⃣
18
Unique 2L Starts
Two-letter openings
⏱️
78m
Est. Solve Time
To reach Genius

πŸ“Š Words by Length

27 words
4L 27
22 words
5L 22
15 words
6L 15
10 words (Pangram)
7L 10⭐
4 words (Pangram)
8L 4⭐
1 word
10L 1

πŸ…±οΈ Words Starting with Each Letter

H🐝
25
C
22
T
13
L
9
A
5
E
4
I
1
Metric Today Average Record High Record Low
Total Words 79 ~44.41 79 16
Total Points 353 ~205.97 406 60
Avg Word Length 5.32 ~5.42 6.689655172413793 4.578947368421052
Pangram Count 2 ~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 ATHLETIC. It consists of 8 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 38% (3 vowels and 5 consonants).

  • ⚑ Structure: Standard pangram (features letter repetition)
  • ⚑ Repeated letters: T (x2)

Today's featured pangram is ETHICAL. 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)
Understanding spelling bee pangram patterns helps players identify long, high-scoring words early in their daily solving run.

πŸ“š Etymology & Word Origins

Greek ATHLETIC

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Greek vocabulary, evolving through classical Hellenic phonetic clusters and structural roots.

Greek ETHICAL

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Greek vocabulary, evolving through classical Hellenic phonetic clusters and structural roots.

Greek ATHLETE

The word displays linguistic traits typical of Greek vocabulary, evolving through classical Hellenic phonetic clusters and structural roots.

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:

achaeta achate acheat achech acheilia achete achill achillea achtel aethalia ahet aitch aith alacha alachah
NYT Spelling Bee rules exclude proper nouns, hyphenated terms, offensive words, and highly obscure vocabulary at the editor's discretion.

Pangrams

athletic (15 pts)ethical (14 pts)
Click to Reveal Pangram

4-Letter Words27 words

ache
chai
chat
chia
chic
chit
each
etch
hail
hale
hall
halt
Click to Reveal 27 4-Letter Words

5-Letter Words22 words

cache
catch
cheat
chica
chili
chill
ethic
halal
hatch
hatha
heath
hitch
Click to Reveal 22 5-Letter Words

6-Letter Words15 words

attach
cachet
chalet
chichi
chicle
cliche
halite
health
hectic
hiatal
lethal
litchi
Click to Reveal 15 6-Letter Words

7-Letter Words10 words

athlete
attache
chalice
challah
chattel
cheetah
ethical
hatchet
helical
hellcat
Click to Reveal 10 7-Letter Words

8-Letter Words4 words

athletic
catchall
chitchat
heliacal
Click to Reveal 4 8-Letter Words

10-Letter Words1 words

telehealth
Click to Reveal 1 10-Letter Words

About Today's Spelling Bee Puzzle

Today's NYT Spelling Bee features H as the center letter, with 79 words worth 353 points total. The pangram is "athletic" β€” a 8-letter word that uses all seven hive letters.

You need 247 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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