Answers for September 22, 2026

Complete verified solutions for the September 22, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee puzzle. All 18 words, pangrams, and point totals included below.

Last updated: September 22, 2026 at 3:00 AM EST

B

Quick Answer Summary

The puzzle on 2026-09-22 had 18 words worth 78 points total. Pangram(s) included equinox. You needed 55 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
180 Easy
9th percentile
Total Words
18
1th percentile
Total Points
78
2th percentile
Avg Word Length
5.11
All-time avg: 5.3
🎯
55
Genius Threshold
70% of max points
πŸ‘‘
78
Queen Bee Score
100% β€” all words
πŸ…±οΈ
Yes
Bingo Status
All letters start
πŸ“ˆ
10
GN4L Value
Words after Genius
2️⃣
11
Unique 2L Starts
Two-letter openings
⏱️
27m
Est. Solve Time
To reach Genius

πŸ“Š Words by Length

7 words
4L 7
6 words
5L 6
2 words
6L 2
2 words (Pangram)
7L 2⭐
1 word
8L 1

πŸ…±οΈ Words Starting with Each Letter

N🐝
7
E
3
O
2
Q
2
U
2
I
1
X
1
Metric Today Average Record High Record Low
Total Words 18 ~44.89 79 16
Total Points 78 ~210.06 431 60
Avg Word Length 5.11 ~5.44 6.689655172413793 4.578947368421052
Pangram Count 1 ~1.51 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 EQUINOX. It consists of 7 letters with a vowel-to-consonant ratio of 57% (4 vowels and 3 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

Latinate EQUINOX

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

Latinate NONUNION

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

Latinate QUININE

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

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:

enqueue euxine exine exion exon exxon inion inique inne inone ione ioni ionone ixion nein
NYT Spelling Bee rules exclude proper nouns, hyphenated terms, offensive words, and highly obscure vocabulary at the editor's discretion.

Pangram

equinox (14 pts)
Click to Reveal Pangram

Try finding the longest word yourself first with our guide.

4-Letter Words7 words

nene
neon
nine
none
noon
noun
oxen
Click to Reveal 7 4-Letter Words

5-Letter Words6 words

ennui
innie
onion
queen
union
xenon
Click to Reveal 6 5-Letter Words

6-Letter Words2 words

equine
unique
Click to Reveal 2 6-Letter Words

7-Letter Words2 words

equinox
quinine
Click to Reveal 2 7-Letter Words

8-Letter Words1 words

nonunion
Click to Reveal 1 8-Letter Words

About Today's Spelling Bee Puzzle

Today's NYT Spelling Bee features N as the center letter, with 18 words worth 78 points total. The pangram is "equinox" β€” a 7-letter word that uses all seven hive letters.

You need 55 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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