This is where you find “NYT Spelling bee answers for July 20 2026”. We update this page everyday to give you pangrams and a complete word list you need. You can use our free Spelling Bee solver to reveal hints letter by letter, and get the answers sorted by word length or points.
We don’t just dump a list. Our solver loads today’s seven letters automatically and returns every valid word and pangram. It lets you choose exactly how much help you want.
How to Use the Spelling Bee Solver
1. Today’s letters load automatically
No setup needed. The solver pulls today’s official seven letters and finds every valid word hidden in the honeycomb.
2. Browse a past puzzle by date
Exploring an older hive? Use the date picker to easily jump back to previous Spelling Bee puzzles and practice archived challenges. A fresh board loads every day.
3. Reveal answers your way
You control the spoilers. Reveal the full list when you’re stuck which is filtered by word length for a lighter hint that still leaves room to think.
4. Unlock definitions and letter hints
Every word comes with its definition. Reveal a whole word at once, or go letter by letter to get just enough to solve it yourself.
5. Check out the Frequency grid
The frequency grid shows exactly how many words start with each letter and their specific lengths. If you are stuck on the final few words, this chart tells you which starting letters to focus on so you don’t need to guess blindly.
NYT Spelling Bee Rules and Scoring
If you’re chasing a higher score, keep these core rules in mind:
- Use the center letter: Every word must include the highlighted center letter of the hive.
- Four letters minimum: Words must be at least four letters long. Letters can repeat.
- Find the pangram: Each puzzle has at least one word using all seven letters. A pangram earns 7 bonus points on top of its length.
- Valid words only: Proper nouns, hyphenated words, profanity, and obscure terminology are not accepted. Only common words from the official list. (And there’s never an “S.”)
How Points are Calculated:
- 4-letter words: 1 point each.
- 5-letter words or longer: 1 point per letter (e.g., a 6-letter word is 6 points).
- Pangram: Base word points + 7 bonus points.
Tips and Strategies to Solve Spelling Bee
It’s easy to find the first few words in the Spelling Bee, but hitting Genius or Queen Bee requires a systematic approach. Instead of randomly guessing, use these tactics to spot words you might miss:
1. Build with Prefixes and Suffixes: Don’t just look for base words. Identify common endings like (-ED, -ING, -ER, -LY, -TION), or prefixes like (UN-, RE-, PRE-). If you find a verb, immediately check if you can add an -ED or -ING to get two more words.
2. Spot Common Digraphs: Look for frequent two-letter combinations right away. If the puzzle has a C and an H, put them together in your mind. Do the same for TH, SH, PH, and double letters like EE or OO.
3. Find Word Families: If you spot LATE, look for LATELY, ELATE, or DEFLATE. When you group your guesses by root words, it speeds up your point collection.
4. Hunt the Pangram First: The pangram boosts your score. Look for the most awkward or least common letter in the grid (like V, K, or J) and try to build a word around it. Use the vowels provided.
5. Use two-letter stems: If you know the beginning of a word, you can unlock the rest easier. Our definitions section shows words by their length. You can tap on the first two letters to guess the word. This strategy strikes the perfect balance between an honest hint and a flat-out spoiler.
Spelling Bee Ranks Explained
Each rank is a percentage of the puzzle’s total possible points. Reaching Genius takes 70% of the maximum score, while Queen Bee (the hidden top tier) means finding every single word.
| Rank | % of total points |
| Beginner | 0% |
| Good Start | 2% |
| Moving Up | 5% |
| Good | 8% |
| Solid | 15% |
| Nice | 25% |
| Great | 40% |
| Amazing | 50% |
| Genius | 70% |
| Queen Bee | 100% (all words) |
Spelling Bee Glossary and Hivemind
If you are reading forums or tracking your stats, you will likely run into the specific terminology used by regular players.
- Pangram: A valid word that uses all seven letters in the honeycomb at least once. Every puzzle has at least one.
- Perfect Pangram: A pangram that is exactly seven letters long. That means it uses every letter in the grid exactly one time.
- Bingo: You achieve a Bingo when you find at least one word that starts with each of the 7 letters in today’s puzzle. For example, if today’s letters are A, B, C, D, E, F and the center is G, your word list must include at least one word starting with A, one with B, one with C, and so on for all seven letters. This is a personal challenge and does not give you extra points in the game.
- Hivemind: The online community of Spelling Bee players (often found on Reddit or X) who discuss daily puzzle difficulty, share hints, and debate rejected words.
- GN4L: Stands for “Genius No 4-Letter words.” A personal challenge some players take on to reach the Genius rank without submitting any 4-letter words.
Spelling Bee FAQ
Today’s pangram is shown in the pangram section above. Tap to reveal it letter by letter or in full. Every puzzle has at least one, and some days have more.
A new puzzle is released daily at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time.
No. Our solver is a separate tool. You still enter the words in the official NYT app yourself, so your streak stays your own.
You can try it for free, but full daily access requires an NYT Games subscription. Our answers and hints are always free.
Editor Sam Ezersky intentionally excludes the letter “S” from the game. It would allow players to pluralize every noun and verb and get points in an easy and repetitive way.
The Spelling Bee does not use a standard dictionary. The word list is hand-curated to focus on words that are reasonably common in everyday English. Highly technical jargon, archaic words, and highly specific scientific terms are routinely rejected to keep the game fair for a general audience.