NYT Spelling Bee Answers for October 20, 2026

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

The NYT Spelling Bee for Tuesday, October 20, 2026 puts H in the center, with C, I, K, M, N, U around it. There are 18 valid words. It plays like a Very Hard puzzle.

These are the NYT-accepted answers for this hive. Every word includes H. Tap a word for a short definition.

18Words
79Points
55Genius
1Pangram
Very Hard★★★★★

NYT Spelling Bee Answers

Tap a hive letter to show words that start with it. Tap it again to clear. Every word includes H.

Pangrams

1

4-letter words

7

5-letter words

6

6-letter words

2

7-letter words

1

8-letter words

2

Puzzle Breakdown

Center letterH
Vowels2
Rare lettersNone
Words18
Points79
Pangram1
Longest word8
Average length5.2

Rank Calculator

Enter the score you reached on this hive. Genius is 55 points. Queen Bee is 79.

Genius · 24 points to Queen Bee
Beginner0
Good Start2
Moving Up4
Good6
Solid12
Nice20
Great32
Amazing40
55Genius55
Queen Bee79

Letter Distribution

How many words start with each letter. Tap a letter to mark those words in the list above.

Points by Word Length

Where the 79 points of this puzzle sit. Tap a row to open that length in the answer list.

Pangram Breakdown

MUNCHKIN
8 letters 15 points 2 vowels 6 consonants

Repeated letters: N ×2

Also used on Oct 21, 2026.

How This Puzzle Compares

Measured against the 389 puzzles in our archive.

Word count 1th percentile
Total points 1th percentile
MetricThis puzzleArchive averageHighestLowest
Words1873.915418
Points79355.489260
Pangrams12.06131

This Puzzle in Context

The October 20, 2026 hive put H in the center with C, I, K, M, N, U around it. Queen Bee needed all 18 words (79 points). Genius sat at 55.

Pangram on this date: MUNCHKIN. Top starting letters: C (8), H (3). Longest accepted word: 8 letters. Difficulty: Very Hard.

FAQs for October 20, 2026