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NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive

Spelling Bee answers · Friday, April 17, 2026

Longest word
barbarian
9 letters
Top scorer
midbrain
15 points
Starting letters
6 of 7
letters that start a word
Average length
5.3
letters per word

Words by length

Spoiler-safe. Use it to see where the long ones hide.

4 letters
19
5 letters
13
6 letters
9
7 letters
4
8 letters
3
9 letters
2

The hints grid

How many words of each length start with each letter — the classic Bee cheat sheet.

4
5
6
7
8
9
Σ
A
2
2
1
5
B
7
4
2
1
2
16
D
4
3
7
M
1
1
3
2
3
10
N
1
1
R
5
4
2
11
Σ
19
13
9
4
3
2
50

Two-letter pairs

The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.

A
ai 1ar 4
B
ba 6bi 3br 7
D
da 1di 1dr 5
M
ma 5mi 5
N
na 1
R
ra 10ri 1

All 50 answers

215 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★
airman6
aria1
arid1
armada6
armband7
barb1
barbarian9
bard1
barmaid7
barman6
barn1
bird1
birdbrain9
birria6
brad1
braid5
brain5
bran1
brand5
briar5
brim1
darn1
dinar5
drab1
drain5
dram1
drama5
drib1
mandarin8
marimba7
marina6
marinara8
marm1
midair6
midbrainpangram15
midrib6
minibar7
mirin5
nadir5
rabbi5
rabid5
radar5
radian6
radii5
raid1
rain1
ramada6
rand1
rani1
rind1
Blurred so you can’t peek by accident.