NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Tuesday, December 16, 2025
Longest word
annotator
9 letters
Top scorer
hawthorn
15 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
5.3
letters per word
Words by length
Spoiler-safe. Use it to see where the long ones hide.
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
–
3
1
2
–
2
8
H
3
1
–
–
1
–
5
N
–
1
2
1
1
–
5
O
2
–
1
–
–
–
3
R
2
1
1
2
–
–
6
T
12
7
7
1
–
–
27
W
7
3
2
2
–
1
15
Σ
26
16
14
8
2
3
69
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
an 2ao 1ar 3at 2
H
ha 4ho 1
N
na 2no 3
O
oa 1on 1or 1
R
ra 3ro 3
T
ta 8th 8to 9tr 2
W
wa 6wh 2wo 5wr 2
All 69 answers
296 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★annatto7
annotator9
aorta5
arhat5
arrant6
arrowroot9
athwart7
attar5
hart1
hath1
hatha5
★hawthornpangram15
hoot1
narrator8
natant6
nonart6
north5
notator7
oath1
onto1
orator6
rant1
ratatat7
rattan6
root1
rotator7
rotor5
tantara7
tantra6
taro1
tarot5
tart1
tartan6
tartar6
tattoo6
than1
that1
thaw1
thorn5
throat6
throw5
thrown6
thwart6
toon1
toot1
tooth5
torah5
torn1
toro1
tort1
torta5
town1
trot1
troth5
want1
wanton6
warrant7
warrantor9
wart1
watt1
what1
whatnot7
wont1
wonton6
woot1
wort1
worth5
wrath5
wroth5