NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Saturday, February 21, 2026
Longest word
contamination
13 letters
Top scorer
contamination
20 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
6.0
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
10
11
12
13
Σ
A
2
3
1
1
2
1
–
–
–
–
10
C
3
2
3
1
1
1
–
1
–
1
13
I
1
–
–
–
–
1
1
–
–
–
3
M
12
9
5
1
1
3
1
–
–
–
32
N
–
–
1
–
–
–
1
–
–
–
2
O
1
–
–
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
2
T
–
–
4
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
4
Σ
19
14
14
4
4
6
3
1
0
1
66
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
am 5an 3at 2
C
ca 4ci 1co 8
I
im 2in 1
M
ma 12mi 9mo 11
N
no 2
O
om 1ot 1
T
ta 1to 3
All 66 answers
383 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★amino5
ammo1
ammonia7
amnio5
★amnioticpangram15
★anatomicpangram15
anima5
animation9
atom1
atomic6
caiman6
cami1
camo1
catmint7
cinnamon8
coma1
comic5
comma5
commit6
common6
commotion9
★contaminantpangram18
★contaminationpangram20
imam1
imitation9
intimation10
maim1
main1
maintain8
mama1
mamma5
mammon6
mania5
maniac6
manic5
★manicottipangram16
manna5
manta5
mica1
mimic5
mini1
minicam7
minim5
minima6
minion6
mint1
mitt1
moan1
moat1
momma5
★monatomicpangram16
mono1
monomania9
monomaniac10
moon1
moot1
motion6
motto5
nomination10
noncom6
omit1
ottoman7
tatami6
tomato6
tomcat6
tomtit6