NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Sunday, February 22, 2026
Longest word
unlinking
9 letters
Top scorer
lurking
14 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
5.9
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
G
4
1
1
2
4
–
12
I
–
–
–
1
–
–
1
K
2
2
–
1
–
–
5
L
6
–
4
5
1
–
16
N
1
–
–
–
1
–
2
R
1
–
2
–
–
–
3
U
–
–
1
–
1
1
3
Σ
14
3
8
9
7
1
42
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
G
gi 4gl 3gr 2gu 3
I
in 1
K
ki 3kn 1kr 1
L
li 5lu 11
N
ni 1nu 1
R
ri 2ru 1
U
un 3
All 42 answers
212 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★giggling8
gill1
gilling7
girl1
glug1
glugging8
gluing6
grill5
grilling8
gull1
gulling7
gurgling8
inkling7
kill1
killing7
kiln1
knurl5
krill5
liking6
linguini8
lining6
link1
linking7
lugging7
luging6
lull1
lulling7
lulu1
lung1
lunging7
lunk1
luring6
lurk1
★lurkingpangram14
niggling8
null1
riling6
rill1
ruling6
unliking8
unlink6
unlinking9