NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Longest word
allowance
9 letters
Top scorer
allowance
16 points
Starting letters
6 of 7
letters that start a word
Average length
5.2
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
2
–
–
–
1
6
C
6
8
5
3
1
1
24
L
5
2
1
–
–
–
8
N
4
1
1
–
1
–
7
O
2
1
–
–
–
–
3
W
1
–
2
–
–
–
3
Σ
21
14
9
3
2
2
51
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
ae 1al 4an 1
C
ca 7ce 1cl 3co 13
L
ll 1lo 7
N
ne 2no 5
O
oc 1ol 1on 1
W
wa 1wo 2
All 51 answers
207 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★aeon1
allow5
★allowancepangram16
aloe1
alone5
anon1
cacao5
callaloo8
callow6
cannon6
canoe5
canola6
canon5
cello5
cloaca6
clone5
clown5
coal1
coca1
cocoa5
cocoon6
cola1
colcannon9
colleen7
colon5
colonel7
conceal7
cone1
cool1
cowl1
llano5
loan1
local5
locale6
loco1
loll1
lone1
loon1
neocon6
neon1
noel1
nonce5
none1
nonlocal8
noon1
ocean5
oleo1
once1
wallow6
wool1
woolen6