NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Saturday, July 18, 2026
Longest word
elliptical
10 letters
Top scorer
elliptical
17 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
5.8
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
Σ
A
1
2
6
1
–
–
–
10
C
6
5
3
5
–
–
–
19
E
1
2
1
1
3
1
1
10
I
–
1
3
1
–
–
–
5
L
3
2
2
3
–
–
–
10
P
3
3
2
2
1
–
–
11
T
2
2
1
1
1
1
–
8
Σ
16
17
18
14
5
2
1
73
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
ac 6al 1ap 2at 1
C
ca 11ce 3ci 2cl 3
E
ec 3el 5ep 2
I
ic 1il 2ip 1it 1
L
la 7li 3
P
pa 3pe 3pi 3pl 2
T
ta 8
All 73 answers
389 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★acacia6
acai1
accept6
acetal6
acetate7
acetic6
alpaca6
apace5
apiece6
attic5
cacti5
calcite7
call1
calla5
cape1
capital7
caplet6
catalpa7
catcall7
cattail7
cattle6
celiac6
cell1
celli5
cilia5
cite1
clap1
cleat5
clip1
eclat5
eclectic8
ecliptic8
elect5
electee7
elicit6
elliptic8
★ellipticalpangram17
epic1
epileptic9
icicle6
iliac5
illicit7
ipecac6
italic6
lace1
lactate7
lacteal7
lactic6
laic1
laical6
lattice7
lice1
licit5
lilac5
pace1
pact1
palace6
peace5
pellicle8
peptic6
pica1
piccata7
piece5
placate7
place5
tacet5
tacit5
tact1
tactic6
tactical8
tactile7
★tailpiecepangram16
talc1