NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Thursday, March 12, 2026
Longest word
independence
12 letters
Top scorer
penciled
15 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
6.4
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
Σ
C
3
2
2
1
–
–
–
–
–
8
D
1
2
2
3
1
–
1
–
–
10
E
1
–
–
1
–
–
–
–
–
2
I
1
–
1
1
1
1
1
–
1
7
L
1
–
–
–
1
–
–
–
–
2
N
1
1
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
2
P
–
2
3
–
2
–
1
–
–
8
Σ
8
7
8
6
5
1
3
0
1
39
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
C
ce 5cl 3
D
de 8di 2
E
ep 2
I
ic 2in 5
L
le 1li 1
N
ni 2
P
pe 5pi 3
All 39 answers
231 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★cede1
ceded5
cell1
celled6
celli5
clinic6
clip1
clipped7
decide6
decided7
decline7
declined8
deice5
deiced6
deicide7
dependence10
dice1
diced5
epic1
epicene7
iced1
icicle6
incidence9
incipience10
incline7
inclined8
independence12
lenience8
lice1
nice1
niece5
pellicle8
pence5
pencil6
★penciledpangram15
penicillin10
picnic6
piece5
pieced6