NYT Spelling Bee · Daily puzzle archive
Spelling Bee answers · Thursday, October 23, 2025
Longest word
balalaika
9 letters
Top scorer
backfill
15 points
Starting letters
7 of 7
every letter starts a word
Average length
5.6
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
1
4
2
1
–
–
8
B
6
2
–
2
3
2
15
C
2
4
1
–
1
–
8
F
4
2
2
–
1
–
9
I
–
1
–
–
–
–
1
K
–
–
–
–
2
–
2
L
2
2
2
–
–
–
6
Σ
15
15
7
3
7
2
49
Two-letter pairs
The first two letters of every answer, and how many words start with each pair.
A
ab 2ac 2al 4
B
ba 10bi 2bl 3
C
ca 6ci 1cl 1
F
fa 4fi 1fl 4
I
il 1
K
ki 2
L
la 5li 1
All 49 answers
234 points total · tap a word for its definition · pangram gets a ★abaci5
aback5
acacia6
acai1
alack5
alfalfa7
alibi5
alkali6
baba1
babka5
bacilli7
back1
★backfillpangram15
bail1
bailiff7
balalaika9
balk1
ball1
biblical8
bilabial8
blab1
black5
blackball9
cabal5
cabala6
calf1
call1
calla5
callback8
cilia5
clack5
facial6
fail1
fall1
fallback8
filial6
flab1
flack5
flail5
flak1
iliac5
kickback8
kickball8
labia5
labial6
lack1
laic1
laical6
lilac5