Yesterday's NYT Spelling Bee Answers for November 9, 2026
Stuck on today's hive? You're in the right place. Take the hints one rung at a time, or jump straight to the pangram and the full list. Nothing spoils until you tap.
Hints, one at a time
Welcome back, puzzler. The Spelling Bee for Monday, November 9, 2026 is live. Today's hive holds A B H M O R T, with T as the required center letter that has to appear in every word you find.
Here's how this page works: the hints below start with what is on the board in total, then narrow toward the pangram, so reveal them one at a time and stop the moment you can see where the words hide. The pangram sits in the green box further down, locked behind a tap. Nothing here reveals itself on its own, not the pangram and not the word list under it.
Counts first, letters later. Stop when you can see where the words are hiding.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 | 5 | 1 | - | - | - | 7 |
| B | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 11 |
| H | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| M | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 1 | 12 |
| O | 1 | - | 1 | - | - | - | 2 |
| R | 1 | 2 | - | 2 | - | - | 5 |
| T | 9 | 8 | 4 | - | - | - | 21 |
| Σ | 26 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 62 |
Two-letter starts: AB-2 · AO-1 · AR-1 · AT-3 · BA-4 · BO-5 · BR-2 · HA-3 · HO-1 · MA-5 · MO-7 · OA-1 · OR-1 · RA-1 · RO-4 · TA-7 · TH-3 · TO-8 · TR-3
Drumroll, please…
Today's Pangram
Spoiler below · tap to revealTap a tile for one letter of the pangram, or reveal it and the full word list with it.
About yesterday's words BATHROOM
BATHROOM, using every letter in A B H M O R T at least once.
Today's full list is worth 239 points. The pangram alone is worth 15 points (8 for length, plus the 7-point bonus).
4-letter: 26, 5-letter: 20, 6-letter: 9, 7-letter: 5, 8-letter: 1, 9-letter: 1, for 62 words in total.
Good Start 5 · Moving Up 12 · Good 19 · Solid 36 · Nice 60 · Great 96 · Amazing 120 · Genius 167 · Queen Bee 239
Published Monday, November 9, 2026, edited by Sam Ezersky.
ATOM, ABBOT, ABORT, AORTA, ARHAT, ATTAR, ATHROB
BAHT, BATH, BOAT, BOOT, BOTH, BRAT, BOOTH, BROTH, BOTTOM, BATHMAT, BATHROOM
HART, HATH, HOOT, HATHA
MART, MATH, MOAT, MOOT, MOTH, MOTOR, MOTTO, MARMOT, MORTAR, MAHATMA, MAMMOTH, MOTORBOAT
OATH, ORATOR
ROOT, ROBOT, ROTOR, RATATAT, ROTATOR
TARO, TART, THAT, TOMB, TOOT, TORO, TORT, TRAM, TROT, TABOO, TABOR, TAROT, THROB, TOOTH, TORAH, TORTA, TROTH, TARTAR, TATTOO, THROAT, TOMATO
Spelling Bee strategy that actually helps
Proven habits from top solvers, useful today and every day.
Every valid word needs it, so run through common prefixes and suffixes built around it first.
Finding it uses every letter at least once and banks a 7-point bonus on top of the word's length.
Found a word? Every find is free here, so run each word through its plural and past-tense forms before moving on. One find often unlocks three more.
Unlike some word games, any of the 7 letters can be reused as many times as you like in one word.
Words need at least 4 letters to count. Shorter combinations, however clever, won't score.
A word the game rejects is often one letter swap away from a valid one. Try nearby endings before giving up.
How to play NYT Spelling Bee
The rules in full, for anyone arriving without them.
Spelling Bee gives you seven letters arranged in a honeycomb, with one letter in the center. You build as many words as you can from those letters, and every word has to contain the center letter.
- 1 Build words of four letters or more
Three-letter words do not count. Letters may be reused as often as you like within a single word.
- 2 Always include the center letter
A word made only from the outer six is rejected no matter how valid it is in English.
- 3 Score by length, then chase the pangram
A four-letter word scores 1 point. Longer words score one point per letter. A pangram uses all seven letters and adds a 7-point bonus.
- 4 Climb the ranks
Points move you from Beginner up through Solid, Great, Amazing, and finally Genius. Finding every word earns Queen Bee.
The New York Times, edited by Sam Ezersky
7 letters, one required center letter
No limit, wrong guesses cost nothing
3am Eastern
No proper nouns, no hyphens, and no words the editors consider obscure or offensive, which is why a perfectly real word sometimes bounces. When you stall, cycle the center letter through each starting position rather than hunting randomly.
Spelling Bee, answered
Quick answers to the questions we get every day.
What time does the new Spelling Bee come out?
A new hive goes live at 3am Eastern time every day, the same moment for everyone. Unlike Wordle, it does not wait for your local midnight, so a late-night session in the US is still on yesterday's letters.
What does Genius or Queen Bee mean?
Those are rank labels the NYT awards based on what share of the day's total points you've earned, not a fixed word count. Genius sits around 70 percent, and Queen Bee means you found every word.
Why doesn't a word I know work?
The NYT's answer list is curated by an editor and skips obscure, hyphenated, or proper words even if a dictionary allows them. It also excludes anything under 4 letters.
Can I play past Spelling Bee puzzles?
Yes, if you're an NYT Games subscriber. Our past pangrams table below covers recent puzzles if you just want to check one.
How many points do I need for Genius?
Genius sits at 70% of the day's total points, so the target moves with the puzzle rather than being a fixed number. That is why some days reach Genius in twenty words and others take forty. Queen Bee, the rank above it, requires every single word on the list.
NYT Spelling Bee guides
Longer reads for getting better, beyond today's puzzle.
- Games Like NYT Spelling Bee: 7 Letter-Set Word GamesChasing Queen Bee and need another fix? These word games give you a fixed set of letters and ask how many words you can build.
- Blossom vs Spelling Bee: Which Letter-Set Puzzle Should You Play?Blossom and Spelling Bee both hand you seven letters and a required center. Here is how the rules, limits and feel differ, and which one suits you.
- NYT Spelling Bee Strategy Guide: How to Reach Genius and Queen BeeStuck a few points short of Genius? These are the search techniques that find the words you keep missing, plus how to chase the last ones for Queen Bee.
- Spelling Bee Ranks Explained: Points, Genius and Queen BeeEvery Spelling Bee rank from Beginner to Queen Bee, how words are scored, what a pangram bonus is worth, and what separates Genius from Queen Bee.
- When Do NYT Games Reset? New Puzzle Times for Each GameWordle, Connections, Strands and Pips reset at your local midnight. Spelling Bee and Letter Boxed use 3 a.m. Eastern; the crosswords arrive the evening before.
Today's hints for every game
Same spoiler-safe format, for each daily puzzle we cover.
Past Spelling Bee pangrams
Recent Spelling Bee pangrams from the last two weeks. Useful for checking a day you missed, or for seeing which letters the editors keep putting in the middle. Today's pangram stays blurred until you ask for it.
| Date | Answer |
|---|---|
| Nov 10Today | FLIPFLOPPED |
| Nov 09 | BATHROOM |
| Nov 08 | APPLEJACK |
| Nov 07 | MEDIEVAL |
| Nov 06 | LINOCUT |
| Nov 05 | PIVOTING |
| Nov 04 | ATROPHY |
| Nov 03 | BACKLIT |
| Nov 02 | EXCAVATED |
| Nov 01 | PETTIFOG |
| Oct 31 | HAUNTING |
| Oct 30 | CONCLAVE |
| Oct 29 | GRANDPOP |
| Oct 28 | OBLIGED |