The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

GIKNRUL

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Words
42
Points
212
Genius
148
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 42 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

lurking is a perfect pangram — all seven letters, each used exactly once.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • gi×4
  • gl×3
  • gr×2
  • gu×3
  • in×1
  • ki×3
  • kn×1
  • kr×1
  • li×5
  • lu×11
  • ni×1
  • nu×1
  • ri×2
  • ru×1
  • un×3

Words by first letter and length

456789Σ
g 41124· 12
i ···1·· 1
k 22·1·· 5
l 6·451· 16
n 1···1· 2
r 1·2··· 3
u ··1·11 3
Σ 1438971 42

The numbers

Genius today takes 148 points of 212 available. The average answer runs 5.9 letters.

Total points vs. all 383 recorded puzzles
51st percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
42nd percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17359 recorded answers

414 today34.7% all-time53 today22.8% all-time68 today19.9% all-time79 today12.1% all-time87 today6.3% all-time91 today2.6% all-time101.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
g Friday, February 20, 2026 Thursday, January 22, 2026
i Saturday, February 21, 2026 Sunday, February 8, 2026
k Monday, February 16, 2026 Friday, January 23, 2026
l ● Friday, February 20, 2026 Friday, February 13, 2026
n Saturday, February 21, 2026 Wednesday, February 18, 2026
r Wednesday, February 18, 2026 Tuesday, February 3, 2026
u Friday, February 20, 2026 Friday, February 20, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 42
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 29
  5. toot 28
  6. loll 28
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. cocoon 23
  10. loon 23
  11. nene 23
  12. acacia 22
  13. acai 22
  14. bill 22
  15. neon 22
  16. none 22
  17. olio 22
  18. aria 21
  19. onto 21
  20. toon 21
  21. cancan 21
  22. canna 21
  23. lull 20
  24. lulu 20
  25. lilt 20

Valid words the Bee rejected

Dictionary words the Bee never takes

Legitimate words (per the ENABLE list) that fit the letters but aren't official answers — usually judged too obscure.