NYT Spelling Bee Answers October 2026: Every Pangram and Genius Score

Spelling Bee published 31 puzzles in October 2026, from Thu., Oct. 1 to Sat., Oct. 31, and every letter set, pangram and Genius score is listed below from The New York Times (NYT) puzzle data. Sam Ezersky edited all of them. The month held 1,499 answers and 47 pangrams. This page gives away every pangram, so stop here if you still have a puzzle to solve.

What were all the Spelling Bee pangrams in October 2026?

Date	Center	Outer letters	Pangram(s)	Words	Points	Genius
Thu., Oct. 1	H	D, E, M, N, O, Y	Honeymooned	23	116	81
Fri., Oct. 2	T	A, I, L, M, N, P	Implant	56	257	180
Sat., Oct. 3	I	A, B, C, H, L, N	Bacchanalia, Bacchanalian	46	233	163
Sun., Oct. 4	G	H, I, N, O, P, W	Whooping, Whopping	51	304	213
Mon., Oct. 5	V	A, I, L, O, R, T	Violator	24	125	88
Tue., Oct. 6	C	D, E, H, N, O, T	Notched	62	340	238
Wed., Oct. 7	A	B, D, F, L, O, R	Floorboard	53	202	141
Thu., Oct. 8	N	A, C, E, H, I, M	Machine, Mechanic	60	289	202
Fri., Oct. 9	Y	E, G, I, L, N, T	Gentility, Intelligently, Negligently, Tellingly	37	224	157
Sat., Oct. 10	C	A, I, M, O, R, T	Aromatic	63	297	208
Sun., Oct. 11	B	A, L, N, O, T, U	Butanol	51	187	131
Mon., Oct. 12	E	A, H, M, P, T, Y	Empathy	55	183	128
Tue., Oct. 13	D	A, I, N, O, P, R	Paranoid, Raindrop	51	227	159
Wed., Oct. 14	E	B, I, K, L, O, X	Boxlike	23	90	63
Thu., Oct. 15	N	A, C, I, L, M, Y	Inimically, Maniacally, Manically	60	348	244
Fri., Oct. 16	G	B, I, N, P, R, U	Burping, Upbringing	56	339	237
Sat., Oct. 17	M	A, B, L, N, T, U	Ambulant	33	144	101
Sun., Oct. 18	I	D, E, J, N, O, T	Jointed	59	300	210
Mon., Oct. 19	H	E, G, I, L, N, W	Wheeling	31	153	107
Tue., Oct. 20	H	C, I, K, M, N, U	Munchkin	18	79	55
Wed., Oct. 21	L	A, D, I, P, R, Y	Lapidary, Rapidly	56	244	171
Thu., Oct. 22	H	A, B, C, E, L, T	Attachable, Catchable, Teachable	65	310	217
Fri., Oct. 23	L	C, G, I, O, T, X	Toxicologic	29	88	62
Sat., Oct. 24	P	A, C, I, L, R, T	Practical	50	210	147
Sun., Oct. 25	M	A, B, I, L, N, O	Bibliomania, Binomial	66	282	197
Mon., Oct. 26	L	G, H, I, N, T, Y	Nightly	43	245	172
Tue., Oct. 27	A	E, H, N, O, P, Y	Payphone	29	116	81
Wed., Oct. 28	I	B, D, E, G, L, O	Obliged	71	355	248
Thu., Oct. 29	R	A, D, G, N, O, P	Grandpop, Propaganda	53	227	159
Fri., Oct. 30	C	A, E, L, N, O, V	Conclave, Covalence	66	333	233
Sat., Oct. 31	A	G, H, I, N, T, U	Haunting	59	303	212

Source: The New York Times, Spelling Bee, puzzle data for Oct. 1 to Oct. 31, 2026. Words, points and the Genius score are our calculation from that data: the puzzle file lists pangrams apart from the other answers, so we combined the two lists. Four-letter words score 1 point, longer words score their length, and a pangram adds 7. Genius is 70% of the day’s points, rounded to the nearest whole point. Spelling Bee has no puzzle numbers, so the table goes by date. The last week has its own hint pages: Oct. 25, Oct. 26, Oct. 27, Oct. 28, Oct. 29, Oct. 30 and Oct. 31. For earlier and later puzzles, see the Spelling Bee hub.

Which October puzzles were the biggest and the smallest?

The average puzzle had 48 words and 231 points, which puts the average Genius score at 161. The largest puzzle, with 71 words, had nearly four times as many as the smallest, with 18.

Rank	Date	Words	Points	Genius
Most points	Wed., Oct. 28	71	355	248
2nd most points	Thu., Oct. 15	60	348	244
3rd most points	Tue., Oct. 6	62	340	238
3rd fewest points	Wed., Oct. 14	23	90	63
2nd fewest points	Fri., Oct. 23	29	88	62
Fewest points	Tue., Oct. 20	18	79	55

Oct. 28 also had the most words, 71. Oct. 25 and Oct. 30 followed with 66 each. Nine of the 31 puzzles reached 300 points, and seven stayed under 150.

Which days had more than one pangram?

Twelve of the 31 days had two or more pangrams, and 19 had one. The most was four on Fri., Oct. 9: Gentility, Intelligently, Negligently and Tellingly. Oct. 15 and Oct. 22 had three each (Inimically, Maniacally and Manically; Attachable, Catchable and Teachable).

Days with two or more pangrams averaged 280 points, against 199 for days with one. Each pangram adds a 7-point bonus.

Pangram length	Pangrams	Example
7 letters	11	Implant (Oct. 2)
8 letters	16	Haunting (Oct. 31)
9 letters	7	Practical (Oct. 24)
10 letters	6	Floorboard (Oct. 7)
11 letters	5	Honeymooned (Oct. 1)
12 letters	1	Bacchanalian (Oct. 3)
13 letters	1	Intelligently (Oct. 9)

Which pangrams used each letter exactly once?

A perfect pangram uses all seven letters once, so it has exactly seven letters. Eleven of the 47 pangrams were perfect, one each on these days:

• Oct. 2: Implant
• Oct. 6: Notched
• Oct. 8: Machine
• Oct. 11: Butanol
• Oct. 12: Empathy
• Oct. 14: Boxlike
• Oct. 16: Burping
• Oct. 18: Jointed
• Oct. 21: Rapidly
• Oct. 26: Nightly
• Oct. 28: Obliged

Each perfect pangram earns 14 points: 7 for its length and 7 for the bonus.

Which letters showed up most?

H was the center letter on four days, more than any other. I, C, A and L were each in the center three times. Sixteen different letters took the center during the month.

Across all seven cells, N and I were the most common, in 21 of the 31 sets each, followed by A (19), L (18) and O (16). S never appeared in any of the 31 sets. Thirty of the 31 sets had two or three of the five vowels A, E, I, O and U; Oct. 26 (center L; G, H, I, N, T, Y) had only I, plus Y.

Did the weekday change how big the puzzle was?

October averages by weekday are below, rounded to whole numbers. Each weekday has only four or five puzzles, so treat this as one month, not a rule.

Day	Puzzles	Average words	Average points	Average Genius
Mon.	4	38	177	124
Tue.	4	40	191	133
Wed.	4	51	223	156
Thu.	5	52	258	181
Fri.	5	49	248	174
Sat.	5	50	237	166
Sun.	4	57	268	188

Mondays and Tuesdays had the smallest averages, 38 and 40 words. Sundays had the most, 57 words and 268 points.

What was the longest word of the month?

Intelligently, the pangram on Fri., Oct. 9, had 13 letters, the longest word in any October puzzle. Bacchanalian (Oct. 3, also a pangram) and Highlighting (Oct. 26) followed at 12 letters each. Four-letter words made up 483 of the 1,499 answers, about 32%, yet they were worth only 483 of the 7,150 points, under 7%.

What this tells you for November

These are patterns in last month’s puzzles, not a forecast of any letter set or answer. They can still shape how you play.

• Skip the plurals. None of the 31 October sets contained S, so adding S to a word was never an option.
• Test seven- and eight-letter words for a pangram. Of the 47 pangrams, 11 had seven letters and 16 had eight, so 27 had one of those two lengths.
• Keep looking after the first pangram. Twelve of 31 days had two or more, and those days averaged 280 points.
• Aim for longer words. The 483 four-letter words were worth under 7% of October’s points, and Genius takes 70%.
• Expect a smaller list early in the week. Monday and Tuesday puzzles averaged 38 and 40 words, against 57 on Sundays, though each weekday had only four or five puzzles.

Mark your own streak on the November 2026 printable calendar, and keep this month’s record on the October 2026 printable calendar.

Printable list of the October 2026 pangrams

The printable sheet lists every date, pangram and Genius score on one page, so you can check a missed day without searching.