Spelling Bee Hints & Answers Today, November 14, 2026

The Spelling Bee from The New York Times (NYT) for Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, puts L in the center, with A, G, I, N, T and Z around it. The puzzle has 62 words, 358 points and two pangrams. This page opens with the hint grid, a count for each outer letter and two pangram clues; the words stay in the last section.

Genius needs 251 points today, and each of the two pangrams adds the 7-point bonus; the scoring rules are on our Spelling Bee page.

Saturday’s hint grid, Nov. 14

Center letter L; outer letters A, G, I, N, T, Z. 62 words, 358 points, two pangrams.

Starts with	4 letters	5 letters	6 letters	7 letters	8 letters	10 letters	11 letters	12 letters	Total
A	3	4	1	1	1	-	-	-	10
G	5	2	-	5	4	-	-	-	16
I	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	1	3
L	3	1	2	3	2	1	-	-	12
N	1	1	-	1	1	-	-	-	4
T	5	-	2	4	3	1	2	-	17
Total	17	8	5	15	11	3	2	1	62

Two-letter starts: AI-1, AL-5, AN-3, AT-1, GA-7, GI-4, GL-5, IN-3, LA-5, LI-7, NA-3, NI-1, TA-9, TI-8.

Pangram clues

• Pangram 1 (12 letters, starts with I)

  getting a device or a program ready to run for the first time; I appears five times and the word ends in -zing.
• Pangram 2 (11 letters, starts with T)

  teasing someone with something just out of reach; T, A, I and N each appear twice and the word ends in -zing.

Which outer letters are load-bearing on Nov. 14

Take an outer letter out of the honeycomb and every answer that uses it disappears. This table counts how much of Saturday’s list that would remove.

Outer letter	Answers using it	Share of 62	Points those answers carry	Points left without them	Genius (251) still reachable
A	43	69.4%	263	95	No
G	44	71.0%	307	51	No
I	51	82.3%	316	42	No
N	45	72.6%	324	34	No
T	35	56.5%	223	135	No
Z	5	8.1%	55	303	Yes

• Z is the odd one out: only 5 answers contain it, none of them starts with Z, and the 5 include both pangrams. Skip all five and 303 points are still on the table, above the 251 for Genius.
• I and N hold the list together: I sits in 51 answers and N in 45, so a word hunt that skips either one has at most 42 or 34 points left.
• Pangram bonus: each pangram carries 7 bonus points, 14 in all; the two pangrams are worth 37 points together with the bonus.
• Length: 32 of the 62 words have 7 letters or more and carry 271 points, while the 17 four-letter words carry 17.

Friday in brief

Friday had C in the center, 35 words and 160 points. The pangram was Cacophony.

Saturday’s other pages: Wordle hints, Connections hints, Strands hints. See the November 2026 calendar or the weekly calendar.

Saturday’s Spelling Bee answers, Nov. 14, 2026 (spoilers)

Stop here if you are still working on Saturday’s puzzle.

• Pangrams: Initializing, Tantalizing
• 4 letters: Alga, Alit, Anal, Gala, Gall, Gill, Gilt, Glia, Lain, Lilt, Lint, Nail, Tail, Tali, Tall, Till, Tilt
• 5 letters: Algal, Align, Annal, Atilt, Glint, Glitz, Lanai, Natal
• 6 letters: Ailing, Lazing, Lining, Tallit, Tiling
• 7 letters: Angling, Gallant, Galling, Ganglia, Gilling, Glazing, Initial, Lagging, Lantana, Lilting, Nailing, Tailing, Tilling, Tilting, Titling
• 8 letters: Aligning, Galangal, Gangling, Giggling, Glinting, Ligating, Litigant, Niggling, Tangling, Tattling, Tingling
• 10 letters: Initialing, Litigating, Tailgating
• 11 letters: Tantalizing, Titillating
• 12 letters: Initializing

The 17 four-letter words give 17 points, the 45 longer words give 327, and the pangram bonuses add 14, for 358.