The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACDORVN

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Words
39
Points
180
Genius
125
Pangram
1

Official answers

Show the 39 answersHide answers

Pangram highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • acorn

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • adorn

    verb — To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

    adjective — Adorned; ornate

    noun — Adornment

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • anaconda

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • anon

    noun — An anonymous person, especially an author.

    adverb — Straight away; at once.

    adverb — Soon; in a little while.

    adverb — At another time; then; again.

    adjective — Anonymous

    noun — A work with an unknown author.

    Appeared in 22 recorded puzzles.

  • arcana

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • canard

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cancan

    noun — A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.

    verb — To dance the cancan.

    noun — (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • candor

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • canna

    noun — Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.

    noun — A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet.

    Appeared in 23 recorded puzzles.

  • cannon

    noun — A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.

    verb — To bombard with cannons.

    noun — A generally accepted principle; a rule.

    noun — A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.

    noun — A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument related to the zither, dulcimer, or harp having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.

    noun — Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • canon

    noun — A generally accepted principle; a rule.

    noun — A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.

    noun — A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument related to the zither, dulcimer, or harp having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.

    noun — A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.

    noun — The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.

    noun — A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.

    Appeared in 10 recorded puzzles.

  • caravan

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cocoon

    noun — The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.

    verb — To envelop in a protective case

    noun — Any similar protective case, whether real or metaphorical.

    verb — To withdraw into such a case.

    Appeared in 24 recorded puzzles.

  • codon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • concord

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • condo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • condor

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • convo

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cordon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • cordovan

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • corn

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • corona

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • croon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • darn

    verb — Euphemism of damn.

    adjective — Damn.

    adverb — (degree) Damned.

    verb — To repair by stitching with thread or yarn, particularly by using a needle to construct a weave across a damaged area of fabric.

    noun — A place mended by darning.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • donor

    noun — One who makes a donation.

    noun — A group or molecule that donates either a radical, electrons or a moiety in a chemical reaction. Compare acceptor.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • naan

    noun — A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.

    Appeared in 34 recorded puzzles.

  • nada

    pronoun — Nothing.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • nana

    noun — (term of endearment) one's grandmother

    noun — A banana

    noun — A fool

    noun — A nanny

    Appeared in 34 recorded puzzles.

  • narc

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • narco

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • noon

    noun — The ninth hour of the day counted from sunrise; around three o'clock in the afternoon.

    verb — To relax or sleep around midday

    noun — The letter ن in the Arabic script.

    noun — Time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.

    noun — The corresponding time in the middle of the night; midnight.

    noun — The highest point; culmination.

    Appeared in 45 recorded puzzles.

  • nova

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • raccoon

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • radon

    noun — The chemical element (symbol Rn, formerly Ro) with atomic number 86. It is an odorless, colorless, chemically inert but radioactive noble gas.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • rancor

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • rand

    noun — The currency of South Africa, divided into 100 cents.

    noun — A border, edge or rim.

    noun — A rocky slope, especially the area over a river valley; specifically, the Rand

    noun — A strip of meat; a long fleshy piece of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak.

    noun — A strip of leather used to fit the heels of a shoe.

    verb — To rant; to storm.

    Appeared in 5 recorded puzzles.

  • rando

    noun — An arbitrary person with whom one has no shared social connection.

    noun — A person going to a party without being invited.

    adjective — Random; arbitrary.

    noun — Anything selected at random.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • roan

    noun — An animal such as a horse that has a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in.

    adjective — Especially of a horse, having a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in

    noun — The color of such an animal.

    noun — A kind of leather used for slippers, bookbinding, etc., made from sheepskin, tanned with sumac and colored to imitate ungrained morocco.

    noun — Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.

    noun — Any of various small deciduous trees or shrubs of genus Sorbus, belonging to the rose family, with pinnate leaves, corymbs of white flowers, and usually with orange-red berries.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • rondo

    noun — A musical composition, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains.

    noun — A small, disk-shaped piece of food, especially a single-serving dessert or small piece of candy.

    noun — A dark-skinned grape, a hybrid of Vitis vinifera with Vitis amurensis and others.

    noun — A game resembling keep-away, used to train soccer players: one group is tasked with completing a number of passes while the other group tries to take possession of the ball.

    noun — A gambling game played with small balls on a table.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×1
  • ad×1
  • an×2
  • ar×1
  • ca×7
  • co×10
  • cr×1
  • da×1
  • do×1
  • na×5
  • no×2
  • ra×5
  • ro×2

Words by first letter and length

45678Σ
a 121·1 5
c 16821 18
d 11··· 2
n 61··· 7
r 2311· 7
Σ 11131032 39

The numbers

Genius today takes 125 points of 180 available. The average answer runs 5.3 letters.

Total points vs. all 421 recorded puzzles
39th percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
35th percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 19028 recorded answers

411 today34.4% all-time513 today23.0% all-time610 today20.0% all-time73 today12.0% all-time82 today6.2% all-time92.6% all-time101.3% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Monday, February 16, 2026 Monday, February 16, 2026
c Monday, February 16, 2026 Sunday, January 18, 2026
d Friday, February 13, 2026 Monday, January 26, 2026
n ● Tuesday, February 17, 2026 Thursday, February 12, 2026
o Tuesday, February 17, 2026 Thursday, February 5, 2026
r Monday, February 16, 2026 Tuesday, February 3, 2026
v Friday, February 13, 2026 Wednesday, February 4, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 45
  2. naan 34
  3. nana 34
  4. onion 31
  5. toot 30
  6. loll 29
  7. mama 27
  8. mamma 27
  9. acacia 25
  10. acai 25
  11. nene 25
  12. cocoon 24
  13. mini 24
  14. minim 24
  15. loon 24
  16. olio 24
  17. aria 23
  18. imam 23
  19. maim 23
  20. mitt 23
  21. onto 23
  22. toon 23
  23. cancan 23
  24. canna 23
  25. neon 23

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.