The Unofficial Hive

NYT Spelling Bee answers & analysis

ACEHITM

Thursday, February 19, 2026

Words
55
Points
213
Genius
149
Pangrams
2

Official answers

Show the 55 answersHide answers

Pangrams highlighted. Click a word for its definition.

  • acme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • ahem

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • came

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • cami

    noun — A camisole.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • chime

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • emaciate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • emcee

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • emetic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • emit

    verb — To send out or give off

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • hamachi

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • hamate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • hematite

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • heme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • imam

    noun — (usually capitalized) A Shi'ite Muslim leader.

    noun — One who leads the salat prayers in a mosque.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • imitate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • item

    noun — A distinct physical object.

    noun — A line of text having a legal or other meaning; a separate particular in an account.

    noun — Two people who are having a relationship with each other.

    noun — A matter for discussion in an agenda.

    noun — (psychometrics) A question on a test, which may include its answers.

    noun — A short article in a newspaper.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mace

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • machete

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • mahatma

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • mahimahi

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 2 recorded puzzles.

  • maim

    noun — A serious wound

    verb — To wound seriously; to cause permanent loss of function of a limb or part of the body.

    Appeared in 20 recorded puzzles.

  • mama

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    Appeared in 25 recorded puzzles.

  • mamma

    noun — The milk-secreting organ of female humans and other mammals which includes the mammary gland and the nipple or teat; a breast; an udder. (plural: mammae)

    noun — (hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

    noun — An accessory cloud like a mammary in appearance, which can form on the underside of most cloud genera

    Appeared in 25 recorded puzzles.

  • match

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • matcha

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • math

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • mathematic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • matte

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • meat

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mecca

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • meet

    verb — To make contact (with) while in proximity.

    verb — To make physical or perceptual contact.

    verb — To satisfy; to comply with.

    noun — A meeting.

    noun — A sports competition, especially for track and field (a track meet) or swimming (a swim meet).

    verb — (Of groups) To come together.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • meme

    noun — Something, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, including quizzes, basic pictures, video templates etc.

    noun — A myth circulating as truth; something ineffective presented as effective, or similar.

    noun — Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.

    verb — To turn into a meme; to use a meme, especially to achieve something in real life.

    verb — To create and use humorous memes.

    verb — To joke around.

    Appeared in 15 recorded puzzles.

  • memetic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • meta

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • mete

    verb — (usually with “out”) To dispense, measure (out), allot (especially punishment, reward etc.).

    verb — To measure.

    adjective — Suitable; right; proper.

    noun — A boundary or other limit; a boundary-marker; mere.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • meth

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mica

    noun — Any of a group of hydrous aluminosilicate minerals characterized by highly perfect cleavage, so that they readily separate into very thin leaves, more or less elastic.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • mice

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 6 recorded puzzles.

  • mime

    noun — A form of acting without words; pantomime.

    noun — A pantomime actor.

    verb — To act without words.

    verb — To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use of sound.

    verb — To mimic.

    noun — A person who mimics others in a comical manner.

    Appeared in 11 recorded puzzles.

  • mimetic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • mimic

    noun — A person who practices mimicry, or mime.

    verb — To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.

    adjective — Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.

    noun — An imitation.

    verb — To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

    adjective — Mock, pretended.

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • mite

    noun — Any of many minute arachnids which, along with the ticks, comprise subclass Acarina (aka Acari).

    noun — (sometimes used adverbially) Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle

    noun — (often used affectionately) A small or naughty person, or one you take pity on; rascal

    noun — A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing.

    noun — A lepton, a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ.

    noun — A small weight; one twentieth of a grain.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • mitt

    noun — An oversized, protective glove such as an oven mitt or a baseball mitt.

    noun — A mitten

    noun — (especially in plural) A hand.

    Appeared in 17 recorded puzzles.

  • tame

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • tatami

    noun — Straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses

    Appeared in 12 recorded puzzles.

  • team

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • teammate

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 9 recorded puzzles.

  • teatime

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 4 recorded puzzles.

  • teem

    verb — To be prolific; to abound; to be rife.

    verb — To be stocked to overflowing.

    verb — To pour (especially with rain)

    Appeared in 14 recorded puzzles.

  • them

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • thematic

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

  • theme

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

  • time

    noun — The measurement under some system of region of day or moment.

    noun — A duration of time.

    noun — The inevitable progression into the future with the passing of present and past events.

    noun — An instant of time.

    verb — To measure or record the time, duration, or rate of.

    verb — To choose when something begins or how long it lasts.

    Appeared in 8 recorded puzzles.

  • titmice

    No cached definition. Look it up on Wiktionary.

    Appeared in 3 recorded puzzles.

Hints, no spoilers

Words by first two letters

  • ac×1
  • ah×1
  • ca×2
  • ch×1
  • em×4
  • ha×2
  • he×2
  • im×2
  • it×1
  • ma×13
  • me×8
  • mi×7
  • ta×2
  • te×4
  • th×3
  • ti×2

Words by first letter and length

4567810Σ
a 2····· 2
c 21···· 3
e 111·1· 4
h 1·111· 4
i 2··1·· 3
m 1651411 28
t 51122· 11
Σ 2984851 55

The numbers

Genius today takes 149 points of 213 available. The average answer runs 5.2 letters.

Total points vs. all 380 recorded puzzles
52nd percentile
Word count vs. all recorded puzzles
71st percentile

Word lengths, today vs. 17231 recorded answers

429 today34.6% all-time58 today22.8% all-time64 today19.9% all-time78 today12.1% all-time85 today6.3% all-time92.6% all-time101 today1.2% all-time110.3% all-time120.1% all-time130.0% all-time

History

Today's letters, last seen

LetterLast in a puzzleLast as center
a Wednesday, February 18, 2026 Monday, February 16, 2026
c Wednesday, February 18, 2026 Sunday, January 18, 2026
e Saturday, February 14, 2026 Friday, February 6, 2026
h Sunday, February 15, 2026 Tuesday, February 10, 2026
i Tuesday, February 17, 2026 Sunday, February 8, 2026
m ● Monday, February 16, 2026 Saturday, February 14, 2026
t Sunday, February 15, 2026 Monday, February 9, 2026

Most common answers, all recorded puzzles

  1. noon 41
  2. naan 30
  3. nana 30
  4. onion 28
  5. toot 28
  6. loll 27
  7. mama 25
  8. mamma 25
  9. cocoon 23
  10. nene 23
  11. acacia 22
  12. acai 22
  13. bill 22
  14. loon 22
  15. aria 21
  16. onto 21
  17. toon 21
  18. cancan 21
  19. canna 21
  20. neon 21
  21. none 21
  22. olio 21
  23. lilt 20
  24. till 20
  25. tilt 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.