The NYT Spelling Bee puzzle for October 20, 2026 has H as its center letter and C, I, K, M, N and U as its six other letters. This page gives the puzzle’s numbers first, then hints folded from the lightest to the strongest, then a hint and the answer for each pangram, and then every answer in folds, one for each first letter.
Spelling Bee numbers for October 20, 2026
This puzzle has 18 answers worth 79 points in total. The rank Genius needs 55 points. It has one pangram, a word that uses all seven letters at least once.
Spelling Bee hints for October 20, 2026
Open the three hints one at a time. The first counts answers by first letter and length, and the second counts them by their first two letters. The third is the strongest hint: it gives the length of every answer.
Hint 1 · word counts by letter and length
Each row represents a first letter, and each column represents a word length in letters. A number shows how many answers start with that letter and have that length; a dash means there are none.
| First letter | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 3 | 4 | 1 | – | – | 8 |
| H | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 3 |
| I | 1 | – | – | – | – | 1 |
| K | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| M | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 3 |
| N | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 18 |
Hint 2 · two-letter list
Each row shows the first two letters of an answer and how many answers start with those letters.
| First two letters | Answers |
|---|---|
| CH | 7 |
| CI | 1 |
| HI | 1 |
| HU | 2 |
| IN | 1 |
| KI | 1 |
| MU | 3 |
| NU | 2 |
Hint 3 · word lengths by first two letters
Each row shows the first two letters of an answer, followed by the length in letters of every answer that starts with them, one number per answer.
| First two letters | Word lengths |
|---|---|
| CH | 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6 |
| CI | 5 |
| HI | 4 |
| HU | 4, 5 |
| IN | 4 |
| KI | 6 |
| MU | 4, 5, 8 |
| NU | 7, 8 |
Spelling Bee pangram for October 20, 2026
A pangram earns 7 extra points on top of 1 point for each of its letters. The first fold below gives a hint for each pangram, and the second fold shows each pangram.
Pangram hint · first letter and length
- A pangram starts with M and has 8 letters.
Show the pangram
- MUNCHKIN: 8 letters, 15 points
Spelling Bee answers for October 20, 2026
All 18 answers are in the folds below, one for each first letter, so readers can open only the letter they need. Inside each fold, the words are grouped by length. Pangrams are in bold.
Answers that start with C (8)
- 4 letters: CHIC, CHIN, CHUM
- 5 letters: CHICK, CHUCK, CHUNK, CINCH
- 6 letters: CHICHI
Answers that start with H (3)
- 4 letters: HICK, HUNK
- 5 letters: HUNCH
Answers that start with I (1)
- 4 letters: INCH
Answers that start with K (1)
- 6 letters: KIMCHI
Answers that start with M (3)
- 4 letters: MUCH
- 5 letters: MUNCH
- 8 letters: MUNCHKIN
Answers that start with N (2)
- 7 letters: NUNCHUK
- 8 letters: NUNCHUCK
Show all 18 answers
CHIC, CHICHI, CHICK, CHIN, CHUCK, CHUM, CHUNK, CINCH, HICK, HUNCH, HUNK, INCH, KIMCHI, MUCH, MUNCH, MUNCHKIN, NUNCHUCK, NUNCHUK
Spelling Bee points for each rank on October 20, 2026
The game sets each rank at a fixed share of the puzzle’s total points, rounded to a whole number. This puzzle has 79 points in total, and the table below shows how many points each rank needs.
| Rank | Share of total points | Points needed |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 0% | 0 |
| Good Start | 2% | 2 |
| Moving Up | 5% | 4 |
| Good | 8% | 6 |
| Solid | 15% | 12 |
| Nice | 25% | 20 |
| Great | 40% | 32 |
| Amazing | 50% | 40 |
| Genius | 70% | 55 |
| Queen Bee | 100% | 79 |
Yesterday’s Spelling Bee answers (October 19, 2026)
Yesterday’s puzzle had H as its center letter and E, G, I, L, N and W as its other letters, with 31 answers worth 153 points in total. The answers follow, with pangrams in bold.
GHEE, HEEL, HEELING, HEINIE, HELL, HENGE, HEWING, HEWN, HIGH, HILL, HILLING, HINGE, HINGING, NEIGH, NEIGHING, NIGH, WEIGH, WEIGHING, WHEE, WHEEL, WHEELIE, WHEELING, WHEN, WHEW, WHILE, WHILING, WHINE, WHINGE, WHINGEING, WHINGING, WHINING
More Spelling Bee: Yesterday’s puzzle · Play Spelling Bee on The New York Times
Also today: Wordle · Connections · Strands · Pips · Phrazle · Quordle · Keyword · Colordle · Unwordle · Hurdle · NYT Crossword · NYT Mini · NYT Midi · Jumble · Letter Boxed · Parseword · Poeltl
Earlier days: 19 Oct · 18 Oct · 17 Oct · 16 Oct · 15 Oct · 14 Oct · 13 Oct
Questions about Spelling Bee
How is Spelling Bee played?
Players make words from seven letters. Every word must have at least 4 letters and include the center letter, and a letter can be used more than once. A 4-letter word is worth 1 point, a longer word earns 1 point per letter, and a pangram that uses every letter earns 7 extra points. The points raise the player’s rank.
When does Spelling Bee change to a new puzzle?
A new Spelling Bee puzzle is released every day at 3 a.m. Eastern Time.
Where can a person play Spelling Bee?
Play on The New York Times Games site or in the NYT Games app: Spelling Bee.
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