Spelling Bee Answers for Friday, October 16, 2026
Friday, October 16, 2026
- Letters G B I N P R U
- 56 words
- 2 pangrams
- Longest: 10 letters
Every valid word in today's New York Times Spelling Bee, updated each morning when the new letter set goes live at 3am Eastern. If you only want a nudge, the hints below work through the puzzle without naming anything; today's pangram and the complete answer list are each one tap away after that. The Friday, October 16, 2026 puzzle has 56 words to find.
Hints before the answers
Open them in order. Each one gives away a little more, and the answers stay hidden until you ask for them.
Hint 1Gentlest
Today's letters are G, B, I, N, P, R, U, with G in the centre.
Hint 2A little stronger
There are 56 words to find and 2 pangrams.
Hint 3A little stronger
Words by starting letter: B × 12, G × 12, P × 11, R × 10, U × 6, I × 3, N × 2.
Hint 4Strongest hint
The longest word has 10 letters.
Spelling Bee Analysis: Word Grid and Two-Letter List for Friday, October 16, 2026
56 words, 339 points, 2 pangrams (1 perfect). Center letter G; outer letters B, I, N, P, R, U.
| Starts | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Σ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | 4 | · | 1 | 4 | 3 | · | · | 12 |
| B | 3 | 1 | · | 7 | 1 | · | · | 12 |
| I | · | · | 1 | 1 | 1 | · | · | 3 |
| N | · | · | 1 | 1 | · | · | · | 2 |
| P | 2 | · | 2 | 7 | · | · | · | 11 |
| R | 2 | 1 | · | 7 | · | · | · | 10 |
| U | · | 1 | 2 | · | · | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| Σ | 11 | 3 | 7 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 56 |
Two-letter list
- BI2BR5BU5
- GI3GR7GU2
- IN3
- NI2
- PI6PR2PU3
- RI5RU5
- UN3UP2UR1
Pangrams
Reveal themHide themPartial spoiler: 2 words
Reveal one word at a time
4 letters
5 letters
6 letters
7 letters
8 letters
9 letters
10 letters
All 56 answers
Show all 56 answersHide the answersSpoiler: the complete list
4 letters 11
- BRIG
- BUNG
- BURG
- GRIN
- GRIP
- GRUB
- GURU
- PING
- PRIG
- RING
- RUNG
5 letters 3
- BRING
- RUING
- UNRIG
6 letters 7
- GIBING
- INNING
- NIGIRI
- PINING
- PIPING
- UPPING
- URGING
7 letters 27
- BINGING
- BINNING
- BRIBING
- BRINING
- BUGGING
- BURNING
- BURPING (pangram)
- GIGGING
- GINNING
- GRIPING
- GUNNING
- INURING
- NIPPING
- PIGGING
- PINGING
- PINNING
- PRUNING
- PUNNING
- PURGING
- PURRING
- RIBBING
- RIGGING
- RINGING
- RIPPING
- RUBBING
- RUINING
- RUNNING
8 letters 5
- BRINGING
- GRINNING
- GRIPPING
- GRUBBING
- INURNING
9 letters 2
- UNPINNING
- UNRIGGING
10 letters 1
- UPBRINGING (pangram)
Pangrams use all seven letters.
The other puzzles on October 16, 2026
How to play Spelling Bee
Make words from the hive
Every word uses the centre letter and is at least four letters long. Letters can repeat.
Longer words score more
A four-letter word scores 1 point. Longer words score a point per letter.
Find the pangram
A word that uses all seven letters earns 7 bonus points on top of its length.
Climb the ranks
Your rank rises with your score, from Beginner to Genius at 70% of the points.
Recent puzzles
Every past puzzle stays online. Browse the full Spelling Bee archive.
Questions
What are today's Spelling Bee answers?
There are 56 valid words in the Friday, October 16, 2026 puzzle, including 2 pangrams.
What is today's Spelling Bee pangram?
The pangrams are BURPING, UPBRINGING.
How do I read the Spelling Bee analysis grid?
Each row is a starting letter and each column a word length. A cell is how many of the day's words start with that letter and have that many letters, and Σ gives row and column totals. The two-letter list counts words by their first two letters. Both show counts only, never the words.
What time does the Spelling Bee reset?
A new letter set is published at 3am Eastern (New York time) every day, weekends included. That is midnight Pacific, and 07:00 UTC in summer or 08:00 UTC in winter.
What is a pangram in Spelling Bee?
A pangram uses all seven of the day's letters at least once. It is worth seven bonus points on top of its length, which is why finding one is usually the fastest route to Genius.
Who makes the Spelling Bee?
Spelling Bee is a daily puzzle published by The New York Times. This site is independent and not affiliated with the Times; it lists the answers to each day's puzzle.
Is there a Spelling Bee archive?
Yes. Every past puzzle stays online with its full answers and hints, linked from the archive page.
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