NYT Spelling Bee Answers & Hints — August 21, 2026
- 23Total words
- 95Total points
- 67Genius
- 1Pangram
The pangram for August 21, 2026
Every letter used at least once — worth a bonus 7 points on top of the length score.
Letter by letter
9 letters · tap any tile to reveal just that letter.
Spelling Bee hints for August 21, 2026
Three levels of help, gentlest first — take only as much as you need. Skip straight to the answers →
Words per starting letter
The gentlest nudge — which letters do the heavy lifting today.
Two-letter tally
How many words start with each pair — if a pair isn't here, nothing starts with it.
- do2
- dr1
- du3
- go1
- gr2
- gu1
- ho2
- hu1
- no1
- nu1
- ro2
- ru1
- ud1
- un4
Word length grid
The most specific spoiler-free hint — hunt a missing word by its length.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | 6 |
| G | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 4 |
| H | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| N | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 2 |
| O | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| R | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 3 |
| U | 2 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | 5 |
| Σ | 10 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 |
Spelling Bee answers for August 21, 2026
The full word list, grouped by length — pangram first, then longest to shortest. Tap a group to reveal.
P
- groundhog16
8
- unground8
7
- nunhood7
6
- dugong6
- ground6
- unhood6
- unhung6
5
- dough5
- dunno5
- gourd5
- hound5
- rough5
- round5
4
- dour1
- drug1
- dung1
- guru1
- hour1
- hung1
- noun1
- rung1
- udon1
- undo1
Today's puzzle by the numbers
Difficulty, rank thresholds, pangram etymology and what makes today unusual.
Difficulty
7/ 10
Today is a genuinely tough puzzle. With only 23 words against a historical average of 44, the answer list is unusually lean, leaving solvers with far fewer footholds than a typical Friday. The letter mix skews heavily toward consonant clusters that are hard to unpack systematically, and several of the longer words occupy niche vocabulary territory. The single pangram is a compound word that may click instantly or stay hidden all day depending on how you approach it.
Points per rank
| Rank | Points | % |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Bee 👑 | 95 | 100% |
| Genius | 67 | 70% |
| Amazing | 48 | 50% |
| Great | 38 | 40% |
| Nice | 24 | 25% |
| Solid | 14 | 15% |
| Good | 8 | 8% |
| Moving Up | 5 | 5% |
| Good Start | 2 | 2% |
| Beginner | 0 | 0% |
About the pangram
groundhog16 pts
A North American coinage from the mid-17th century, combining 'ground' (Old English 'grund') with 'hog' as a folk translation of the Lenape word 'wojak' or similar Algonquian terms for the woodchuck; the animal's association with weather prediction on February 2nd is a 19th-century American tradition rooted in older European Candlemas lore.
Puzzle facts
- Longest word9 letters
- 4-letter words10 of 23
- Pangram bonus+7 points
- Puzzles archived85
Try another puzzle
Two more NazoKai hints, ready when you are.