NYT Spelling Bee
NYT Spelling Bee Answers & Hints — July 14, 2026
· Edited by Sam Ezersky · By Sneha Rajput
- 36total words
- 125total points
- 88genius score
- 1pangram
Spelling Bee Hints for July 14, 2026
Five levels of help, gentlest first — take only as much as you need.
The pangram
Guess it from the clue — tap any ? to uncover that letter.
“Savagely harsh or bitterly scathing, as in a cruel personal attack.”
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.
Word length grid
The most specific spoiler-free hint — hunt a missing word by its length.
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Σ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 5 |
| I | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 |
| L | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| O | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 |
| R | 3 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | 5 |
| T | 11 | 4 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 17 |
| V | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | 4 |
| Σ | 20 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 36 |
Spelling Bee Answers for July 14, 2026
The full word list for this puzzle, grouped by length.
Every answer, by length
Groups open on tap, so nothing spoils early. Tap any word for its meaning.
Pangram 1 word
8-letter words 2 words
7-letter words 2 words
6-letter words 4 words
5-letter words 7 words
4-letter words 20 words
4-letter words score 1 point, longer words score their length, pangrams add +7.
Puzzle Stats — July 14, 2026
Difficulty, rank thresholds and how this puzzle compares to the archive.
Difficulty
This is a moderately challenging puzzle that skews harder than it first appears. With only 36 words against a historical average of 45.2 and a max score of 125 versus an average of 192.1, the list is lean — meaning fewer easy fallbacks when you get stuck. The single pangram is a satisfying find for solvers who spot the acidic theme running through several longer entries, but the middle tier of 5- and 6-letter words demands familiarity with some technical and less common vocabulary. The abundance of short repeated-letter words (many built from just two or three distinct letters) can lull solvers into thinking they've exhausted the board before they've cracked the harder entries.
36 words vs 43 on an average day · 125 points vs 195 · 1 pangram vs 1.6
Points needed for every rank
| Rank | Points | % of max |
|---|---|---|
| Queen Bee 👑 | 125 | 100% |
| Genius | 88 | 70% |
| Amazing | 63 | 50% |
| Great | 50 | 40% |
| Nice | 31 | 25% |
| Solid | 19 | 15% |
| Good | 10 | 8% |
| Moving Up | 6 | 5% |
| Good Start | 3 | 2% |
| Beginner | 0 | 0% |
About the pangram
vitriolic (16 pts). From Medieval Latin 'vitriolum' (sulfate minerals, especially blue or green sulfates), itself from Latin 'vitrum' (glass), likely referencing the glassy appearance of crystallized sulfates. The figurative sense of biting, caustic speech developed in English by the 19th century, extending from the corrosive chemical properties of sulfuric acid.
Puzzle facts
- Longest word: 9 letters.
- 20 of 36 words are 4-letter, 1-point words.
- Edited by Sam Ezersky — 24 puzzles in our archive.