Spelling Bee · Saturday

Spelling Bee Answers for July 18, 2026

The complete word list, every pangram, and the seven letters of the hive for today's NYT Spelling Bee. Hand-checked at release.

Words73
Pangrams2
Points possible389
Center letterC
Maya Chen
Senior Puzzle Editor·Published July 18, 2026·3 min read

Hand-checked every word in this list against the live Spelling Bee on the morning of release. Spotted an error?

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Today's seven letters

The center letter is yellow and must appear in every valid word. The six surrounding letters are optional. Every word in the puzzle is at least four letters long.

EL
ICP
TA

Stats & rank thresholds

The Spelling Bee scoring tops out at Queen Bee — the rank you earn for finding every word, including all pangrams. Here are today's point thresholds:

Beginner
0 pts
Moving Up
32 pts
Good
59 pts
Solid
98 pts
Nice
156 pts
Great
195 pts
Amazing
273 pts
Genius
331 pts
Queen Bee
389 pts
Total words
73
Pangrams
2
Possible points
389

Pangrams

A pangram uses all seven letters from today's hive at least once. Each pangram is worth its letter count + a 7-point bonus.

Today's 2 pangrams
elliptical +17 ptstailpiece +16 pts

The full word list

All 73 valid Spelling Bee solutions for July 18, 2026, grouped by length. Pangrams are highlighted with a star.

Tap to reveal the full word list
4 letters16 words
acaicallcapecellciteclapclipepiclacelaiclicepacepactpicatacttalc
5 letters17 words
apaceatticcacticallacelliciliacleateclatelectiliaclicitlilacpeacepieceplacetacettacit
6 letters18 words
acaciaacceptacetalaceticalpacaapiececapletcattleceliaceliciticicleipecacitaliclacticlaicalpalacepeptictactic
7 letters14 words
acetatecalcitecapitalcatalpacatcallcattailelecteeillicitlactatelacteallatticepiccataplacatetactile
8 letters5 words
eclecticeclipticellipticpellicletactical
9 letters2 words
epileptictailpiece
10 letters1 word
elliptical

Top-scoring words today

The five words worth the most points in today's puzzle — mostly pangrams and long compound words. These alone can push you over the Genius threshold.

elliptical +17tailpiece +16epileptic +9eclectic +8ecliptic +8

About this Spelling Bee puzzle

The New York Times Spelling Bee for July 18, 2026 has 73 valid words for a total of 389 possible points. Hitting Queen Bee means finding every single one. The Genius threshold is roughly 85 percent of the total, so today that's about 331 pts.

Stuck on a clue? Jump back to the Spelling Bee hub for strategy tips, the rank-by-rank breakdown, the full archive, and an explainer on how the NYT picks each day's seven letters.

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Catch up on the last week of Spelling Bees. Each link goes straight to that day's full word list.