Spelling Bee hints & answers: Jul 26, 2026 (Puzzle #17820)

This page shows spoiler-layered hints and full answers for the NYT Spelling Bee hive published on Jul 26, 2026 (2026-07-26 · Puzzle #17820).

Hive overview

This hive centers on O with six outer letters. It has 63 stored words, 1 pangram, and about 244 available points before rank thresholds.

Show structure hint

This hive has 63 playable words worth about 244 points in total. Aim to unlock the pangram and a few long words early to get ahead of the ranking curve.

There is 1 pangram hidden in this hive.

Show word-count hints

Word count matrix (starting letter × length):

	4	5	6	7+	Σ
O	4 letters2	5 letters1	6 letters–	7+ letters1	Total4
A	4 letters1	5 letters5	6 letters–	7+ letters2	Total8
C	4 letters11	5 letters7	6 letters3	7+ letters5	Total26
H	4 letters3	5 letters1	6 letters–	7+ letters–	Total4
I	4 letters1	5 letters–	6 letters–	7+ letters–	Total1
L	4 letters5	5 letters5	6 letters–	7+ letters–	Total10
T	4 letters5	5 letters2	6 letters1	7+ letters2	Total10
Σ	4 letters28	5 letters21	6 letters4	7+ letters10	Total63

Approximate rank thresholds for this hive:

Good Start: 0 pts
Moving Up: 5 pts
Good: 12 pts
Solid: 20 pts
Nice: 37 pts
Great: 61 pts
Amazing: 98 pts
Genius: 171 pts
Queen Bee: 244 pts

Check your current score in the NYT game to see how close you are to each rank.

Show two-letter and length counts

Counts use the available unique accepted answers; they do not add dictionary guesses.

By length: 4 letters: 28 · 5 letters: 21 · 6 letters: 4 · 7 letters: 3 · 8 letters: 5 · 9 letters: 1 · 10 letters: 1

By first two letters: AC: 1 · AI: 1 · AL: 5 · AT: 1 · CA: 4 · CH: 2 · CI: 1 · CL: 3 · CO: 16 · HA: 1 · HO: 3 · IO: 1 · LI: 1 · LO: 9 · OA: 1 · OC: 1 · OI: 1 · OL: 1 · TA: 3 · TO: 7

Pangram 1

Show length and score

8 letters; worth 15 points. Some hive letters appear more than once.

Show letter pattern

The pangram starts with C and ends with C: C••••••C.

Reveal this pangram

CATHOLIC

Show score and letter coverage

CATHOLIC: 8 letter points + 7 pangram bonus = 15 points. Uses all seven letters: A, C, H, I, L, O, T.

Reveal full answer list (spoiler)

Full answer list for this hive (alphabetical):

WordLengthScorePangram

ACHOO
5
5
No
AIOLI
5
5
No
ALCOHOL
7
7
No
ALCOHOLIC
9
9
No
ALLOT
5
5
No
ALOHA
5
5
No
ALTO
4
1
No
ATOLL
5
5
No
CACAO
5
5
No
CALICO
6
6
No
CALLALOO
8
8
No
CATHOLIC
8
15
Yes
CHAOTIC
7
7
No
CHOCOHOLIC
10
10
No
CIAO
4
1
No
CLOACA
6
6
No
CLOT
4
1
No
CLOTH
5
5
No
COACH
5
5
No
COAL
4
1
No
COAT
4
1
No
COATI
5
5
No
COATTAIL
8
8
No
COCA
4
1
No
COCCI
5
5
No
COCOA
5
5
No
COHO
4
1
No
COIL
4
1
No
COITAL
6
6
No
COLA
4
1
No
COLIC
5
5
No
COLT
4
1
No
COOL
4
1
No
COOT
4
1
No
HALO
4
1
No
HOLT
4
1
No
HOOCH
5
5
No
HOOT
4
1
No
IOTA
4
1
No
LITHO
5
5
No
LOACH
5
5
No
LOATH
5
5
No
LOCAL
5
5
No
LOCH
4
1
No
LOCI
4
1
No
LOCO
4
1
No
LOLL
4
1
No
LOOT
4
1
No
LOTTO
5
5
No
OATH
4
1
No
OCTAL
5
5
No
OILCLOTH
8
8
No
OLIO
4
1
No
TACO
4
1
No
TAILCOAT
8
8
No
TATTOO
6
6
No
TOCCATA
7
7
No
TOIL
4
1
No
TOLL
4
1
No
TOOL
4
1
No
TOOT
4
1
No
TOOTH
5
5
No
TOTAL
5
5
No

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Today's hintsSee hive structure, rank cues, and spoiler-layered help.Spelling Bee archiveJump to stored hives by NYT print date.Previous hive: Jul 25, 2026Open the stored hive from Jul 25, 2026 · Puzzle #20310.Next hive: Jul 27, 2026Open the stored hive from Jul 27, 2026 · Puzzle #20255.