Spelling Bee · Sunday

Spelling Bee Answers for February 20, 2022

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

Words59
Pangrams3
Points possible279
Center letterL
Maya Chen
Senior Puzzle Editor·Published February 20, 2022·3 min read

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

Share:

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.

BA
ILK
CT

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
23 pts
Good
42 pts
Solid
70 pts
Nice
112 pts
Great
140 pts
Amazing
196 pts
Genius
238 pts
Queen Bee
279 pts
Total words
59
Pangrams
3
Possible points
279

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 3 pangrams
clickbait +16 ptstailback +15 ptsbacklit +14 pts

The full word list

All 59 valid Spelling Bee solutions for February 20, 2022, grouped by length. Pangrams are highlighted with a star.

Tap to reveal the full word list
4 letters22 words
alitbailbalkballbilkbillblabblatcallkillkiltlacklaiclicklilttailtalctalitalktalltilltilt
5 letters14 words
alackalibiatiltblackcabalcallaciliaclackclickiliaclabialicitlilactabla
6 letters8 words
alkalicabalaitaliclabiallacticlaicaltallittibial
7 letters5 words
bacillibacklitcatcallcattailillicit
8 letters7 words
backtalkbiblicalbilabialcallbackkickballtacticaltailback
9 letters3 words
balalaikablackballclickbait

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.

clickbait +16tailback +15backlit +14balalaika +9blackball +9

About this Spelling Bee puzzle

The New York Times Spelling Bee for February 20, 2022 has 59 valid words for a total of 279 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 238 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.

Share:

Recent Spelling Bee puzzles

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