Spelling Bee Summary October 2026
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In the month of October 2026, 20 words were added to the Bee lexicon, and two words were discontinued, for a net gain of 18 words.
Here's a summary of what came and went, along with a few notes about the month’s pangrams (numbers, types, and more), the lengths of the daily word lists, the rates at which the dreaded/adored -ED and -ING suffixes appeared, how often the BINGO characteristic appeared, center letter distribution, the complete list of pangrams and “Ins and Outs” in the month, and more.
Here's a summary of what came and went, along with a few notes about the month’s pangrams (numbers, types, and more), the lengths of the daily word lists, the rates at which the dreaded/adored -ED and -ING suffixes appeared, how often the BINGO characteristic appeared, center letter distribution, the complete list of pangrams and “Ins and Outs” in the month, and more.
OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS
NEW FEATURE AT LEXIXONNEXXIONS.COM GamePlay: Bee Buzz is mostly-daily feature that offers insights about the Spelling Bee of the day, such as changes to the Bee lexicon, relevant bits of Bee history, solving tips or insights, notes about new or particularly interesting Bee words, and more. Includes spoilers. Develop a new daily reading habit HERE.
2026-10-01: A very rare Bee with only two initial letters: all the words in the solution set began with either H or Y, and 22 of the 23 words began with H. Only one other puzzle in Spelling Bee history has had two starting letters, that of 2024-11-19, when the starting letters also happened to be H and Y. LexiConnexxions records all Bees with four or fewer starting letters; see the full report HERE.
2026-10-09: Another rare Bee, only the 16th to include both I+N+G and L+Y. Whether you find ING Bees fun or fearsome, you can make the most of your solving experience with the Solv-ING guide from LexiConnexxions, HERE.
2026-10-17: The Spelling Bee mascot often dons festive chapeaux on special days, including a witch’s hat for Hallowe’en. This year, she didn’t wait for October 31; she wore the little black point hat from October 17-21, then again from the 26th through the 31st. LexiConnexxions has collected all of Beeatrice’s festive chapeaux, including the Hallowe’en hat, HERE.
2026-10-09: Another rare Bee, only the 16th to include both I+N+G and L+Y. Whether you find ING Bees fun or fearsome, you can make the most of your solving experience with the Solv-ING guide from LexiConnexxions, HERE.
2026-10-17: The Spelling Bee mascot often dons festive chapeaux on special days, including a witch’s hat for Hallowe’en. This year, she didn’t wait for October 31; she wore the little black point hat from October 17-21, then again from the 26th through the 31st. LexiConnexxions has collected all of Beeatrice’s festive chapeaux, including the Hallowe’en hat, HERE.
2026-10-18: According to Merriam-Webster, jinni (and its plural jinn, yes, that’s right) are the preferred spellings in American English, with djinni and djinn being accepted variant spellings. While all four of those words have been in the Bee lexicon for several years, the Bee of October 18 was only the second time that all four had appeared together. The Bee lexicon also includes the Anglicized alternate spellings genie (singular) and genii (plural). All of them are included, along with many other mythical creatures and beings, in the LexiTopics report on Myth & Magic, HERE.
2026-10-19: Another rare Bee, only the 85th in which none of the words in the solution set begin with a vowel (LexiConnexxions maintains the list of such Bees HERE) and only the 83rd to have only four starting letters (LexiConnexxions maintains the list of such Bees HERE).
2026-10-23: A very rare Bee, only the 14th in Bee history in which a particular letter is used only once in the solution set: Of the seven letters L C G I O T X, only one answer included the letter X.
2026-10-26: Another rare Bee, the 17th Bee to include both I+N+G and L+Y (The 16th such Bee was on October 9).
2026-10-31: A rare themed Bee, with the début pangram HAUNTING to mark Hallowe’en. LexiConexxions has documented all the themed or anniversary Bees HERE.
2026-10-23: A very rare Bee, only the 14th in Bee history in which a particular letter is used only once in the solution set: Of the seven letters L C G I O T X, only one answer included the letter X.
2026-10-26: Another rare Bee, the 17th Bee to include both I+N+G and L+Y (The 16th such Bee was on October 9).
2026-10-31: A rare themed Bee, with the début pangram HAUNTING to mark Hallowe’en. LexiConexxions has documented all the themed or anniversary Bees HERE.
SUMMARY OF INS AND OUTS
In the month of October 2026, 00 words were added to the Bee lexicon, and 00 words were discontinued, for a net gain of 00 words.
16 new words were added that had never been used before, nor previously disallowed (IN)03 words were added that had been previously disallowed (OUT-IN)01 words that had been earlier allowed, then disallowed, were allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)00 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (OUT-IN-OUT-IN)-----20 total words added
- 2 words that had been previously allowed, now disallowed (IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (IN-OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN-OUT)------ 2 total words removed
Net gain: 18 words
Words were added (or restored) on 8 days this month.Words were removed on 2 days this month.No words were added or removed on 21 days this month.
16 new words were added that had never been used before, nor previously disallowed (IN)03 words were added that had been previously disallowed (OUT-IN)01 words that had been earlier allowed, then disallowed, were allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)00 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (OUT-IN-OUT-IN)-----20 total words added
- 2 words that had been previously allowed, now disallowed (IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed again (IN-OUT-IN-OUT)- 0 words that had been disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN-OUT)------ 2 total words removed
Net gain: 18 words
Words were added (or restored) on 8 days this month.Words were removed on 2 days this month.No words were added or removed on 21 days this month.
WORD COUNTS, BINGO, -ING, -ED
CENTER LETTERS
PER-PUZZLE WORD COUNTSHighest: 71Lowest: 18Average (Mean): 48.35Median: 53Mode(s): 56, 51
The BINGO characteristic was present in 17 of 31 puzzles (54.84%)
The E+D combination was present in 4 of 31 puzzles (12.90%)The I+N+G combination was present in 4 of 31 puzzles (12.90%)
The BINGO characteristic was present in 17 of 31 puzzles (54.84%)
The E+D combination was present in 4 of 31 puzzles (12.90%)The I+N+G combination was present in 4 of 31 puzzles (12.90%)
16 different center letters were used during the month.
A report of all center letters in Spelling Bee history may be seen HERE.
Frequency order:
4 H3 A3 C3 I3 L2 E2 G2 M2 N1 B1 D1 P1 R1 T1 V1 Y
Alphabetical order:
3 A1 B3 C1 D2 E2 G4 H3 I3 L2 M2 N1 P1 R1 T1 V1 Y
PANGRAMS AND LETTER SETS
Total pangrams this month: 47Daily average: 1.52 per puzzleDaily pangram numbers:6 in 0 puzzles (00.00%)5 in 0 puzzles (00.00%)4 in 1 puzzles (03.22%)3 in 2 puzzles (06.45%)2 in 9 puzzles (29.03%)1 in 19 puzzles (61.29%)
Of the 31 Bee puzzles this month:
5 (16.13%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had never been used before. These 5 puzzles introduced 11 new pangrams and added a total of 16 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 3.20 new words per puzzle.
26 (83.87%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had been used before. These 26 puzzles used 36 recycled pangrams and added 4 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 0.16 new words per puzzle. Aso in these 26 Bees, 2 words were discontinued, an average of 0.065 words per puzzle.
IN ALL: 05 letter sets were used for the first time09 letter sets were used for the second time07 letter sets were used for the third time05 letter sets were used for the fourth time05 letter sets were used for the fifth time
The average “age” of all pangrams and letter sets this month: 2.87The average “age” of recycled pangrams and letter sets this month: 3.23
Of the 31 Bee puzzles this month:
5 (16.13%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had never been used before. These 5 puzzles introduced 11 new pangrams and added a total of 16 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 3.20 new words per puzzle.
26 (83.87%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had been used before. These 26 puzzles used 36 recycled pangrams and added 4 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 0.16 new words per puzzle. Aso in these 26 Bees, 2 words were discontinued, an average of 0.065 words per puzzle.
IN ALL: 05 letter sets were used for the first time09 letter sets were used for the second time07 letter sets were used for the third time05 letter sets were used for the fourth time05 letter sets were used for the fifth time
The average “age” of all pangrams and letter sets this month: 2.87The average “age” of recycled pangrams and letter sets this month: 3.23
ALL THE PANGRAMS USED THIS MONTH
Brand-new pangrams are designated by the + sign; all the others are recycled pangrams.
AMBULANTAROMATICATTACHABLE+BACCHANALIABACCHANALIANBIBLIOMANIA+BINOMIAL+BOXLIKEBURPINGBUTANOL+BUTANOL+CATCHABLE+CONCLAVECOVALENCEEMPATHYFLOORBOARDGENTILITY+GRANDPOPHONEYMOONEDIMPLANTINIMICALLYINTELLIGENTLY+JOINTEDLAPIDARY
MACHINEMANIACALLYMANICALLYMECHANICMUNCHKINNEGLIGENTLY+NIGHTLYNOTCHEDOBLIGEDPARANOIDPAYPHONEPRACTICALPROPAGANDARAINDROPRAPIDLYTEACHABLE+TELLINGLY+TOXICOLOGICUPBRINGINGVIOLATORWHEELINGWHOOPINGWHOPPING
WORDS ADDED TO AND REMOVED FROM THE SPELLING BEE LEXICON THIS MONTH
WORDS ADDED TO THE LEXICON
WORDS REMOVED FROM THE LEXICON
Words added, not previously disallowed (BRAND-NEW WORDS) (IN)
GENTILITYINTELLIGENTLYNEGLIGENTLYTELLINGLYyellingBUTANOLunboltmainlyminimallyATTACHABLECATCHABLETEACHABLEbatchBIBLIOMANIABINOMIALHAUNTING
Words added, previously disallowed
(OUT-IN)
See the list of all OUT-IN words HERE.
nigglytappetmonobob
Words allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)
See the list of all IN-OUT-IN words HERE.
papillary
Words disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed, then allowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN)
See the list of all OUT-IN-OUT-IN words HERE.
[none this month]
Words previously allowed now disallowed (IN-OUT)
See the list of all IN-OUT words HERE.
bacchicecotone
Words allowed, then disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (IN-OUT-IN-OUT)
See the list of all IN-OUT-IN-OUT words HERE.
[none this month]
Words disallowed, then allowed, then disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT)
See the list of all OUT-IN-OUT words HERE.
Words disallowed, allowed, disallowed, allowed, disallowed (OUT-IN-OUT-IN-OUT)
See the list of all O-I-O-I-O words HERE.
[none this month
[none this month]