Spelling Bee Summary September 2026
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In the month of September 2026, 29 words were added to the Bee lexicon, and no words were discontinued, for a net gain of 29 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.
Summary of Ins and Outs
In the month of September 2026, 29 words were added to the Bee lexicon, and 00 words were discontinued, for a net gain of 29 words.
25 new words were added that had never been used before, nor previously disallowed (IN)04 words were added that had been previously disallowed (OUT-IN)00 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)-----29 total words added
- 0 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)------ 0 total words removed
Net gain: 29 words
Words were added (or restored) on 11 days this month.Words were removed on 00 days this month.No words were added or removed on 19 days this month.
25 new words were added that had never been used before, nor previously disallowed (IN)04 words were added that had been previously disallowed (OUT-IN)00 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)-----29 total words added
- 0 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)------ 0 total words removed
Net gain: 29 words
Words were added (or restored) on 11 days this month.Words were removed on 00 days this month.No words were added or removed on 19 days this month.
WORD COUNTS, BINGO, -ING, -ED
CENTER LETTERS
PER-PUZZLE WORD COUNTSHighest: 79Lowest: 18Average (Mean): 46.20Median: 44.5Mode(s): 41
The BINGO characteristic was present in 15 of 30 puzzles (50.00%)The E+D combination was present in 9 of 30 puzzles (30.00%)The I+N+G combination was present in 5 of 30 puzzles (16.67%)
The BINGO characteristic was present in 15 of 30 puzzles (50.00%)The E+D combination was present in 9 of 30 puzzles (30.00%)The I+N+G combination was present in 5 of 30 puzzles (16.67%)
A FEW BEES OF NOTE
The Bee of 2026-09-22 was remarkable for several reasons:1 With just 18 words, it was one of the smallest puzzles in Bee history; only six Bees have had fewer words. 2 It was one of the very, very rare themed Bees, where the pangram is related to the calendar date or other event.3 It was only the second Bee to include more than one of the Bee's rare letters (J Q S X Y); the first was on 2026-05-29, when the pangram was SQUEAKY.
4 It was the first Spelling Bee puzzle to include four vowels.
Lots of Bs for the Bee:2026-09-06 B A D E G N O Of 68 words, 51 (75%) began with the center letter B.2026-09-19 B G I L N O T Of 58 words, 45 (77.6%) begin with the center letter B.
17 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 P3 I3 M3 N2 A2 B2 F2 T1 C1 D1 G1 H1 K1 O1 R1 U1 V
Alphabetical order:
2 A2 B1 C1 D2 F1 G1 H3 I1 K3 M3 N1 O4 P1 R2 T1 U1 V
2 A2 B1 C1 D2 F1 G1 H3 I1 K3 M3 N1 O4 P1 R2 T1 U1 V
PANGRAMS AND LETTER SETS
Monthly pangram total: 47Daily average: 1.57 pangrams per puzzle
Daily pangram numbers:6 in 0 puzzles (00.00%)5 in 0 puzzles (00.00%)4 in 2 puzzles (06.67%)3 in 1 puzzles (03.33%)2 in 9 puzzles (30.00%)1 in 18 puzzles (60.00%)
Of the 30 Bee puzzles this month:
7 (23.33%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had never been used before. These 7 puzzles introduced 15 new pangrams and added a total of 230 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 3.29 new words per puzzle.
23 (76.67%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had been used before. These 23 puzzles used 31 recycled pangrams and added a total of 60 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 0.26 new words per puzzle. Seven of the 30 Bees in September were based on new letter sets. Three of those seven new letter sets were not productive of new words other than pangrams:2026-09-10 New letter set with two new pangrams, but no other new words2026-09-19 New letter set with four new pangrams, but no other new words2026-09-22 New letter set with one new pangram, but no other new words
Of the 23 puzzles with repeat letter sets and repeat pangrams:08 letter sets were used for the second time06 letter sets were used for the third time07 letter sets were used for the fourth time02 letter sets were used for the fifth time
IN ALL:07 used for the first time08 used for the 2nd time06 used for the 3rd time07 used for the 4th time02 used for the 5th time
Average “age” of all pangrams and letter sets this month: 2.63Average “age” of recycled pangrams and letter sets this month: 3.13
Of the 30 Bee puzzles this month:
7 (23.33%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had never been used before. These 7 puzzles introduced 15 new pangrams and added a total of 230 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 3.29 new words per puzzle.
23 (76.67%) were based on pangrams and letter sets that had been used before. These 23 puzzles used 31 recycled pangrams and added a total of 60 new words to the Bee lexicon, an average of 0.26 new words per puzzle. Seven of the 30 Bees in September were based on new letter sets. Three of those seven new letter sets were not productive of new words other than pangrams:2026-09-10 New letter set with two new pangrams, but no other new words2026-09-19 New letter set with four new pangrams, but no other new words2026-09-22 New letter set with one new pangram, but no other new words
Of the 23 puzzles with repeat letter sets and repeat pangrams:08 letter sets were used for the second time06 letter sets were used for the third time07 letter sets were used for the fourth time02 letter sets were used for the fifth time
IN ALL:07 used for the first time08 used for the 2nd time06 used for the 3rd time07 used for the 4th time02 used for the 5th time
Average “age” of all pangrams and letter sets this month: 2.63Average “age” of recycled pangrams and letter sets this month: 3.13
ALL THE PANGRAMS USED THIS MONTH
Brand-new pangrams are designated by the + sign; all the others are recycled pangrams.
ACQUAINTANALYZEDANTIOXIDANTATHLETICBILTONG+BLOTTING+BOLTING+BONDAGE+BOTTLING+CHICKADEECHROMIUMCONDUCTORCRIMPINGDEVIANCEDIZZYINGLYDOGBANE+EQUINOX+ETHICALFACELIFTFACILITATEFLIPPANTFOAMILY+IMPARTIAL
JELLYBEANKNEECAPPEDLITTLENECKNICKNAMINGNONCONDUCTORNULLIFIED+OXIDANTOXIDATIONPAGEBOYPANCAKEDPINEWOODPITCHEDPLAINTIFFPLOWABLEPURLOINTAILWINDTELEKINETICUNFILED+UNFILLED+UNFULFILLED+UNHANDLED+UNHEALED+VETOING+
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)
manakinmanikinbodegaBONDAGEDOGBANEUNHANDLEDUNHEALEDFOAMILYfoamymollifyBILTONGBLOTTINGBOLTINGBOTTLINGEQUINOXhumorNULLIFIEDUNFILEDUNFILLEDUNFULFILLEDinventingventingVETOINGvettingvignette
Words added, previously disallowed
(OUT-IN)
See the list of all OUT-IN words HERE.
gimmickinggiddyingluffedpandan
Words allowed, then disallowed, then allowed again (IN-OUT-IN)
See the list of all IN-OUT-IN words HERE.
[none this month
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.
[none this month]
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]