The NYT Spelling Bee for Monday, July 13, 2026 has center letter M and outer letters C, O, I, T, A, L. There is one pangram today: COMMITTAL (9 letters, 16 points), which uses all seven letters of the grid. The puzzle contains 59 total words.
Three hints before the full word list:
Hint 1: The pangram is a legal and formal term – the act of formally committing someone to prison or a psychiatric facility. It ends in -AL.
Hint 2: A 9-letter Mexican culinary ingredient is hiding in the grid. It is a small green fruit encased in a papery husk, used in salsa verde.
Hint 3: Two 9-letter words share a root but mean different things: one describes the peak of dramatic action; the other describes weather and atmospheric conditions.
Today’s pangram: COMMITTAL – the formal act of committing a person to a prison or institution, or the burial of a body. C-O-M-M-I-T-T-A-L uses all seven letters of the grid: C, O, M, I, T, A, L. Solvers who reach for COMMIT first will be one step away from it once they think to add the -AL suffix.
TOMATILLO (9 letters) – the small green fruit, encased in a papery husk, foundational to Mexican green sauces. From the Nahuatl tomatl, related to tomato but a distinct species.
CLIMACTIC vs CLIMATIC – both are valid today and frequently confused. CLIMACTIC (9 letters) relates to a climax. CLIMATIC (8 letters) relates to climate. Confirming both is today’s vocabulary payoff.
MAILLOT (7 letters) – a one-piece swimsuit or ballet leotard, borrowed from French. The double-L is the tell.
TATAMI (6 letters) – the traditional Japanese rice straw mat. Another loanword that rewards solvers with a broad vocabulary.
Complete word list – NYT Spelling Bee, July 13, 2026:
9 letters: CLIMACTIC, COMMITTAL, TOMATILLO
8 letters: CLIMATIC
7 letters: ACCLAIM, COMICAL, MAILLOT, MILITIA
6 letters: ATOMIC, COMMIT, MAMMAL, TATAMI, TOMATO, TOMCAT, TOMTIT
5 letters: CLAIM, COMIC, COMMA, LIMIT, LLAMA, MALIC, MAMMA, MIMIC, MOMMA, MOOLA, MOTTO
4 letters: AMMO, ATOM, CALM, CAMI, CAMO, CLAM, COMA, IMAM, LAMA, LIMA, LIMO, LOAM, LOOM, MAIL, MAIM, MALL, MALT, MAMA, MICA, MILL, MITT, MOAT, MOIL, MOLL, MOLT, MOOT, OMIT
For more of today’s NYT puzzle solutions, see the Contexto answer for July 13, 2026 and yesterday’s NYT Spelling Bee answers for July 12, 2026 (AWAKENING).
