The NYT Spelling Bee for Monday, August 3, 2026 has center letter D and outer letters F, I, L, O, R, Y. The sole pangram is FLORIDLY. There are 36 total answers today.
NYT Spelling Bee Hints – August 3, 2026
Hint 1 (pangram): Today’s only pangram is an eight-letter adverb. It describes the manner of someone who speaks or writes in an elaborate, ornate, or overly showy style. The adjective form appears as a six-letter word in the same puzzle.
Hint 2 (notable words): One five-letter entry is a literary term for a short pastoral poem or idyllic scene – double-L ending. Another five-letter word is science-fiction shorthand for a robot or android. A six-letter word means excessively droopy or salivating heavily, and while informal, it is accepted by the Spelling Bee.
Hint 3 (what won’t work): The letter set contains no A, E, or N, which rules out a large share of common English words. Every answer must contain D. There are no three-letter words accepted today.
NYT Spelling Bee Answers – August 3, 2026
Pangram (8 letters): FLORIDLY
6-letter words (6): DIDDLY, DROLLY, DROOLY, FIDDLY, FLORID, LORDLY
5-letter words: DILLY, DOILY, DOLLY, DOLOR, DRILL, DROID, DROLL, DROOL, DRYLY, FLOOD, IDYLL, LORDY, ODDLY
4-letter words (15): DILL, DODO, DOFF, DOLL, DOOR, DORY, FOLD, FOOD, FORD, IDLY, IDOL, IDYL, LORD, ODOR, ROOD
Word Notes
The pangram FLORIDLY derives from the adjective FLORID, which itself appears as a six-letter answer today. FLORID entered English in the 17th century from Latin floridus (flowery, blooming), from flos (flower). In current usage, FLORID describes either a ruddy complexion or – more commonly in literary criticism – prose or speech that is excessively ornate and embellished. The adverb FLORIDLY follows naturally: to write FLORIDLY is to overdo the decoration. The Florida connection is a coincidence of spelling; the U.S. state’s name also comes from floridus but via Spanish, chosen by Ponce de León in 1513.
IDYLL (five letters) is a word the Spelling Bee tests regularly in various forms. It refers to a short poem describing a peaceful rural scene, or more broadly any pleasantly simple and serene episode. The spelling with double-L and a Y distinguishes it from the adjective IDYLLIC, though both derive from Greek eidyllion (a little picture). IDYL (four letters, single L) is an accepted variant spelling and also appears in today’s grid. Both are valid answers, and solvers who know only one form will miss the other.
DROID (five letters) is informal shorthand for android, popularized by the Star Wars franchise. The NYT Spelling Bee accepts slang and informal vocabulary that has entered mainstream dictionaries, and DROID qualifies. Worth noting: DORY (four letters) – a type of flat-bottomed boat – is also in the grid and catches solvers who forget less common nautical terms. ROOD (four letters) is a crucifix or the cross on which Christ was crucified; it survives in the compound word rood screen (the partition in medieval churches) and is a reliable Spelling Bee entry when the letters allow it.
For previous Spelling Bee solutions, see NYT Spelling Bee answers for August 2, 2026 and NYT Spelling Bee answers for August 1, 2026.
