Today’s NYT Spelling Bee for September 1, 2026 uses the center letter A with outer letters D, I, L, N, T, W. Every answer must include the center letter A, and letters may be reused. Today’s pangram is TAILWIND.
Pangram
TAILWIND
8-Letter Words
TAILWIND, WILDLAND
7-Letter Words
INITIAL, LANTANA
6-Letter Words
ATTAIN, INLAID, INLAND, NATANT, TALLIT, TANNIN
5-Letter Words
ANNAL, ATILT, AWAIT, LANAI, NAIAD, NATAL, TAINT, TIDAL, TITAN, TWAIN, WANNA
4-Letter Words
ALIT, ANTI, DATA, DAWN, DIAL, LAID, LAIN, LAND, LAWN, NAAN, NADA, NAIL, NANA, TAIL, TALI, TALL, WAIL, WAIT, WALL, WAND, WANT, WATT
A few words worth knowing. NATANT means floating on or swimming at the surface of water – a botanical and heraldry term for a fish or leaf lying flat. TALLIT is a Jewish prayer shawl, fringed on four corners; the plural is tallitot, though TALLIT alone scores here. NAIAD is a water nymph from Greek mythology, and also the scientific name for a genus of aquatic plants. TALI is the plural of talus, the ankle bone. LANTANA is a flowering shrub common to warm climates, known for clusters of small multicolored flowers.
Today’s grid lends itself to short words heavy in repeated vowels – NAAN, NANA, DATA. TAILWIND as the pangram uses all seven letters cleanly and is satisfying to find: it describes a wind blowing in the same direction as travel, a staple of aviation and cycling.
For more word game help, see today’s Wordle answer for September 1, 2026, the NYT Connections answers for September 1, the NYT Strands answer for September 1, 2026, and the NYT Mini Crossword answers for September 1, 2026.
