The NYT Spelling Bee answers for September 30, 2026 are here, giving word-game enthusiasts another 60-word challenge built around a particularly productive set of letters. Today’s puzzle uses P as the center letter, while the surrounding letters are A, C, D, E, K, and N. Every valid answer must contain the center letter P, and players can reuse letters as many times as necessary.
Today’s Spelling Bee contains 60 answers, including two pangrams. The two words that use every letter in the seven-letter honeycomb are KNEECAPPED and PANCAKED. Finding either pangram gives players a useful jump in the daily puzzle, while finding both provides a substantial boost toward the higher ranks.
Today’s NYT Spelling Bee letters
The central letter for September 30 is P.
The six outside letters are:
A, C, D, E, K, N
That means every accepted word must contain P and can use only those seven letters. Letters can be repeated, which is why the puzzle produces words such as APPENDED, DEEPENED, PANNED and PEPPED. The current puzzle contains 19 four-letter words, 12 five-letter words, 18 six-letter words, six seven-letter words, three eight-letter words and two 10-letter words.
September 30 NYT Spelling Bee pangrams
The two pangrams are:
- KNEECAPPED
- PANCAKED
A pangram uses all seven letters of the day’s honeycomb. These are particularly valuable finds because they combine the full letter set with the scoring bonus associated with pangrams.
KNEECAPPED is the longer of the two in terms of visual complexity, while PANCAKED builds naturally from the familiar word “pancake.” Players searching systematically through words beginning with PA may therefore have a reasonable route toward discovering the second pangram.
10-letter NYT Spelling Bee answers
There are three 10-letter answers in today’s puzzle:
- DEADPANNED
- DEPENDENCE
- KNEECAPPED
Long words can be an important part of a Spelling Bee strategy because they generally produce more points than the shortest accepted entries. The presence of three 10-letter answers also gives players several opportunities to extend familiar word roots rather than relying entirely on obscure vocabulary.
8-letter answers
Today’s eight-letter answers are:
- APPENDED
- DEEPENED
- DEPENDED
- PANCAKED
Several of these words demonstrate how productive the P-centered letter combination can be. APPENDED, DEEPENED and DEPENDED can all be approached by building from shorter words and extending their endings.
7-letter answers
The seven-letter answers are:
- DEADPAN
- KNEECAP
- KNEEPAD
- PANACEA
- PANCAKE
- PENANCE
These are useful targets for players who have already exhausted the obvious four-letter and five-letter possibilities. PANCAKE is particularly important because it leads directly toward today’s pangram PANCAKED.
6-letter answers
The six-letter group contains:
- APPEND
- CANAPE
- CAPPED
- DAPPED
- DEEPEN
- DEPEND
- NAPPED
- PACKED
- PADDED
- PANDAN
- PANNED
- PEAKED
- PECKED
- PEEKED
- PEEPED
- PENDED
- PENNED
- PEPPED
This is the largest single word-length category in today’s puzzle. Players who get stuck should look closely at familiar four-letter words and consider whether adding a suffix or repeating a consonant creates another valid entry.
5-letter NYT Spelling Bee answers
The five-letter answers are:
- APACE
- APNEA
- CAPED
- KAPPA
- PACED
- PAEAN
- PANDA
- PANED
- PEACE
- PECAN
- PENCE
- PENNE
Several of these words are common enough to be spotted quickly, while others may require more deliberate letter rearrangement. KAPPA, PAEAN, PENCE and PENNE are among the entries players may overlook during a rapid solve.
4-letter NYT Spelling Bee answers
The shortest valid answers today are:
- APED
- CAPE
- DEEP
- EPEE
- KEEP
- NAPE
- NEAP
- PACE
- PACK
- PANE
- PAPA
- PEAK
- PECK
- PEED
- PEEK
- PEEN
- PEEP
- PEKE
- PEND
Complete September 30 NYT Spelling Bee answer list
For a quick reference, today’s 60 answers are:
Pangrams: KNEECAPPED, PANCAKED
10 letters: DEADPANNED, DEPENDENCE, KNEECAPPED
8 letters: APPENDED, DEEPENED, DEPENDED, PANCAKED
7 letters: DEADPAN, KNEECAP, KNEEPAD, PANACEA, PANCAKE, PENANCE
6 letters: APPEND, CANAPE, CAPPED, DAPPED, DEEPEN, DEPEND, NAPPED, PACKED, PADDED, PANDAN, PANNED, PEAKED, PECKED, PEEKED, PEEPED, PENDED, PENNED, PEPPED
5 letters: APACE, APNEA, CAPED, KAPPA, PACED, PAEAN, PANDA, PANED, PEACE, PECAN, PENCE, PENNE
4 letters: APED, CAPE, DEEP, EPEE, KEEP, NAPE, NEAP, PACE, PACK, PANE, PAPA, PEAK, PECK, PEED, PEEK, PEEN, PEEP, PEKE, PEND
With 60 total answers and two pangrams, the September 30, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee gives players plenty of room to climb from the early ranks toward Genius and, for those determined to complete the grid, Queen Bee. The key to today’s puzzle is the highly productive P center, particularly the large clusters of words beginning with PA and PE.
For players comparing daily puzzles, today’s puzzle has a markedly different letter structure from the September 26 challenge, while the September 10 Spelling Bee also featured two pangrams.
