Nyt Spelling Bee Feb. 20, 2026 — 28 words, 100 points and what solvers should change now

For players chasing Genius or simply trying to finish a busy day’s puzzle, the nyt Feb. 20 grid matters because its small size and single perfect pangram change how you prioritize searches. With only 28 words and a 100-point ceiling, spotting longer combinations and the pangram quickly is the fastest route to big gains; scattershot four-letter hunting is less efficient here.

Nyt players: pivot tactics and where to spend your time

Here’s the part that matters: when a puzzle lists just one pangram and caps at 100 points, longer entries carry outsized value. The set of seven letters still requires every answer to include the center letter and a minimum of four letters, so focus first on building six- and seven-letter options that use uncommon pairings. A reader-compiled glossary and a brief guide to reading the puzzle grid can speed that process for people who want a systematic approach.

Puzzle details and embedded clues

The Feb. 20 puzzle is compact by design. Known counts for the day: 28 words total, 100 points possible, and one pangram (marked as one perfect). Letter-cluster counts provided with the puzzle highlight where the scoring depth lies; treat these as a map for where to hunt longer words.

• Confirmed aggregate: 28 words, 100 points, 1 pangram (1 Perfect).
• Letter-cluster breakdown included with the puzzle (helpful for targeted searches): ba-1, bu-8, da-1, du-5, ga-1, gl-1, gu-3, la-3, lu-4, ug-1.
• Game rule reminders: every word must contain the center letter and have at least four letters; the pangram uses all seven letters.

It’s easy to overlook, but the puzzle’s two-letter cluster counts above point to pockets where additional valid words hide — especially under the clusters showing higher counts. If you prefer a live interface that updates a grid and a two-letter list while you work, the puzzle offers that capability through an in-game live grid tool.

• b****, b****, b****, b****, b****, d****, g****, g****, g**** (masked longer answers shown in today’s hints).
• b***, b***, b***, d***, d***, d***, d***, g***, g***, l***, l***, l***, l***, u*** (shorter-word patterns that often seed the longer finds).

The real question now is whether you start by exhausting four-letter scaffolds or by hunting likely pangram stems. For this small grid, the latter is usually more productive: lock the center letter and prioritize stems that can expand into six- or seven-letter entries.

Quick practical steps: use the grid-reading guide, scan clusters with higher counts first, and check the common prefixes that tend to produce multi-length chains. A recent guide titled Getting to Genius is available for players seeking a structured path from basics to high-scoring strategies.

• 28 words total makes every long word relatively more valuable than in larger grids.
• One perfect pangram means a single all-letters find will swing your score sharply upward.
• Cluster counts show where multiple words share stems — focus searches there first.
• Mask patterns in the hint set point to both longer and shorter answer opportunities; use shorter wins to bootstrap into pangram candidates.

What’s easy to miss is how the puzzle’s curated word list means not every logically possible word is included; that modest editorial filter nudges solvers toward commonly accepted entries and the higher-scoring combinations the puzzle aims to reward. The comments forum remains a place players use for hints and community discussion, moderated for civility.

If you’re wondering why this keeps coming up: puzzles that advertise a single pangram and a low word count are testing pattern recognition more than brute-force listing. Expect the payoff to come from a few longer finds rather than dozens of four-letter words.

Key signs that a solver’s strategy is working: a rapid identification of one or two six- or seven-letter candidates, steady use of the cluster counts as a search map, and turning a short scaffold into a pangram candidate within the first minutes of play. The puzzle also includes an in-game mechanism to report technical issues through settings if anything goes wrong.

Recent updates indicate the grid and two-letter list can be used live while solving; details may evolve with future puzzles.