New Delhi, Aug. 9 -- CHOCOLATE and ECHOLOCATE. There are 77 valid answers in total, ranging from four to ten letters. The full word list is below, with three hints first for players who want to keep solving.

NYT Spelling Bee Hints - August 9, 2026

Three hints before the answers: the puzzle leans heavily on -ACH and -EACH patterns, so words in those families are worth hunting first. The harder pangram, ECHOLOCATE, is the verb for what bats and dolphins do to navigate by sound. And the ten-letter bonus word, TELEHEALTH, describes medical care delivered remotely over digital platforms.

Today's center letter H is unusually productive: 77 answers is a high word count for a Sunday puzzle. The letters A, C, E, L, O, T pair with H across a wid...