Today’s NYT Spelling Bee puzzle for February 20, 2026, featured the following letters:

Center letter: U
Surrounding letters: Y, B, A, G, L, D

As always, every word must:

• Include the center letter U

• Be at least four letters long

• Use only the given letters

• Allow repeated letters

First Impressions

Whenever U is the required letter, the puzzle instantly narrows. Since U must appear in every word, combinations like GU, BU, DU, and LU become the starting point.

With only two vowels available (U and A), the puzzle felt slightly consonant-heavy. That usually means shorter words will be limited, but one clean pangram may stand out clearly.

I began with simple four-letter words to warm up:

• DUAL

• GAUD

• GUAY

• GULY (invalid)

• BALU (unlikely)

DUAL and GAUD were solid starters. Then I looked at combinations using GU and BU.

Spotting the Pangram

Very quickly, the cluster BUG jumped out. Then I noticed that adding LADY in front of it used all the remaining letters:

L + A + D + Y + B + U + G

That forms:

LADYBUG

Let’s verify:

L 
A

D 
Y

B 
U 
G

All seven letters are used exactly once. That makes LADYBUG the perfect pangram for today’s puzzle.

It’s always satisfying when the pangram is a clean, everyday word rather than something obscure.

Building the Word List

Once LADYBUG was identified, it became easier to extract smaller words from the same letter pool.

Here are the valid words formed from today’s letters:

4-Letter Words

• BAUD
• BULB
• BULL
• DAUB
• DUAL
• DULL
• DULY
• GLUG
• GULL
• LAUD
• LUAU
• LULL
• LULU
• UGLY

5-Letter Words

• BUBBA
• BUDDY
• BUGGY
• BULGY
• BULLY
• DULLY
• GAUDY
• GULAG
• GULLY

6-Letter Words

• BUBBLY
• DUALLY

7+Letter Words

• LADYBUG (pangram)

• LAUDABLY
• LULLABY

How the Solve Unfolded

The breakthrough today was recognizing familiar compound words. When I saw BUG, I immediately tested prefixes in front of it.

LADY + BUG fit perfectly and used every letter without repetition — confirming it as the perfect pangram.

Another helpful tactic was scanning for everyday nouns. Because the letter set didn’t suggest academic or technical vocabulary, it made sense that the pangram might be something common and simple.

From there, I worked backward:

• GAUD → GAUDY

• DUAL

• GUAVA

• BALD

Rotating vowels and testing GU- combinations helped expand the list.

Difficulty Level

Today’s puzzle felt relatively easy once the pangram was spotted. The limited vowel set reduced overall word count, but the presence of a very familiar word like LADYBUG made the solve satisfying.

When the pangram is a recognizable everyday noun, the grid usually feels more approachable.

Did You Spot the Pangram?

The February 20, 2026 NYT Spelling Bee delivered a clean and enjoyable puzzle with:

LADYBUG as the perfect pangram.

It rewarded pattern recognition and attention to common word combinations. Spotting “BUG” early likely made all the difference.

Check back tomorrow for another Spelling Bee solution breakdown.