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109 debut words in 2026
109 are still unique, and 0 have been reused in later puzzles
This page shows NYT debut words by year going back to the beginning of the Modern Era.
Words here did not appear previously in any puzzle including pre-Shortz and Variety.
On this site, unique answers are often shown in red
and answers that were reused later are purple.
| Date | Author | Debuts | Still unique | Reused later |
| Thu Jan 1, 2026 | Topher Booth | 2 | ACTEDALONE ANSWERKEYS | |
| Fri Jan 2, 2026 | Adam Wagner and Rafael Musa | 6 | AIRKISSES CLUNKY DEFATS INTERNETFAMOUS NOWWERETALKING VEGENAISE | |
| Sat Jan 3, 2026 | Hannah Slovut-Einertson | 7 | BIBLECAMP CLICKHERE DELETETHIS LIKELIKED MOCAP OKAND PARENTESE | |
| Sun Jan 4, 2026 | Gene Louise De Vera | 7 | APLUSSES GALADRIEL HASABEEF POPSUGAR SAYSYOU SESAMEPLACE SUBMENU | |
| Mon Jan 5, 2026 | Lynn Lempel | 1 | TAKEOFFFROMWORK | |
| Tue Jan 6, 2026 | Paul Coulter | 3 | AMINORITYOFONE NOWINSITUATION SETINOPPOSITION | |
| Wed Jan 7, 2026 | Adrianne Baik | 1 | DOGLOVER | |
| Thu Jan 8, 2026 | Mallory Montgomery and Zhou Zhang | 5 | AYPAPI CROPTOPS FIFTYCENT KOTEX LAGUNITAS | |
| Fri Jan 9, 2026 | Greg Snitkin and Glenn Davis | 7 | AIRMARSHAL BENEFITSPACKAGE CIGARBOXES HECKYEAH MRRIGHTNOW ONAHEATER SETUPCAMP | |
| Sat Jan 10, 2026 | Kameron Austin Collins | 8 | ACIDWASHED ATTACKMODE FRIENDOFDOROTHY NOHTHEATER ORGASMS WATERHORSE YOULOOKFAB YOYOSTRING | |
| Sun Jan 11, 2026 | Dylan Schiff | 7 | CRISSCROSSPUZZLE EMPATHIZED FIRECHIEF HIPHOPARTISTS OHTHATSOK PINGPONGPADDLE TIPTOPSHAPE | |
| Mon Jan 12, 2026 | Carolyn Davies Lynch and Christina Iverson | 4 | BEKINDREWIND DELICASES SAYITDONTSPRAYIT YOUSNOOZEYOULOSE | |
| Tue Jan 13, 2026 | Nate Hall | 5 | LAPCATS NEONATALNURSE TECTONICPLATES TIMWALZ WEWILLROCKYOU | |
| Wed Jan 14, 2026 | Joseph Gangi | 3 | IMSCARED LOOKIELOOS TOETAPPERS | |
| Thu Jan 15, 2026 | Wendy L. Brandes and Barbara Lin | 3 | CONFIRMATIONBIAS FAMILYGAMENIGHT SEEKANDYESHALLFIND | |
| Fri Jan 16, 2026 | Kyle Dolan | 9 | BOOKFAIR CARTRAILER FAKEPLANTS GETSABADRAP HERDINGCATS JADING JANEGREY JOBOFFERS PETSNAKES | |
| Sat Jan 17, 2026 | Adam Aaronson | 12 | FACEPALMS FARTSY FAUXNAIF GALBI MEGAPIXELS MIXINS MKAY MMMDCCCLXXXVIII OUTOFTIME PITSTAINS SPINKICKS TINDERBIO | |
| Sun Jan 18, 2026 | Rena Cohen | 11 | AFTERMATTHEW MAMI REDBUDS REVIEWTHEENGINE SOUNDSLIKEAYOUPROBLEM TEMU THESETTLERSOFYUCATAN TIK TWOANDAHALFMENU UNITESINSHININGARMOR VENUEDIAGRAM | |
| Mon Jan 19, 2026 | Peter Gorman | 2 | DOCTER NORMALIZE | |
| Tue Jan 20, 2026 | Jonathan Raksin | 6 | AMAZONWAREHOUSE ECHOLOCATION ENZ GREEKMYTHOLOGY NATOALPHABET THEGRANDCANYON | |
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