Daily Challenge #26 hints — February 22, 2026

These are the five letter pairs from the Lexicon daily word challenge on February 22, 2026, in the order they were played, with example answers for each.

Worth saying up front: Lexicon has no single hidden answer. Each round gives you a starting letter and an ending letter, and any real word of four or more letters that connects them wins. Most pairs have hundreds of valid solutions. So these are hints in the literal sense — a nudge toward the shape of a word, not a spoiler.

Today's challenge is never listed here. Only past dates get a hints page, so nothing on this site spoils the live puzzle.

Round 1: R → E (Easy)

You need a word that starts with R and ends with E, at least four letters long. There are 1,100 words that fit, so there is no single right answer — any of them wins the round.

Shortest option: RACE (4 letters). Longest: RADIOPROTECTIVE (15 letters). Speed matters more than length — the shortest word you can type is usually the right call.

Answers players actually used for R–E:

• RESUME — found by 1 player
• REVIVE — found by 1 player
• RIDE — found by 1 player
• RISE — found by 1 player
• RAZE
• RHYME

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Round 2: P → Y (Easy)

You need a word that starts with P and ends with Y, at least four letters long. There are 1,186 words that fit, so there is no single right answer — any of them wins the round.

Shortest option: PACY (4 letters). Longest: PALYNOLOGICALLY (15 letters). Speed matters more than length — the shortest word you can type is usually the right call.

Answers players actually used for P–Y:

• PITHY — found by 1 player
• PITY — found by 1 player
• PLAY — found by 1 player
• PONY — found by 1 player
• PRIVY
• PERRY

Play this round yourself

Round 3: T → A (Medium)

You need a word that starts with T and ends with A, at least four letters long. There are 156 words that fit, so there is no single right answer — any of them wins the round.

Shortest option: TAKA (4 letters). Longest: TACHYARRHYTHMIA (15 letters). Speed matters more than length — the shortest word you can type is usually the right call.

Answers players actually used for T–A:

• TAPA — found by 2 players
• TANKA — found by 1 player
• TONGA — found by 1 player
• TANGA
• TILAPIA
• TORTA

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Round 4: A → A (Medium)

You need a word that starts with A and ends with A, at least four letters long. There are 320 words that fit, so there is no single right answer — any of them wins the round.

Shortest option: ABBA (4 letters). Longest: ACHONDROPLASIA (14 letters). Speed matters more than length — the shortest word you can type is usually the right call.

Answers players actually used for A–A:

• ASANA — found by 2 players
• AREA — found by 1 player
• AREOLA — found by 1 player
• ABBA
• ALGA
• ANTENNA

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Round 5: J → A (Hard)

You need a word that starts with J and ends with A, at least four letters long. There are 27 words that fit, so there is no single right answer — any of them wins the round.

Shortest option: JAVA (4 letters). Longest: JABOTICABA (10 letters). Speed matters more than length — the shortest word you can type is usually the right call.

Example answers for J–A:

• JAVA
• JAVELINA
• JERBOA
• JNANA
• JUBA
• JUGULA

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Past challenges stay playable forever. Archive runs don't count toward the leaderboard, your streak, or XP — only today's challenge does — so you can replay this one as often as you like.