Tuesday, May 12, 2026

Answers to yesterday's Bee

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The official answers for today's puzzle are:

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Number of Pangrams: 2

Maximum Puzzle Score: 201

Number of Answers: 38

Points Needed for Genius: 141

Genius requires between 19 and 33 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 85% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 64% of the remaining points to reach genius.

Other days with this pangram:

The button below will reveal a chart with the number of words by each letter. Red bars indicate that there is a pangram(s) starting with that letter.


How does this puzzle compare to other puzzles?

Today's score of 201 was in the 63rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on May 11, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 38 possible answers rank it in the 46th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on May 11, 2026.
The highest number of answers was 81 on June 08, 2019.
The lowest number of answers was 16 on March 27, 2023.

It takes a 7-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on May 11, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.7.
For all Bees, the average word length has been 5.3.



Haven't I seen these letters before?

Hover over a letter to see its first and most recent appearance in the Bee!



Haven't I seen these words before?

The most common words in the Bee are:

  • noon 239
  • loll 219
  • toot 214
  • nana 198
  • naan 198
  • nene 158
  • tilt 156
  • till 156
  • lilt 156
  • mamma 151
  • mama 151
  • tint 149
  • onion 145
  • toon 144
  • onto 144
  • acai 142
  • acacia 142
  • anal 134
  • anon 133
  • olio 130
  • tact 126
  • papa 125
  • baba 125
  • lulu 124
  • lull 124
  • dodo 124
  • poop 120
  • booboo 120
  • boob 120
  • mitt 119
  • moon 118
  • mono 118
  • cocci 118
  • loon 117
  • calla 117
  • call 117
  • tartar 116
  • tart 116
  • ratatat 116
  • attar 115
  • tattoo 114
  • tutu 113
  • ally 113
  • allay 113
  • momma 111
  • aria 111
  • ammo 111
  • tatty 110
  • meme 109
  • cancan 109


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 117,692 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,982 unique words.
Below are the distributions of the lengths of these words.



Valid dictionary words not in today's official answers

You may be wondering why these words aren't here*:

  • abaca
  • acta
  • ancon
  • bacca
  • banco
  • boocoo
  • cabman
  • cabob
  • cabomba
  • caca
  • canto
  • catboat
  • coact
  • cobb
  • coco
  • cocomat
  • comm
  • commata
  • commo
  • conn
  • conto
  • coocoo
  • coomb
  • coon
  • cooncan
  • cotan
  • cotta
  • macaco
  • macon
  • monocot
  • noncombat
  • noncontact
  • nontobacco
  • octan
  • tacan
  • tambac
  • toco
  • tombac

*Because the New York Times considers them obscure or offensive.

bacon

noun
  1. Cured meat from the sides, belly or back of a pig.
  2. Thin slices of the above in long strips.
  3. The police or spies.
  4. Road rash.
  5. A saucisse.

banc

No Definition Found.

bobcat

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A North American wild cat, Lynx rufus, having tufted ears and a short tail.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A multi-purpose construction vehicle, akin to a smaller version of a front-end loader or a backhoe (backhoe loader), with a one-man caged control cabin

cabana

noun
  1. A cabin or hut for relaxing.
  2. A shelter on a beach or at a swimming pool.

cacao

noun
  1. A tree, Theobroma cacao, whose seed is used to make chocolate.
  2. This tree's seed, the cocoa bean.

camo

noun
  1. A pattern on clothing consisting of irregularly shaped patches that are either greenish/brownish, brownish/whitish, or bluish/whitish, as used by ground combat forces.
  2. Clothes made from camouflage fabric, for concealment in combat or hunting.
verb
  1. To camouflage.
  2. To put on camouflage clothing.

cancan

noun
  1. A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
  2. (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.
verb
  1. To dance the cancan.

canna

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet.

cannon

noun
  1. A complete assembly, consisting of an artillery tube and a breech mechanism, firing mechanism or base cap, which is a component of a gun, howitzer or mortar. It may include muzzle appendages.
  2. Any similar device for shooting material out of a tube.
  3. A bone of a horse's leg, between the fetlock joint and the knee or hock.
  4. A cannon bit.
  5. A large muzzle-loading artillery piece.
  6. A carom.
  7. The arm of a player that can throw well.
  8. A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.
  9. (Chinese chess) A piece which moves horizontally and vertically like a rook but captures another piece by jumping over a different piece in the line of attack.
verb
  1. To bombard with cannons.
  2. To play the carom billiard shot. To strike two balls with the cue ball
  3. To fire something, especially spherical, rapidly.
  4. To collide or strike violently, especially so as to glance off or rebound.
noun
  1. A generally accepted principle; a rule.
  2. A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.
  3. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.
  4. A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.
  5. A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.
  6. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.
  7. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.
  8. A member of a cathedral chapter; one who possesses a prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.
  9. A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.
  10. (Roman law) A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius
  11. Those sources, especially including literary works, which are considered part of the main continuity regarding a given fictional universe.
  12. A rolled and filleted loin of meat; also called cannon.
  13. A large size of type formerly used for printing the church canons, standardized as 48-point.
  14. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.
  15. A carom.
noun
  1. A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.
  2. A canon regular, a member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders.
noun
  1. A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument related to the zither, dulcimer, or harp having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.

cannot

noun
  1. Something that cannot be done.
verb
  1. Can not (be unable to).
  2. Be forbidden or not permitted to

canon

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A generally accepted principle; a rule.
  2. A group of literary works that are generally accepted as representing a field.
  3. The works of a writer that have been accepted as authentic.
  4. A eucharistic prayer, particularly the Roman Canon.
  5. A religious law or body of law decreed by the church.
  6. A catalogue of saints acknowledged and canonized in the Roman Catholic Church.
  7. In monasteries, a book containing the rules of a religious order.
  8. A member of a cathedral chapter; one who possesses a prebend in a cathedral or collegiate church.
  9. A piece of music in which the same melody is played by different voices, but beginning at different times; a round.
  10. (Roman law) A rent or stipend payable at some regular time, generally annual, e.g., canon frumentarius
  11. Those sources, especially including literary works, which are considered part of the main continuity regarding a given fictional universe.
  12. A rolled and filleted loin of meat; also called cannon.
  13. A large size of type formerly used for printing the church canons, standardized as 48-point.
  14. The part of a bell by which it is suspended; the ear or shank of a bell.
  15. A carom.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A clergy member serving a cathedral or collegiate church.
  2. A canon regular, a member of any of several Roman Catholic religious orders.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A Near Eastern and Caucasian musical instrument related to the zither, dulcimer, or harp having either 26 strings and a single bridge, or twice that number and two bridges.

cant

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
  2. A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
  3. A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
  4. Empty, hypocritical talk.
  5. Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
  6. A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
  7. A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
verb
  1. To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.
  2. To speak in set phrases.
  3. To preach in a singsong fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.
  4. Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.
  5. To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Side, edge, corner, niche.
  2. Slope, the angle at which something is set.
  3. A corner (of a building).
  4. An outer or external angle.
  5. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.
  6. A movement or throw that overturns something.
  7. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.
  8. (coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.
  9. A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.
  10. A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
verb
  1. To set (something) at an angle.
  2. To give a sudden turn or new direction to.
  3. To bevel an edge or corner.
  4. To overturn so that the contents are emptied.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A parcel, a division.
verb
  1. To divide or parcel out.

Etymology 4

adjective
  1. Lively, lusty.

cantata

noun
  1. A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.

canton

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A division of a political unit.
  2. A small community or clan.
  3. A subdivision of a flag, the rectangular inset on the upper hoist (i.e., flagpole) side (e.g., the stars of the US national flag are in a canton).
  4. A division of a shield occupying one third of the chief, usually on the dexter side, formed by a perpendicular line from the top meeting a horizontal line from the side.
verb
  1. To delineate as a separate district.
  2. To divide into cantons.
  3. To allot quarters to troops.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A song or canto.

catacomb

noun
  1. (often plural) An underground system of tunnels and chambers with recesses for graves, used (in former times) as a cemetery; a tunnel system used for burying the dead, as in Paris or Ancient Rome.

coat

noun
  1. An outer garment covering the upper torso and arms.Wp
  2. A covering of material, such as paint.Wp
  3. The fur or feathers covering an animal's skin.Wp
  4. Canvas painted with thick tar and secured round a mast or bowsprit to prevent water running down the sides into the hold (now made of rubber or leather).
  5. A petticoat.
  6. The habit or vesture of an order of men, indicating the order or office; cloth.
  7. A coat of arms.Wp
  8. A coat card.
verb
  1. To cover with a coating of some material.
  2. To cover like a coat.
  3. To clothe.

coca

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any of the four cultivated plants which belong to the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America.
  2. The dried leaf of one of these plants, the South American shrub (Erythroxylum coca), widely cultivated in Andean countries, which is the source of cocaine.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A pastry typically made and consumed in the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

cocoa

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The dried and partially fermented fatty seeds of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made.
  2. An unsweetened brown powder made from roasted, ground cocoa beans, used in making chocolate, and in cooking.
  3. A hot drink made with milk, cocoa powder, and sugar.
  4. A serving of this drink.
  5. A light to medium brown colour.
adjective
  1. Of a light to medium brown colour, like that of cocoa powder.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Coconut palm.
  2. Coconut, the fruit of the coconut palm.

cocoon

noun
  1. The silky protective case spun by the larvae of some insects in which they metamorphose, the pupa.
  2. Any similar protective case, whether real or metaphorical.
verb
  1. To envelop in a protective case
  2. To withdraw into such a case.

coma

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A state of unconsciousness from which one may not wake up, usually induced by some form of trauma.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A cloud of dust surrounding the nucleus of a comet.
  2. A defect characterized by diffuse, pear-shaped images that in an ideal image would appear as points.
  3. A tuft or bunch, such as the assemblage of branches forming the head of a tree, a cluster of bracts when empty and terminating the inflorescence of a plant, or a tuft of long hairs on certain seeds.

comb

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A toothed implement for grooming the hair or (formerly) for keeping it in place.
  2. A machine used in separating choice cotton fibers from worsted cloth fibers.
  3. A fleshy growth on the top of the head of some birds and reptiles; crest.
  4. A structure of hexagon cells made by bees for storing honey; honeycomb.
  5. An old English measure of corn equal to the half quarter.
  6. The top part of a gun’s stock.
  7. The toothed plate at the top and bottom of an escalator that prevents objects getting trapped between the moving stairs and fixed landings.
  8. The main body of a harmonica containing the air chambers and to which the reed plates are attached.
  9. A former, commonly cone-shaped, used in hat manufacturing for hardening soft fibre.
  10. A toothed tool used for chasing screws on work in a lathe; a chaser.
  11. The notched scale of a wire micrometer.
  12. The collector of an electrical machine, usually resembling a comb.
  13. One of a pair of peculiar organs on the base of the abdomen in scorpions.
  14. The curling crest of a wave; a comber.
  15. A toothed plate used for creating wells in agar gels for electrophoresis.
  16. A toothed wooden pick used to push the weft thread tightly against the previous pass of thread to create a tight weave.
  17. A connected and reduced curve with irreducible components consisting of a smooth subcurve (called the handle) and one or more additional irreducible components (called teeth) that each intersect the handle in a single point that is unequal to the unique point of intersection for any of the other teeth.
verb
  1. (especially of hair or fur) To groom with a toothed implement; chiefly with a comb.
  2. To separate choice cotton fibers from worsted cloth fibers.
  3. To search thoroughly as if raking over an area with a comb.
  4. To roll over, as the top or crest of a wave; to break with a white foam, as waves.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (abbreviation) Combination.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A valley, often wooded and often with no river
  2. A cirque.

combat

noun
  1. A battle, a fight (often one in which weapons are used).
  2. A struggle for victory
verb
  1. To fight; to struggle against.
  2. To fight (with); to struggle for victory (against).

combatant

noun
  1. A person engaged in combat, often armed.
adjective
  1. Contending; disposed to contend.
  2. Involving combat.

combo

noun
  1. A small musical group.
  2. A combination.
  3. An action composed of a sequence of simpler actions, especially a composite attacking move in a fighting game.
  4. A Caucasian man who marries or has a sexual relationship with an Aboriginal woman; a Caucasian man who lives among Aboriginal people and adopts Aboriginal culture
  5. A combo box.

comma

noun
  1. The punctuation mark ⟨,⟩ used to indicate a set off parts of a sentence or between elements of a list.
  2. A similar-looking subscript diacritical mark.
  3. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Polygonia, having a comma-shaped white mark on the underwings, especially Polygonia c-album and Polygonia c-aureum of North Africa, Europe, and Asia.
  4. A difference in the calculation of nearly identical intervals by different ways.
  5. A delimiting marker between items in a genetic sequence.
  6. In Ancient Greek rhetoric, a short clause, something less than a colon, originally denoted by comma marks. In antiquity it was defined as a combination of words having no more than eight syllables in all. It was later applied to longer phrases, e.g. the Johannine comma.
  7. A brief interval.
verb
  1. To place a comma or commas within text; to follow, precede, or surround a portion of text with commas.

common

noun
  1. Mutual good, shared by more than one.
  2. A tract of land in common ownership; common land.
  3. The people; the community.
  4. The right of taking a profit in the land of another, in common either with the owner or with other persons; so called from the community of interest which arises between the claimant of the right and the owner of the soil, or between the claimants and other commoners entitled to the same right.
verb
  1. To communicate (something).
  2. To converse, talk.
  3. To have sex.
  4. To participate.
  5. To have a joint right with others in common ground.
  6. To board together; to eat at a table in common.
adjective
  1. Mutual; shared by more than one.
  2. Occurring or happening regularly or frequently; usual.
  3. Found in large numbers or in a large quantity; usual.
  4. Simple, ordinary or vulgar.
  5. (grammar) In some languages, particularly Germanic languages, of the gender originating from the coalescence of the masculine and feminine categories of nouns.
  6. (grammar) Of or pertaining to common nouns as opposed to proper nouns.
  7. Vernacular, referring to the name of a kind of plant or animal, i.e., common name vs. scientific name.
  8. Profane; polluted.
  9. Given to lewd habits; prostitute.

concoct

verb
  1. To prepare something by mixing various ingredients, especially to prepare food for cooking.
  2. To contrive something using skill or ingenuity.
  3. To digest.

contact

noun
  1. The act of touching physically; being in close association.
  2. The establishment of communication (with).
  3. A nodule designed to connect a device with something else.
  4. Someone with whom one is in communication.
  5. A contact lens.
  6. A device designed for repetitive connections.
  7. (by ellipsis) Contact juggling.
  8. The plane between two adjacent bodies of dissimilar rock.
verb
  1. To touch; to come into physical contact with.
  2. To establish communication with something or someone

coot

noun
  1. Any of various aquatic birds of the genus Fulica that are mainly black with a prominent frontal shield on the forehead.
  2. A foolish or eccentric fellow
  3. (with the) A success; something excellent.
  4. Body louse (Pediculus humanus).

cotton

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Gossypium, a genus of plant used as a source of cotton fiber.
  2. Any plant that encases its seed in a thin fiber that is harvested and used as a fabric or cloth.
  3. Any fiber similar in appearance and use to Gossypium fiber.
  4. The textile made from the fiber harvested from a cotton plant, especially Gossypium.
  5. An item of clothing made from cotton.
verb
  1. To provide with cotton.
  2. To make or become cotton-like
  3. To protect from harsh stimuli, coddle, or muffle.
  4. To rub or burnish with cotton.
adjective
  1. Made of cotton.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To get on with someone or something; to have a good relationship with someone.

noncom

noun
  1. A non-commissioned officer, such as a sergeant (army) or petty officer (navy).

noncombatant

noun
  1. A non-fighting member of the armed forces.
  2. A civilian in time of conflict.

octant

noun
  1. The eighth part of a circle; an arc of 45 degrees.
  2. The aspect of two planets that are 45°, or one-eighth of a circle, apart.
  3. The eighth part of a disc; a sector of 45 degrees; half a quadrant.
  4. An instrument for measuring angles, particularly of elevation.

taco

noun
  1. A Mexican snack food; a small tortilla (soft or hard shelled), with typically some type of meat, rice, beans, cheese, diced vegetables (usually tomatoes and lettuce, as served in the United States, and cilantro, onion, and avocado, as served in México) and salsa.
  2. The vulva.
  3. A yellow stain on a shirt armpit caused by sweat or deodorant.
verb
  1. To fold or cause to buckle in half, similar to the way a taco is folded.

tact

noun
  1. The sense of touch; feeling.
  2. The stroke in beating time.
  3. Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing.
  4. A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
verb
  1. To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).
noun
  1. A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.
  2. A maneuver used against an enemy.
  3. A sequence of moves that limits the opponent's options and results in an immediate and tangible advantage, typically in the form of material.

tobacco

noun
  1. Any plant of the genus Nicotiana.
  2. Leaves of Nicotiana tabacum and some other species cultivated and harvested to make cigarettes, cigars, snuff, for smoking in pipes or for chewing.
  3. A variety of tobacco.
verb
  1. To indulge in tobacco; to smoke.
  2. To treat with tobacco.

toccata

noun
  1. A piece of music (usually for a keyboard instrument) designed to emphasise the dexterity of the performer.

tomcat

noun
  1. A tom, a male cat.
verb
  1. To prowl for sexual gratification.