Wednesday, February 18, 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: 1

Maximum Puzzle Score: 180

Number of Answers: 39

Points Needed for Genius: 126

Genius requires between 20 and 33 words. You need at least a 6-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 76% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 67% of the remaining points to reach genius.

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 180 was in the 54th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on February 17, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 39 possible answers rank it in the 49th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on February 17, 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 6-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on February 14, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.3.
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 231
  • loll 214
  • toot 210
  • nana 192
  • naan 192
  • tilt 152
  • till 152
  • lilt 152
  • nene 150
  • tint 145
  • mamma 144
  • mama 144
  • toon 138
  • onto 138
  • onion 138
  • acai 137
  • acacia 137
  • anon 131
  • anal 130
  • olio 124
  • papa 123
  • dodo 123
  • tact 122
  • baba 121
  • poop 119
  • lulu 119
  • lull 119
  • booboo 118
  • boob 118
  • moon 114
  • mono 114
  • mitt 114
  • cocci 114
  • tartar 113
  • tart 113
  • ratatat 113
  • calla 113
  • call 113
  • tutu 112
  • tattoo 112
  • loon 112
  • attar 112
  • ally 110
  • allay 110
  • tatty 109
  • momma 108
  • ammo 108
  • meme 107
  • roar 106
  • peep 105


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 113,800 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,917 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*:

  • ananda
  • ancon
  • andro
  • anna
  • annona
  • anoa
  • cardon
  • cardoon
  • carn
  • conn
  • connor
  • coon
  • cooncan
  • dacron
  • dona
  • donna
  • nanna
  • nano
  • nard
  • nardoo
  • navar
  • nona
  • racon
  • racoon
  • randan
  • vanda
  • varna

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

acorn

noun
  1. The fruit of the oak, being an oval nut growing in a woody cup or cupule.
  2. A cone-shaped piece of wood on the point of the spindle above the vane, on the mast-head.
  3. See acorn-shell.
  4. (usually in the plural) A testicle.

adorn

noun
  1. Adornment
verb
  1. To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.
adjective
  1. Adorned; ornate

anaconda

noun
  1. Any of various large nonvenomous snakes of the genus Eunectes, found mainly in northern South America. Their length can grow to as much as 5 m (15 ft).
  2. (by extension) A large penis.
proper noun
  1. A particular variety of stud poker.

anon

Etymology 1

adverb
  1. Straight away; at once.
  2. Soon; in a little while.
  3. At another time; then; again.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. An anonymous person, especially an author.
  2. A work with an unknown author.
  3. A work without a title.
adjective
  1. Anonymous

arcana

noun
  1. Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.
noun
  1. A mystery or deep secret.
  2. An elixir or secret remedy.

canard

noun
  1. A false or misleading report or story, especially if deliberately so.
  2. A type of aircraft in which the primary horizontal control and stabilization surfaces are in front of the main wing.
  3. Any small winglike structure on a vehicle, usually used for stabilization.

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.

candor

noun
  1. Whiteness; brilliance; purity.
  2. The state of being sincere and open in speech; honesty in expression.
  3. Impartiality.

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.

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.

caravan

noun
  1. A convoy or procession of travelers, their vehicles and cargo, and any pack animals, especially camels crossing a desert.
  2. A furnished vehicle towed behind a car, etc., and used as a dwelling when stationary.
verb
  1. To travel in a caravan (procession).
  2. To travel and/or live in a caravan (vehicle).

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.

codon

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A handbell used for summoning monks.
  2. The "bell" or flaring mouth of a trumpet.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A sequence of three adjacent nucleotides, which encode for a specific amino acid during protein synthesis or translation.

concord

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A state of agreement; harmony; union.
  2. Agreement by stipulation; compact; covenant; treaty or league
  3. (grammar) Agreement of words with one another, in gender, number, person or case.
  4. An agreement between the parties to a fine of land in reference to the manner in which it should pass, being an acknowledgment that the land in question belonged to the complainant. See fine.
  5. (probably influenced by chord) An agreeable combination of tones simultaneously heard; a consonant chord; consonance; harmony.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A variety of sweet American grape, with large dark blue (almost black) grapes in compact clusters; a Concord grape.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To agree; to act together

condo

noun
  1. Joint sovereignty over a territory by two or more countries.
  2. A region or territory under such rule.
  3. A building in which each unit is owned by an individual but the grounds, structure etc are owned jointly.
  4. The system of ownership by which such condominiums operate
  5. A unit or apartment in such a complex.
  6. The legal tenure involved.

condor

noun
  1. Either of two New World vultures, Vultur gryphus of the Andes or Gymnogyps californianus, a nearly extinct vulture of the mountains of California.
  2. A gold coin of some South American countries bearing the figure of one of these vultures.
  3. An Argentinian short range ballistic missile.
  4. In golf, four under par (quadruple birdie, triple eagle, or double albatross)

cordon

noun
  1. A ribbon normally worn diagonally across the chest as a decoration or insignia of rank etc.
  2. A line of people or things placed around an area to enclose or protect it.
  3. The arc of fielders on the off side, behind the batsman - the slips and gully.
  4. A woody plant, such as a fruit tree, pruned and trained to grow as a single stem on a support.

cordovan

noun
  1. A leather from Córdoba originally of tanned goatskin later of horsehide.
  2. A shoe made from cordovan leather
adjective
  1. Oxblood (the color)

corn

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The main cereal plant grown for its grain in a given region, such as oats in parts of Scotland and Ireland, and wheat or barley in England and Wales.
  2. Maize, a grain crop of the species Zea mays.
  3. A grain or seed, especially of a cereal crop.
  4. A small, hard particle.
verb
  1. To granulate; to form a substance into grains
  2. To preserve using coarse salt, e.g. corned beef
  3. To provide with corn (typically maize; or, in Scotland, oats) for feed
  4. To render intoxicated

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A type of callus, usually on the feet or hands.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. Something (e.g. acting, humour, music, or writing) which is deemed old-fashioned or intended to induce emotion.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A type of granular snow formed by repeated melting and re-freezing, often in mountain spring conditions.

corona

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The luminous plasma atmosphere of the Sun or other star, extending millions of kilometres into space, most easily seen during a total solar eclipse.
  2. A circle or set of circles visible around a bright celestial object, especially the Sun or the Moon, attributable to an optical phenomenon produced by the diffraction of its light by small water droplets or tiny ice crystals.
  3. (by extension) Any luminous or crownlike ring around an object or person.
  4. A luminous appearance caused by corona discharge, often seen as a bluish glow in the air adjacent to pointed metal conductors carrying high voltages.
  5. The large, flat, projecting member of a cornice which crowns the entablature, situated above the bed moulding and below the cymatium.
  6. A large, round pendent chandelier, with spikes around its upper rim to hold candles or lamps, usually hung from the roof of a church.
  7. A crown or garland bestowed among the Romans as a reward for distinguished services.
  8. Any appendage of an organism that resembles a crown or corona.
  9. An upper or crownlike portion of certain parts of the body.
  10. A manifestation of secondary syphilis, consisting of papular lesions along the hairline, often bordering the scalp in the manner of a crown.
  11. An oval-shaped astrogeological feature, present on both the planet Venus and Uranus's moon Miranda, probably formed by upwellings of warm material below the surface.
  12. A mineral zone, consisting of one or more minerals, which surrounds another mineral or lies at the interface of two minerals, typically in a radial arrangement; a reaction rim.
verb
  1. To surround with a luminous or crownlike ring as if by the solar corona.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A coronavirus, especially SARS-CoV-2.
  2. A coronavirus disease, especially COVID-19.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A series of sonnets linked together in a particular manner.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A long, straight-sided cigar with a roundly blunt end.

croon

noun
  1. A soft or sentimental hum or song.
verb
  1. To hum or sing softly or in a sentimental manner.
  2. To say softly or gently
  3. To soothe by singing softly.
  4. To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain.

darn

Etymology 1

verb
  1. Euphemism of damn.
adjective
  1. Damn.
adverb
  1. (degree) Damned.
interjection
  1. Damn.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A place mended by darning.
verb
  1. To repair by stitching with thread or yarn, particularly by using a needle to construct a weave across a damaged area of fabric.

donor

noun
  1. One who makes a donation.
  2. A group or molecule that donates either a radical, electrons or a moiety in a chemical reaction. Compare acceptor.

naan

noun
  1. A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.

nada

pronoun
  1. Nothing.

nana

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A banana
  2. A fool

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (term of endearment) one's grandmother
  2. A nanny

narc

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A narcotics squad police officer.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A police spy or informer.
  2. An unpleasant person, especially one who makes things difficult for others.
verb
  1. To watch; to observe.
  2. To serve or behave as a spy or informer.
  3. To annoy or irritate.
  4. To complain.
  5. (often imperative) To stop.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. (underwater diving) To suffer from impaired judgment due to nitrogen narcosis (for example, while scuba diving).

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A narcissist.

narco

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Narcotics.
  2. A South American drug baron.
  3. A police officer specializing in drug crimes

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Someone suffering from narcolepsy

noon

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The ninth hour of the day counted from sunrise; around three o'clock in the afternoon.
  2. Time of day when the sun is in its zenith; twelve o'clock in the day, midday.
  3. The corresponding time in the middle of the night; midnight.
  4. The highest point; culmination.
verb
  1. To relax or sleep around midday

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The letter ن in the Arabic script.

nova

noun
  1. Any sudden brightening of a previously inconspicuous star.

raccoon

noun
  1. A nocturnal omnivore native to North America, typically with a mixture of gray, brown, and black fur, a mask-like marking around the eyes and a striped tail; Procyon lotor.
  2. Any mammal of the genus Procyon.
  3. Any mammal of the subfamily Procyoninae, a procyonine.
  4. Any mammal of the family Procyonidae, a procyonid.

radon

noun
  1. The chemical element (symbol Rn, formerly Ro) with atomic number 86. It is an odorless, colorless, chemically inert but radioactive noble gas.

rancor

noun
  1. The deepest malignity or spite; deep-seated enmity or malice; inveterate hatred.

rand

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The border of an area of land, especially marshland.
  2. A strip of meat; a long fleshy piece of beef, cut from the flank or leg; a sort of steak.
  3. A border, edge or rim.
  4. A strip of leather used to fit the heels of a shoe.
  5. (basket-making) A single rod woven in and out of the stakes.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A rocky slope, especially the area over a river valley; specifically, the Rand
  2. The currency of South Africa, divided into 100 cents.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To rant; to storm.

roan

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An animal such as a horse that has a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in.
  2. The color of such an animal.
  3. A kind of leather used for slippers, bookbinding, etc., made from sheepskin, tanned with sumac and colored to imitate ungrained morocco.
adjective
  1. Especially of a horse, having a coat of a dark base color with individual white hairs mixed in
  2. Made of the leather called roan.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Sorbus aucuparia, the European rowan.
  2. Any of various small deciduous trees or shrubs of genus Sorbus, belonging to the rose family, with pinnate leaves, corymbs of white flowers, and usually with orange-red berries.

rondo

noun
  1. A musical composition, commonly of a lively, cheerful character, in which the first strain recurs after each of the other strains.
  2. A small, disk-shaped piece of food, especially a single-serving dessert or small piece of candy.
  3. A dark-skinned grape, a hybrid of Vitis vinifera with Vitis amurensis and others.
  4. A game resembling keep-away, used to train soccer players: one group is tasked with completing a number of passes while the other group tries to take possession of the ball.
  5. A gambling game played with small balls on a table.

rando

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An arbitrary person with whom one has no shared social connection.
  2. A person going to a party without being invited.
  3. Anything selected at random.
adjective
  1. Random; arbitrary.

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. Pertaining to randonnée or uphill skiing.

convo

noun
  1. A conversation.