NYT Spelling Bee Answers and Analysis

Saturday, September 05, 2026

Answers to yesterday's Bee

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The official answers for today's puzzle are:

Click on the arrow to show the definition.
Click outside the pop-up to close it.

aiming ↗
anima ↗
caiman ↗
cami ↗
gamin ↗
gaming ↗
gamma ↗
gimmick ↗
gimmicking ↗
imaging ↗
imagining ↗
imam ↗
macing ↗
magi ↗
magic ↗
magician ↗
magma ↗
maim ↗
maiming ↗
main ↗
maki ↗
making ↗
mama ↗
mamma ↗
managing ↗
manakin ↗
manga ↗
mania ↗
maniac ↗
manic ↗
manikin ↗
manna ↗
manning ↗
mica ↗
miking ↗
mimic ↗
mimicking ↗
miming ↗
mincing ↗
mini ↗
minicam ↗
minim ↗
minima ↗
mining ↗
mink ↗
naming ↗
nicknaming ↗

Words not in official answer list

Number of Pangrams: 1

Maximum Puzzle Score: 253

Number of Answers: 47

Points Needed for Genius: 177

Genius requires between 24 and 39 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 75% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 68% of the remaining points to reach genius.

Other days with this pangram:

February 09, 2023 (Center Letter: G)

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 253 was in the 82nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on September 04, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 47 possible answers rank it in the 67th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on September 04, 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 September 04, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.9.
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 249
loll 229
toot 223
nana 209
naan 209
tilt 161
till 161
nene 161
mamma 161
mama 161
lilt 161
tint 160
onion 153
acai 151
acacia 151
toon 150
onto 150
olio 140
anon 140
anal 140
tact 130
dodo 130
papa 129
mitt 129
baba 129
lulu 126
lull 126
loon 124
booboo 123
boob 123
poop 122
calla 122
call 122
cocci 121
tattoo 120
tartar 120
tart 120
ratatat 120
moon 120
mono 120
attar 119
tutu 116
natant 115
cancan 115
aria 115
ally 115
allay 115
momma 114
meme 114
ammo 114

How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 122,770 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 11,130 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*:

acmic
agama
agamic
agma
amain
amia
amici
amiga
amin
aminic
amnia
amnic
animi
cinnamic
gagman
gama
gamic
gamming
kamaaina
kami
kamik
mack
magian
magicking
mana
manana
manganic
manganin
mannan
mannikin
mick
migg
mina
minikin
nimming

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

aiming

No Definition Found.

anima

No Definition Found.

caiman

No Definition Found.

cami

No Definition Found.

gamin

No Definition Found.

gaming

No Definition Found.

gamma

No Definition Found.

gimmick

No Definition Found.

gimmicking

No Definition Found.

imaging

No Definition Found.

imagining

No Definition Found.

imam

No Definition Found.

macing

No Definition Found.

magi

No Definition Found.

magic

No Definition Found.

magician

No Definition Found.

magma

No Definition Found.

maim

No Definition Found.

maiming

No Definition Found.

main

No Definition Found.

maki

No Definition Found.

making

Etymology 1

noun

The act of forming, causing, or constituting; workmanship; construction.
Process of growth or development.

Etymology 2

verb

To create.
To behave, to act.
To tend; to contribute; to have effect; with for or against.
To constitute.
To add up to, have a sum of.
(construed with of, typically interrogative) To interpret.
(usually stressed) To bring into success.
(ditransitive, second object is an adjective or participle) To cause to be.
To cause to appear to be; to represent as.
(ditransitive, second object is a verb) To cause (to do something); to compel (to do something).
(ditransitive, second object is a verb, can be stressed for emphasis or clarity) To force to do.
(ditransitive, of a fact) To indicate or suggest to be.
(of a bed) To cover neatly with bedclothes.
(law enforcement) To recognise, identify, spot.
To arrive at a destination, usually at or by a certain time.
To proceed (in a direction).
To cover (a given distance) by travelling.
To move at (a speed).
To appoint; to name.
To induct into the Mafia or a similar organization (as a made man).
To defecate or urinate.
To earn, to gain (money, points, membership or status).
To pay, to cover (an expense); chiefly used after expressions of inability.
To compose verses; to write poetry; to versify.
To enact; to establish.
To develop into; to prove to be.
To form or formulate in the mind.
To perform a feat.
To gain sufficient audience to warrant its existence.
To act in a certain manner; to have to do; to manage; to interfere; to be active; often in the phrase to meddle or make.
To increase; to augment; to accrue.
To be engaged or concerned in.
To cause to be (in a specified place), used after a subjective what.
To take the virginity of.
To have sexual intercourse with.

mama

noun

(hypocoristic, usually childish) Mother, female parent.

mamma

No Definition Found.

managing

No Definition Found.

manakin

No Definition Found.

manga

No Definition Found.

mania

No Definition Found.

maniac

No Definition Found.

manic

No Definition Found.

manikin

No Definition Found.

manna

No Definition Found.

manning

No Definition Found.

mica

No Definition Found.

miking

No Definition Found.

mimic

No Definition Found.

mimicking

No Definition Found.

miming

No Definition Found.

mincing

No Definition Found.

mini

No Definition Found.

minicam

No Definition Found.

minim

No Definition Found.

minima

No Definition Found.

mining

No Definition Found.

mink

No Definition Found.

naming

No Definition Found.

nicknaming

No Definition Found.