Wednesday, October 21, 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: 244

Number of Answers: 56

Points Needed for Genius: 171

Genius requires between 24 and 49 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 80% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 66% 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 244 was in the 79th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on October 18, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 56 possible answers rank it in the 85th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on October 18, 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 October 20, 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 251
  • loll 229
  • toot 224
  • nana 214
  • naan 214
  • tilt 164
  • till 164
  • nene 164
  • lilt 164
  • tint 163
  • mamma 163
  • mama 163
  • onion 156
  • acai 156
  • acacia 156
  • toon 152
  • onto 152
  • anal 142
  • anon 141
  • olio 140
  • tact 132
  • baba 132
  • papa 131
  • mitt 131
  • dodo 131
  • lulu 127
  • lull 127
  • booboo 126
  • boob 126
  • poop 124
  • loon 124
  • cocci 123
  • calla 122
  • call 122
  • tattoo 120
  • tartar 120
  • tart 120
  • ratatat 120
  • moon 120
  • mono 120
  • cancan 119
  • attar 119
  • natant 118
  • tutu 117
  • aria 116
  • ally 116
  • allay 116
  • momma 115
  • meme 115
  • ammo 115


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 124,876 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 11,167 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*:

  • aalii
  • alar
  • alary
  • alidad
  • aliya
  • allyl
  • appal
  • aridly
  • arrayal
  • aryl
  • dirl
  • drail
  • drily
  • drippily
  • ilia
  • iliad
  • ilial
  • laari
  • laddy
  • laird
  • lairdly
  • lairy
  • lall
  • lapilli
  • lardy
  • lari
  • liard
  • lidar
  • lipa
  • liri
  • lyard
  • paillard
  • pali
  • palladia
  • pallia
  • pallial
  • pally
  • palpal
  • palpi
  • paly
  • papillar
  • papyral
  • parral
  • pial
  • pilar
  • pili
  • pily
  • pipal
  • playa
  • playday
  • prill
  • pyralid
  • pyralidid
  • radialia
  • yald
  • yill

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

airily

No Definition Found.

airplay

No Definition Found.

allay

No Definition Found.

ally

No Definition Found.

appall

No Definition Found.

apply

No Definition Found.

aril

No Definition Found.

daily

No Definition Found.

dally

No Definition Found.

daylily

No Definition Found.

dial

No Definition Found.

diddly

No Definition Found.

dill

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Anethum graveolens (the type species of the genus Anethum), a herb, the seeds of which are moderately warming, pungent, and aromatic, formerly used as a soothing medicine for children; also known as dillseed.
  2. A cucumber pickled with dill flavoring
  3. A fool.
verb
  1. To cook or flavor with dill

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To still; to assuage; to calm; to soothe, as one in pain.

dilly

No Definition Found.

dillydally

No Definition Found.

drill

No Definition Found.

dryly

No Definition Found.

idly

No Definition Found.

idyl

No Definition Found.

idyll

No Definition Found.

illy

No Definition Found.

lady

No Definition Found.

laid

No Definition Found.

lair

No Definition Found.

lapidary

No Definition Found.

lard

No Definition Found.

liar

No Definition Found.

lily

noun
  1. Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species.
  2. Any of several species of herbaceous flower which may or may not resemble the genus Lilium in some way, and which are not closely related to it or each other.
  3. The flower used as a heraldic charge; also commonly used to describe the fleur-de-lis.
  4. The end of a compass needle that should point north, traditionally often ornamented with the figure of a lily or fleur-de-lis.
  5. (usually in the plural) A royal spade in auction bridge.
  6. The thirtieth Lenormand card, representing calmness and maturity.
adjective
  1. White (as a racial epithet).

lipid

No Definition Found.

lippy

No Definition Found.

lira

No Definition Found.

pail

noun
  1. A vessel of wood, tin, plastic, etc., usually cylindrical and having a handle -- used especially for carrying liquids, for example water or milk; a bucket (sometimes with a cover).
  2. (In technical use) A closed (covered) cylindrical shipping container.

palapa

No Definition Found.

pall

No Definition Found.

pallid

No Definition Found.

pallidly

No Definition Found.

palp

No Definition Found.

papal

No Definition Found.

papally

No Definition Found.

papilla

No Definition Found.

papillary

No Definition Found.

parlay

No Definition Found.

piddly

No Definition Found.

pill

No Definition Found.

pillar

No Definition Found.

plaid

No Definition Found.

play

noun
  1. Activity for amusement only, especially among the young.
  2. Similar activity in young animals, as they explore their environment and learn new skills.
  3. The conduct, or course, of a game.
  4. An individual's performance in a sport or game.
  5. A short sequence of action within a game.
  6. (turn-based games) An action carried out when it is one's turn to play.
  7. A literary composition, intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.
  8. A theatrical performance featuring actors.
  9. A major move by a business or investor.
  10. A geological formation that contains an accumulation or prospect of hydrocarbons or other resources.
  11. The extent to which a part of a mechanism can move freely.
  12. Sexual activity or sexual role-playing.
  13. An instance of watching or listening to digital media.
  14. A button that, when pressed, causes media to be played.
  15. (now usually in compounds) Activity relating to martial combat or fighting.
verb
  1. To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.
  2. To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).
  3. To take part in amorous activity; to make love.
  4. To act as the indicated role, especially in a performance.
  5. (heading) To produce music or theatre.
  6. (heading) To behave in a particular way.
  7. To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate.
  8. To move to and fro.
  9. To put in action or motion.
  10. To keep in play, as a hooked fish in order to land it.
  11. To manipulate, deceive, or swindle someone.

radial

No Definition Found.

radially

No Definition Found.

rail

No Definition Found.

rally

No Definition Found.

rapidly

No Definition Found.

rial

No Definition Found.

rill

No Definition Found.

ripply

No Definition Found.

riyal

No Definition Found.