Sunday, August 16, 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: 257

Number of Answers: 52

Points Needed for Genius: 180

Genius requires between 25 and 44 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 79% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 66% 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 257 was in the 83rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on August 14, 2026.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 52 possible answers rank it in the 78th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on August 14, 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 August 11, 2026.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.5.
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 248
  • loll 228
  • toot 220
  • nana 207
  • naan 207
  • tilt 160
  • till 160
  • nene 160
  • mamma 160
  • mama 160
  • lilt 160
  • tint 156
  • onion 153
  • acai 150
  • acacia 150
  • toon 147
  • onto 147
  • olio 140
  • anon 139
  • anal 139
  • tact 130
  • papa 129
  • dodo 129
  • mitt 128
  • baba 128
  • lulu 126
  • lull 126
  • loon 124
  • calla 122
  • call 122
  • booboo 122
  • boob 122
  • poop 121
  • cocci 121
  • tartar 119
  • tart 119
  • ratatat 119
  • moon 119
  • mono 119
  • tattoo 118
  • attar 118
  • tutu 115
  • cancan 115
  • momma 114
  • aria 114
  • ammo 114
  • ally 114
  • allay 114
  • meme 113
  • roar 112


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 121,889 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 11,084 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*:

  • boocoo
  • cobb
  • coble
  • coco
  • cocobolo
  • codded
  • codec
  • coldblood
  • cole
  • coled
  • coocoo
  • cooee
  • cooeed
  • coude
  • cubbed
  • cubeb
  • deuced
  • dolce
  • douce
  • duce
  • dulce
  • locoed
  • locule
  • loculed
  • luce

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

becloud

verb
  1. To cause to become obscure or muddled.
  2. (usually passive) To cover or surround with clouds.
  3. To cast in a negative light, cast a pall over, darken.

beclouded

verb
  1. To cause to become obscure or muddled.
  2. (usually passive) To cover or surround with clouds.
  3. To cast in a negative light, cast a pall over, darken.

bloc

noun
  1. A group of voters or politicians who share common goals.
  2. A group of countries acting together for political or economic goals, an alliance: e.g., the eastern bloc, the western bloc, a trading bloc, the Eurozone, the European Union.

bocce

noun
  1. A game, similar to bowls or pétanque, played on a long, narrow, dirt-covered court
  2. One of the eight balls that the player throws in a game of bocce.

boucle

noun
  1. A fabric knitted or woven of uneven yarn with a surface of loops and curls.
  2. Yarn with multiple plies, one of which is looser than the others, producing loops and curls.

cede

verb
  1. To give up; yield to another.
  2. To give way.

ceded

verb
  1. To give up; yield to another.
  2. To give way.

celeb

noun
  1. A celebrity; a famous person.

cell

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
  2. A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger religious establishment.
  3. A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person.
  4. A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.
  5. Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.
  6. Any of various chambers in a tissue or organism having specific functions.
  7. The discal cell of the wing of a lepidopteran insect.
  8. Specifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories.
  9. A section or compartment of a larger structure.
  10. Any small dwelling; a remote nook, a den.
  11. A device which stores electrical power; used either singly or together in batteries; the basic unit of a battery.
  12. The basic unit of a living organism, consisting of a quantity of protoplasm surrounded by a cell membrane, which is able to synthesize proteins and replicate itself.
  13. A small thunderstorm, caused by convection, that forms ahead of a storm front.
  14. The minimal unit of a cellular automaton that can change state and has an associated behavior.
  15. In FreeCell-type games, a space where one card can be placed.
  16. A small group of people forming part of a larger organization, often an outlawed one.
  17. (communication) A short, fixed-length packet as in asynchronous transfer mode.
  18. (communication) A region of radio reception that is a part of a larger radio network.
  19. A three-dimensional facet of a polytope.
  20. The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.
  21. The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof.
  22. A cella.
  23. An area of an insect wing bounded by veins
verb
  1. To place or enclose in a cell.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A cellular phone.

celled

No Definition Found.

cello

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A large stringed instrument of the violin family with four strings, tuned from lowest to highest C-G-D-A, and played with a bow, also possessing an endpin to support the instrument's weight.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Cellophane

cellule

No Definition Found.

clod

noun
  1. A lump of something, especially of earth or clay.
  2. The ground; the earth; a spot of earth or turf.
  3. A stupid person; a dolt.
  4. Part of a shoulder of beef, or of the neck piece near the shoulder.
verb
  1. To pelt with clods.
  2. To throw violently; to hurl.
  3. To collect into clods, or into a thick mass; to coagulate; to clot.

cloud

noun
  1. A rock; boulder; a hill.
  2. A visible mass of water droplets suspended in the air.
  3. Any mass of dust, steam or smoke resembling such a mass.
  4. Anything which makes things foggy or gloomy.
  5. Anything unsubstantial.
  6. A dark spot on a lighter material or background.
  7. A group or swarm, especially suspended above the ground or flying.
  8. An elliptical shape or symbol whose outline is a series of semicircles, supposed to resemble a cloud.
  9. (with "the") The Internet, regarded as an abstract amorphous omnipresent space for processing and storage, the focus of cloud computing.
  10. A negative or foreboding aspect of something positive: see every cloud has a silver lining or every silver lining has a cloud.
  11. Crystal methamphetamine.
  12. A large, loosely-knitted headscarf worn by women.
verb
  1. To become foggy or gloomy, or obscured from sight.
  2. To overspread or hide with a cloud or clouds.
  3. To make obscure.
  4. To make less acute or perceptive.
  5. To make gloomy or sullen.
  6. To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish (reputation or character).
  7. To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate with colors.
  8. To become marked, darkened or variegated in this way.

clouded

verb
  1. To become foggy or gloomy, or obscured from sight.
  2. To overspread or hide with a cloud or clouds.
  3. To make obscure.
  4. To make less acute or perceptive.
  5. To make gloomy or sullen.
  6. To blacken; to sully; to stain; to tarnish (reputation or character).
  7. To mark with, or darken in, veins or sports; to variegate with colors.
  8. To become marked, darkened or variegated in this way.
adjective
  1. Filled with clouds.
  2. Unclear; surrounded in mystery.
  3. Made dim or blurry.
  4. Variegated with spots.

club

noun
  1. An association of members joining together for some common purpose, especially sports or recreation.
  2. A heavy stick intended for use as a weapon or plaything.
  3. A joint charge of expense, or any person's share of it; a contribution to a common fund.
  4. An establishment that provides staged entertainment, often with food and drink, such as a nightclub.
  5. A black clover shape (♣), one of the four symbols used to mark the suits of playing cards.
  6. Any set of people with a shared characteristic.
  7. A club sandwich.
  8. The slice of bread in the middle of a club sandwich.
verb
  1. To hit with a club.
  2. To join together to form a group.
  3. To combine into a club-shaped mass.
  4. To go to nightclubs.
  5. To pay an equal or proportionate share of a common charge or expense.
  6. To raise, or defray, by a proportional assessment.
  7. To drift in a current with an anchor out.
  8. To throw, or allow to fall, into confusion.
  9. To unite, or contribute, for the accomplishment of a common end.
  10. To turn the breech of (a musket) uppermost, so as to use it as a club.

clubbed

verb
  1. To hit with a club.
  2. To join together to form a group.
  3. To combine into a club-shaped mass.
  4. To go to nightclubs.
  5. To pay an equal or proportionate share of a common charge or expense.
  6. To raise, or defray, by a proportional assessment.
  7. To drift in a current with an anchor out.
  8. To throw, or allow to fall, into confusion.
  9. To unite, or contribute, for the accomplishment of a common end.
  10. To turn the breech of (a musket) uppermost, so as to use it as a club.
adjective
  1. Shaped like a club; grasped like, or used as, a club.

clue

noun
  1. A strand of yarn etc. as used to guide one through a labyrinth; something which points the way, a guide.
  2. Information which may lead one to a certain point or conclusion.
  3. An object or a kind of indication which may be used as evidence.
  4. Insight or understanding ("to have a clue [about]" or "to have clue". See have a clue, clue stick)
verb
  1. To provide with a clue.
  2. To provide someone with information which he or she lacks (often used with "in" or "up").

clued

verb
  1. To provide with a clue.
  2. To provide someone with information which he or she lacks (often used with "in" or "up").

cobble

noun
  1. A cobblestone.
  2. A particle from 64 to 256 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
verb
  1. To make shoes (what a cobbler does).
  2. To assemble in an improvised way.
  3. To use cobblestones to pave a road, walkway, etc.
noun
  1. Small flat-bottomed fishing boat suitable for launching from a beach, found on the north-east coast of England and in Scotland.

cobbled

verb
  1. To make shoes (what a cobbler does).
  2. To assemble in an improvised way.
  3. To use cobblestones to pave a road, walkway, etc.
adjective
  1. (of a road surface) Laid with cobbles.
  2. Crudely or roughly assembled; put together in an improvised way, (as in "cobbled together")

coddle

noun
  1. An Irish dish comprising layers of roughly sliced pork sausages and bacon rashers with sliced potatoes and onions.
  2. An effeminate person.
verb
  1. To treat gently or with great care.
  2. To cook slowly in hot water that is below the boiling point.
  3. To exercise excessive or damaging authority in an attempt to protect. To overprotect.

coddled

verb
  1. To treat gently or with great care.
  2. To cook slowly in hot water that is below the boiling point.
  3. To exercise excessive or damaging authority in an attempt to protect. To overprotect.

code

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A short symbol, often with little relation to the item it represents.
  2. A body of law, sanctioned by legislation, in which the rules of law to be specifically applied by the courts are set forth in systematic form; a compilation of laws by public authority; a digest.
  3. Any system of principles, rules or regulations relating to one subject.
  4. A set of rules for converting information into another form or representation.
  5. A message represented by rules intended to conceal its meaning.
  6. A cryptographic system using a codebook that converts words or phrases into codewords.
  7. Instructions for a computer, written in a programming language; the input of a translator, an interpreter or a browser, namely: source code, machine code, bytecode.
  8. (scientific programming) A program.
  9. A particular lect or language variety.
  10. An emergency requiring situation-trained members of the staff.
verb
  1. To write software programs.
  2. To add codes to a dataset.
  3. To categorise by assigning identifiers from a schedule, for example CPT coding for medical insurance purposes.
  4. To encode.
  5. To encode a protein.
  6. To call a hospital emergency code.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. Of a patient, to suffer a sudden medical emergency (a code blue) such as cardiac arrest.

coded

verb
  1. To write software programs.
  2. To add codes to a dataset.
  3. To categorise by assigning identifiers from a schedule, for example CPT coding for medical insurance purposes.
  4. To encode.
  5. To encode a protein.
  6. To call a hospital emergency code.
verb
  1. Of a patient, to suffer a sudden medical emergency (a code blue) such as cardiac arrest.
adjective
  1. Encoded; written in code or cipher.

coed

noun
  1. A young woman who attends college.
  2. A (generally young) woman, especially on the campus of a college or other educational institute.
adjective
  1. Of an educational institution, that teaches both males and females.
  2. Of any location, that mixes males and females.

cold

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. (of a thing) Having a low temperature.
  2. (of the weather) Causing the air to be cold.
  3. (of a person or animal) Feeling the sensation of coldness, especially to the point of discomfort.
  4. Unfriendly, emotionally distant or unfeeling.
  5. Dispassionate, not prejudiced or partisan, impartial.
  6. Completely unprepared; without introduction.
  7. Unconscious or deeply asleep; deprived of the metaphorical heat associated with life or consciousness.
  8. (usually with "have" or "know" transitively) Perfectly, exactly, completely; by heart.
  9. (usually with "have" transitively) Cornered, done for.
  10. Not pungent or acrid.
  11. Unexciting; dull; uninteresting.
  12. Affecting the sense of smell (as of hunting dogs) only feebly; having lost its odour.
  13. Not sensitive; not acute.
  14. Distant; said, in the game of hunting for some object, of a seeker remote from the thing concealed. Compare warm and hot.
  15. Having a bluish effect; not warm in colour.
  16. Rarely used or accessed, and thus able to be relegated to slower storage.
  17. Without compassion; heartless; ruthless

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A condition of low temperature.
  2. (with 'the') A harsh place; a place of abandonment.
  3. A common, usually harmless, viral illness, usually with congestion of the nasal passages and sometimes fever.
  4. Rheum, sleepy dust

Etymology 3

adverb
  1. While at low temperature.
  2. Without preparation.
  3. With finality.
  4. In a cold, frank, or realistically honest manner.

collude

No Definition Found.

colluded

verb
  1. To act in concert with; to conspire

cooed

verb
  1. To make a soft murmuring sound, as a pigeon.
  2. To speak in an admiring fashion, to be enthusiastic about.

cool

No Definition Found.

cooled

verb
  1. To lose heat, to get colder.
  2. To make cooler, less warm.
  3. To become less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.
  4. To make less intense, e.g. less amicable or passionate.
  5. To kill.
adjective
  1. Brought to a lower temperature.
  2. Brought to a lower temperature by means of (often in compounds).
  3. Brought to a reduced degree of anger or fervour.

could

verb
  1. (auxiliary verb, defective) To know how to; to be able to.
  2. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) May; to be permitted or enabled to.
  3. (modal auxiliary verb, defective) To have the potential to; be possible.
  4. (auxiliary verb, defective) Used with verbs of perception.
  5. To know.
noun
  1. Something that could happen, or could be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

coulee

No Definition Found.

cube

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A regular polyhedron having six identical square faces.
  2. Any object more or less in the form of a cube.
  3. The third power of a number, value, term or expression.
  4. A data structure consisting of a three-dimensional array; a data cube
  5. A Rubick's cube style puzzle, not necessarily in the shape of a cube
verb
  1. To raise to the third power; to determine the result of multiplying by itself twice.
  2. To form into the shape of a cube.
  3. To cut into cubes.
  4. To use a Rubik's cube.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A cubicle, especially one of those found in offices.

cubed

No Definition Found.

cuddle

noun
  1. A snuggle; an affectionate embrace, often given to family members and close friends.
verb
  1. To embrace affectionately, lie together snugly.
  2. To cradle in one's arms so as to give comfort, warmth.
  3. To lie close or snug; to crouch; to nestle.

cuddled

verb
  1. To embrace affectionately, lie together snugly.
  2. To cradle in one's arms so as to give comfort, warmth.
  3. To lie close or snug; to crouch; to nestle.

cued

No Definition Found.

cull

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A selection.
  2. An organised killing of selected animals.
  3. (farming) An individual animal selected to be killed, or item of produce to be discarded.
  4. (seafood industry) A lobster having only one claw.
  5. A piece unfit for inclusion within a larger group; an inferior specimen.
verb
  1. To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
  2. To gather, collect.
  3. To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
  4. To kill (animals etc).
  5. To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A fool, gullible person; a dupe.

culled

verb
  1. To pick or take someone or something (from a larger group).
  2. To gather, collect.
  3. To select animals from a group and then kill them in order to reduce the numbers of the group in a controlled manner.
  4. To kill (animals etc).
  5. To lay off in order to reduce the size of, get rid of.

deco

Etymology 1

noun
  1. (underwater diving) Decompression.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A friendship book in which people add decorative elements such as drawings, stickers and sequins.

decode

noun
  1. A product of decoding
  2. Output from a program or device used to interpret communication protocols
verb
  1. To convert from an encrypted form to plain text.
  2. To figure out something difficult to interpret.

decoded

verb
  1. To convert from an encrypted form to plain text.
  2. To figure out something difficult to interpret.

deduce

verb
  1. To reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic to given premises.
  2. To take away; to deduct; to subtract.
  3. (Latinism) To lead forth.

deduced

verb
  1. To reach a conclusion by applying rules of logic to given premises.
  2. To take away; to deduct; to subtract.
  3. (Latinism) To lead forth.

deuce

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A card with two pips, one of four in a standard deck of playing cards.
  2. A side of a die with two spots.
  3. A cast of dice totalling two.
  4. The number two.
  5. A tied game where either player can win by scoring two consecutive points.
  6. A curveball.
  7. A '32 Ford.
  8. (in the plural) 2-barrel (twin choke) carburetors (in the phrase 3 deuces: an arrangement on a common intake manifold).
  9. (restaurants) A table seating two diners.
  10. A piece of excrement.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (epithet) The Devil, used in exclamations of confusion or anger.

educe

noun
  1. An inference.
verb
  1. To direct the course of (a flow, journey etc.); to lead in a particular direction.
  2. To infer or deduce (a result, theory etc.) from existing data or premises.
  3. To draw out or bring forth from some basic or potential state; to elicit, to develop.
  4. To isolate (a substance) from a compound; to extract.
  5. To cause or generate; to bring about.

educed

No Definition Found.

loco

Etymology 1

adverb
  1. A direction in written or printed music to be returning to the proper pitch after having played an octave higher or lower.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A certain species of Astragalus or Oxytropis, capable of causing locoism.
verb
  1. To poison with the loco plant; to affect with locoism.
  2. (by extension) To render insane.
adjective
  1. Crazy.
  2. Intoxicated by eating locoweed.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A locomotive.

occlude

verb
  1. To obstruct, cover, or otherwise block (an opening, a portion of an image, etc.).
  2. To absorb, as a gas by a metal.

occluded

verb
  1. To obstruct, cover, or otherwise block (an opening, a portion of an image, etc.).
  2. To absorb, as a gas by a metal.
adjective
  1. Closed or obstructed
  2. (of air) forced upwards by colder, denser air