Friday, March 13, 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: 3

Maximum Puzzle Score: 299

Number of Answers: 59

Points Needed for Genius: 209

Genius requires between 29 and 51 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 82% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangrams, you only need 65% 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 299 was in the 93rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on March 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 59 possible answers rank it in the 90th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on March 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 March 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 234
  • loll 216
  • toot 211
  • nana 192
  • naan 192
  • tilt 152
  • till 152
  • lilt 152
  • nene 151
  • tint 148
  • mamma 148
  • mama 148
  • toon 141
  • onto 141
  • onion 141
  • acai 140
  • acacia 140
  • anon 131
  • anal 130
  • olio 126
  • papa 124
  • dodo 123
  • baba 123
  • tact 122
  • lulu 122
  • lull 122
  • poop 119
  • booboo 118
  • boob 118
  • mitt 117
  • cocci 117
  • moon 116
  • mono 116
  • loon 114
  • calla 114
  • call 114
  • tartar 113
  • tart 113
  • ratatat 113
  • tutu 112
  • tattoo 112
  • attar 112
  • momma 110
  • ammo 110
  • ally 110
  • allay 110
  • tatty 109
  • meme 108
  • roar 107
  • peep 106


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 114,893 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,935 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*:

  • acari
  • acratic
  • acritarch
  • acrotic
  • aircoach
  • airt
  • airth
  • aitch
  • archi
  • atactic
  • ataractic
  • attrit
  • carioca
  • carritch
  • chiao
  • chico
  • chicot
  • chiro
  • chirr
  • choric
  • cirrhotic
  • citator
  • cithara
  • coccic
  • coria
  • crit
  • iatric
  • ictic
  • iritic
  • irritator
  • ocicat
  • octroi
  • ohia
  • oiticica
  • orchitic
  • otic
  • otitic
  • rachitic
  • raia
  • riata
  • ricrac
  • tartaric
  • thio
  • thir
  • thoria
  • thoric
  • tictac
  • tictoc
  • tiro
  • titch
  • titi
  • titrator
  • toit
  • triac
  • triactor
  • trichroic
  • tricrotic
  • trictrac
  • trochaic

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

acacia

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
  2. The thickened or dried juice of several species in Acacieae, in particular Vachellia nilotica (syn. Acacia nilotica), the Egyptian acacia.
  3. A false acacia; robinia tree, Robinia pseudoacacia.
  4. Gum arabic; gum acacia.
  5. Any of several related trees, such as the locust tree.
  6. A light to moderate greenish yellow with a hint of red.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (history) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

acai

noun
  1. Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
  2. The fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.

aortic

adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to the aorta or the aortic valve.

archaic

noun
  1. (usually capitalized) A general term for the prehistoric period intermediate between the earliest period (‘Paleo-Indian’, ‘Paleo-American’, ‘American‐paleolithic’, &c.) of human presence in the Western Hemisphere, and the most recent prehistoric period (‘Woodland’, etc.).
  2. (paleoanthropology) (A member of) an archaic variety of Homo sapiens.
adjective
  1. Of or characterized by antiquity; old-fashioned, quaint, antiquated.
  2. (of words) No longer in ordinary use, though still used occasionally to give a sense of antiquity.
  3. Belonging to the archaic period

arctic

noun
  1. A warm waterproof overshoe.
  2. Any of various butterflies of the genus Oeneis.
adjective
  1. (now only in compounds) Pertaining to the celestial north pole, or to the pole star.
  2. Pertaining to the northern polar region of the planet, characterised by extreme cold and an icy landscape.
  3. Extremely cold, snowy, or having other properties of extreme winter associated with the Arctic.
  4. Designed for use in very cold conditions.

aria

noun
  1. A musical piece written typically for a solo voice with orchestral accompaniment in an opera or cantata.

arthritic

noun
  1. A person with arthritis.
adjective
  1. Of, or affected by arthritis.

atria

noun
  1. A central room or space in ancient Roman homes, open to the sky in the middle; a similar space in other buildings.
  2. A square hall lit by daylight from above, into which rooms open at one or more levels.
  3. A cavity, entrance, or passage.
  4. Any enclosed sexine and nexine layers, widening toward the interior of the grain.

attic

noun
  1. The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

cacti

noun
  1. Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
  2. Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

cathartic

noun
  1. A laxative.
adjective
  1. Purgative; inducing (mental or physical) catharsis
  2. That releases emotional tension, especially after an overwhelming experience

chai

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A female gypsy.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Short for masala chai, a beverage made with black teas, steamed milk and sweet spices, based loosely on Indian recipes.

chair

noun
  1. An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person. Compare stool, couch, sofa, settee, loveseat and bench.
  2. The seating position of a particular musician in an orchestra.
  3. An iron block used on railways to support the rails and secure them to the sleepers, and similar devices.
  4. One of two possible conformers of cyclohexane rings (the other being boat), shaped roughly like a chair.
  5. A distinguished professorship at a university.
  6. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or a two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse; a gig.
  7. The seat or office of a person in authority, such as a judge or bishop.
verb
  1. To act as chairperson at; to preside over.
  2. To carry in a seated position upon one's shoulders, especially in celebration or victory.
  3. To award a chair to (a winning poet) at a Welsh eisteddfod.
noun
  1. A chairman or chairwoman, someone who presides over a meeting, board, etc.
noun
  1. A chair-like device used for performing execution by electrocution.
  2. An electrically powered wheelchair.
  3. A transitional hold in which an attacking wrestler hoists an opponent up onto his/her shoulders so that they are both facing in the same direction.

chaotic

noun
  1. A character having a chaotic alignment.
adjective
  1. Filled with chaos.
  2. Extremely disorganized or in disarray.
  3. Highly sensitive to starting conditions, so that a small change to them may yield a very different outcome.
  4. Aligned against following or upholding laws and principles.

chariot

noun
  1. A two-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle, used in Bronze Age and Early Iron Age warfare.
  2. A light four-wheeled carriage used for ceremonial or pleasure purposes.
  3. (xiangqi) rook
verb
  1. To convey by, or as if by, chariot.
  2. To ride in a chariot.

chia

noun
  1. A Mexican sage grown for its edible seeds, Salvia hispanica.
  2. Salvia columbariae, a sage with similar seeds, native to the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico.

chic

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Good form; style.
  2. A person with (a particular type of) chic.
adjective
  1. Elegant, stylish.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A kind of ritual buffoon or clown in Yucatec Maya culture.

chica

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A Latin-American girl; a Latina.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. An orange-red dyestuff obtained by boiling the leaves of the bignonia.

chichi

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Affectedly trendy; chic and stylish

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (Latin America, chiefly in the plural) A woman's breast.

chit

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A child or babe; a young, small, or insignificant person or animal.
  2. A pert or sassy young person, especially a young woman.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The embryonic growing bud of a plant
  2. An excrescence on the body, as a wart or a pimple.
verb
  1. To sprout; to shoot, as a seed or plant.
  2. To damage the outer layers of a seed such as Lupinus or Sophora to assist germination.
  3. To initiate sprouting of tubers, such as potatoes, by placing them in special environment, before planting into the soil.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A small sheet or scrap of paper with a hand-written note as a reminder or personal message.
  2. A voucher or token coin used in payrolls under the truck system; scrip.
  3. A small sheet of paper on which is written a prescription to be filled; a scrip.
  4. A smaller cardboard counter generally used not to directly represent something but for another, more transient, purpose such as tracking or randomization.
  5. A signed voucher or memorandum of a small debt, as for food and drinks at a club.
  6. A debt or favor owed in return for a prior loan or favor granted, especially a political favor.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A small tool used in cleaving laths. Compare: froe.

Etymology 5

noun
  1. Shit.
interjection
  1. Shit.

chitchat

noun
  1. Light conversation; casual talk, usually about trivial matters.
  2. Gossip.
verb
  1. To engage in small talk, to discuss unimportant matters.

choir

noun
  1. Singing group; group of people who sing together; company of people who are trained to sing together.
  2. The part of a church where the choir assembles for song.
  3. (Christian angelology) One of the nine ranks or orders of angels.
  4. Set of strings (one per note) for a harpsichord.
verb
  1. To sing in concert.

ciao

noun
  1. A greeting or farewell using the word "ciao".
interjection
  1. Hello, hi.
  2. Bye, goodbye.

circa

preposition
  1. Approximately, about, around (typically in relation to time)

cirri

noun
  1. A tendril.
  2. A thin tendril-like appendage.
  3. A principal high-level cloud type characterised by white, delicate filaments or wisps, of white (or mostly white) patches, or of narrow bands, found at an altitude of above 7000 metres.

citric

adjective
  1. Of, pertaining to, or derived from, the citron or lemon.

coati

noun
  1. Any of several omnivorous mammals, of the genus Nasua or Nasuella, in order Carnivora, that live in the range from southern United States to northern Argentina.

cocci

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any approximately spherical bacterium.
  2. One of the carpels or seed-vessels of a dry fruit.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Coccidioidomycosis

cochair

noun
  1. Someone who serves as the chair of a meeting or organization together with one or more other chairs.
verb
  1. To chair (a meeting) jointly.

coir

noun
  1. The fibre obtained from the husk of a coconut, used chiefly in making rope, matting and as a peat substitute.

critic

noun
  1. A person who appraises the works of others.
  2. A specialist in judging works of art.
  3. One who criticizes; a person who finds fault.
  4. An opponent.
verb
  1. To criticise.
noun
  1. The art of criticism.
  2. An essay in which another piece of work is criticised, reviewed, etc.
  3. A point made to criticize something.
  4. A critic; one who criticises.

croci

noun
  1. A perennial flowering plant (of the genus Crocus in the Iridaceae family). Saffron is obtained from the stamens of Crocus sativus.
  2. Any of various similar flowering plants, such as the autumn crocus and prairie crocus.
  3. A deep yellow powder, the oxide of some metal (especially iron), calcined to a red or deep yellow colour.
  4. A fraudulent doctor; a quack.

hair

noun
  1. A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.
  2. The collection or mass of such growths growing from the skin of humans and animals, and forming a covering for a part of the head or for any part or the whole body.
  3. A slender outgrowth from the chitinous cuticle of insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. Such hairs are totally unlike those of vertebrates in structure, composition, and mode of growth.
  4. A cellular outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated.
  5. A locking spring or other safety device in the lock of a rifle, etc., capable of being released by a slight pressure on a hair-trigger.
  6. Haircloth; a hair shirt.
  7. Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.
  8. Complexity; difficulty; quality of being hairy
verb
  1. To remove the hair from.
  2. To grow hair (where there was a bald spot).
  3. To cause to have hair; to provide with hair
  4. To string the bow for a violin.

haricot

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A common bean.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A stew of lamb and vegetables.

hitch

noun
  1. A sudden pull.
  2. Any of various knots used to attach a rope to an object other than another rope.
  3. A fastener or connection point, as for a trailer.
  4. A problem, delay or source of difficulty.
  5. A hidden or unfavorable condition or element; a catch.
  6. A period of time spent in the military.
verb
  1. To pull with a jerk.
  2. To attach, tie or fasten.
  3. To marry oneself to; especially to get hitched.
  4. Contraction of hitchhike, to thumb a ride.
  5. To become entangled or caught; to be linked or yoked; to unite; to cling.
  6. To move interruptedly or with halts, jerks, or steps; said of something obstructed or impeded.
  7. To strike the legs together in going, as horses; to interfere.

ichor

noun
  1. The liquid that in Greek mythology was said to flow in place of blood in the veins of the gods
  2. Any bloodlike fluid
  3. A watery, fetid discharge from a sore
  4. Yellow bile

iota

noun
  1. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet.
  2. A jot; a very small, insignificant quantity.

itch

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A sensation felt on an area of the skin that causes a person or animal to want to scratch.
  2. A constant teasing desire or want.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To feel itchy; to feel a need to be scratched.
  2. To have a constant, teasing urge; to feel strongly motivated; to want or desire something.
  3. To cause to feel an itch.
  4. To scratch or rub so as to relieve an itch.

oratorio

noun
  1. A musical composition, often based on a religious theme; similar to opera but with no costume, scenery or acting.

orthotic

noun
  1. An orthopedic appliance designed to support, straighten or improve the functioning of a body part; an orthosis.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to orthotics.
  2. Of Greek typography: having an upright form, distinct from the cursive and chancery types.

raita

noun
  1. A condiment used as a dip or sauce in the cuisine of southern Asia, made from seasoned yogurt.

ratio

noun
  1. A number representing a comparison between two named things.
  2. The relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient).
  3. Short for ratio decidendi.
  4. The amount of comments to a post or other expression on social media relative to the number of likes.
verb
  1. (social media) To respond to a post or message on social media in a greater number than the number of likes the post receives.

rhotic

noun
  1. A rhotic consonant or rhotic vowel (R-coloured vowel).
adjective
  1. (of an English accent) That allows the phoneme /ɹ/ even when not followed by a vowel, as in bar (/bɑːɹ/) and bard or barred (/bɑːɹd/); (of an English speaker) who speaks with such an accent.
  2. (of a phoneme) Having a sound quality associated with the letter R; having the sound of any of certain IPA symbols, including /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ɚ/, /ɝ/ and /r/.

rich

verb
  1. To enrich.
  2. To become rich.
adjective
  1. Wealthy: having a lot of money and possessions.
  2. Having an intense fatty or sugary flavour.
  3. Plentiful, abounding, abundant, fulfilling.
  4. Yielding large returns; productive or fertile; fruitful.
  5. Composed of valuable or costly materials or ingredients; procured at great outlay; highly valued; precious; sumptuous; costly.
  6. Not faint or delicate; vivid.
  7. Very amusing.
  8. Ridiculous, absurd, outrageous, preposterous.
  9. Elaborate, having complex formatting, multimedia, or depth of interaction.
  10. Of a fuel-air mixture, having less air than is necessary to burn all of the fuel; less air- or oxygen- rich than necessary for a stoichiometric reaction.
  11. Trading at a price level which is high relative to historical trends, a similar asset, or (for derivatives) a theoretical value.

ricotta

noun
  1. A soft Italian unsalted whey cheese resembling cottage cheese.

riot

noun
  1. Wanton or unrestrained behavior; uproar; tumult.
  2. The tumultuous disturbance of the public peace by an unlawful assembly of three or more persons in the execution of some private object.
  3. A wide and unconstrained variety.
  4. Excessive and expensive feasting; wild and loose festivity; revelry.
verb
  1. To create or take part in a riot; to raise an uproar or sedition.
  2. To act in an unrestrained or wanton manner; to indulge in excess of feasting, luxury, etc.
  3. To cause to riot; to throw into a tumult.
  4. To annoy.

roti

noun
  1. A kind of unleavened flatbread commonly consumed in South Asia and the Caribbean.

tacit

adjective
  1. Expressed in silence; implied, but not made explicit; silent.
  2. Not derived from formal principles of reasoning; based on induction rather than deduction.

tactic

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.
adjective
  1. Tactical; of or relating to the art of military and naval tactics.
  2. Describing a polymer whose repeat units are identical.

thoracic

noun
  1. One of a group of fishes having the ventral fins placed beneath the thorax or beneath the pectoral fins.
adjective
  1. Of the thorax.

tiara

noun
  1. The papal crown.
  2. An ornamental coronet.

tori

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A topological space which is a product of two circles.
  2. The standard representation of such a space in 3-dimensional Euclidean space: a shape consisting of a ring with a circular cross-section: the shape of an inner tube or hollow doughnut.
  3. (in combination, n-torus, 4-torus, etc.) The product of the specified number of circles.
  4. A molding which projects at the base of a column and above the plinth.
  5. The end of the peduncle or flower stalk to which the floral parts (or in the Asteraceae, the florets of a flower head) are attached; receptacle, thalamus.
  6. A rounded ridge, especially one on the occipital bone.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. One who executes a technique against the training partner, or uke.

toric

adjective
  1. Pertaining to or shaped like a torus, or a section of a torus; toroidal.

torii

noun
  1. A traditional Japanese gate at Shinto shrines, symbolically marking the transition from the profane to the sacred.

trait

noun
  1. An identifying characteristic, habit or trend.
  2. An uninstantiable collection of methods that provides functionality to a class by using the class’s own interface.

traitor

noun
  1. Someone who violates an allegiance and betrays their country; someone guilty of treason; one who, in breach of trust, delivers their country to an enemy, or yields up any fort or place entrusted to his defense, or surrenders an army or body of troops to the enemy, unless when vanquished
  2. Someone who takes arms and levies war against their country; or one who aids an enemy in conquering his country.
  3. Hence, one who betrays any confidence or trust.
verb
  1. To act the traitor toward; to betray; to deceive.
adjective
  1. Traitorous

trattoria

noun
  1. A small, informal Italian-style restaurant.

tricot

noun
  1. A soft knit fabric.

trio

noun
  1. A group of three people or things.
  2. A group of three musicians.
  3. A piece of music written for three musicians.
  4. A passage in the middle of a minuet, frequently in a different key.
  5. Any cocktail made with a spirit, a liqueur, and a creamy ingredient.