Thursday, August 8, 2024

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: 214

Number of Answers: 46

Points Needed for Genius: 150

Genius requires between 22 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:

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 214 was in the 73rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on August 5, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 46 possible answers rank it in the 69th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on August 5, 2024.
The highest number of answers was 81 on June 8, 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 7, 2024.

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 176
  • loll 171
  • toot 161
  • naan 158
  • nana 158
  • lilt 128
  • till 128
  • tilt 128
  • tint 119
  • mama 113
  • mamma 113
  • nene 108
  • acacia 107
  • acai 107
  • anal 105
  • onto 104
  • toon 104
  • anon 101
  • boob 101
  • booboo 101
  • onion 100
  • lull 99
  • lulu 99
  • olio 99
  • papa 97
  • call 96
  • calla 96
  • poop 95
  • baba 94
  • allay 93
  • ally 93
  • dodo 93
  • mitt 93
  • tatty 93
  • ratatat 91
  • tact 91
  • tart 91
  • tartar 91
  • attar 90
  • nanny 90
  • cocci 89
  • mono 89
  • moon 89
  • radar 89
  • tutu 89
  • loon 88
  • tattoo 88
  • array 87
  • epee 87
  • peep 87


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 88,950 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,191 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
  • abaxial
  • abaxile
  • abba
  • abbe
  • abele
  • abelia
  • affixable
  • affixal
  • affixial
  • alae
  • alba
  • alee
  • alef
  • alfa
  • alible
  • alif
  • allee
  • alliable
  • axal
  • axil
  • axile
  • baal
  • baff
  • bailable
  • bailie
  • beal
  • beflea
  • biali
  • biaxal
  • blae
  • blaff
  • effable
  • exilable
  • faff
  • faille
  • falbala
  • fallal
  • falx
  • faxable
  • feal
  • felafel
  • fellable
  • fila
  • fileable
  • flabella
  • ilea
  • ileal
  • ilia
  • ilial
  • ixia
  • labelable
  • labella
  • lall
  • leal
  • liblab

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

able

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Easy to use.
  2. Suitable; competent.
  3. Liable to.
  4. Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
  5. Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
  6. Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.
  7. Rich; well-to-do.
  8. Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
  9. Legally qualified or competent.
  10. Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To make ready.
  2. To make capable; to enable.
  3. To dress.
  4. To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
  5. To vouch for; to guarantee.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. The letter "A" in Navy Phonetic Alphabet.

affable

adjective
  1. Receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; friendly, courteous, sociable.
  2. Mild; benign.

affix

noun
  1. That which is affixed; an appendage.
  2. A bound morpheme added to the word’s stem's end.
  3. (broadly) A bound morpheme added to a word’s stem; a prefix, suffix etc.
  4. The complex number a+bi associated with the point in the Gauss plane with coordinates (a,b).
  5. (decorative art) Any small feature, as a figure, a flower, or the like, added for ornament to a vessel or other utensil, to an architectural feature.
verb
  1. To attach.
  2. To subjoin, annex, or add at the close or end; to append to.
  3. To fix or fasten figuratively; with on or upon.

alexia

noun
  1. Word blindness, the inability, due to a cerebral disorder, to comprehend or understand writing.

alfalfa

noun
  1. A plant, principally of Medicago sativa, grown as a pasture crop.
  2. A type or breed of this plant.

alibi

noun
  1. The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed
verb
  1. To provide an alibi for.
  2. To provide an excuse for.

allele

noun
  1. One of a number of alternative forms of the same gene occupying a given position, or locus, on a chromosome.

axel

noun
  1. A jump that includes one (or more than one) complete turn and a half turn while in the air.

axial

noun
  1. A flight feather that appears between the primaries and secondaries on some birds.
  2. A plane parallel to the surface of a tooth.
adjective
  1. Relating to, resembling, or situated on an axis
  2. Belonging to the axis of the body, or to the axis of any appendage or organ
  3. In the same direction as the axis, parallel to the axis.

axilla

noun
  1. The angle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs.
noun
  1. The armpit, or the cavity beneath the junction of the arm and shoulder.

axillae

noun
  1. The angle or point of divergence between the upper side of a branch, leaf, or petiole, and the stem or branch from which it springs.
noun
  1. The armpit, or the cavity beneath the junction of the arm and shoulder.

axle

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Shoulder.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The pin or spindle on which a wheel revolves, or which revolves with a wheel.
  2. A transverse bar or shaft connecting the opposite wheels of a car or carriage; an axletree.
  3. An axis.

baba

noun
  1. A kind of sponge cake soaked in rum-flavoured syrup.
  2. (esp. among people of East European ancestry) A grandmother.
  3. An old woman, especially a traditional old woman from an eastern European culture.
  4. (esp. among people of Indian ancestry) A father.
  5. (Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism) A holy man, a spiritual leader.
  6. A baby, child.
  7. In baby talk, often used for a variety of words beginning with b, such as bottle or blanket.

babble

noun
  1. Idle talk; senseless prattle
  2. Inarticulate speech; constant or confused murmur.
  3. A sound like that of water gently flowing around obstructions.
verb
  1. To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
  2. To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
  3. To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
  4. To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
  5. To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
  6. To reveal; to give away (a secret).

babe

noun
  1. A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
  2. An attractive person, especially a young woman.
  3. Darling (term of endearment).

babel

noun
  1. A confused mixture of sounds and voices, especially in different languages.
  2. A place or scene of noise and confusion.
  3. A tall, looming structure.

baffle

noun
  1. A device used to dampen the effects of such things as sound, light, or fluid. Specifically, a baffle is a surface which is placed inside an open area to inhibit direct motion from one part to another, without preventing motion altogether.
  2. An architectural feature designed to confuse enemies or make them vulnerable.
  3. (coal mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of a winding engine.
verb
  1. To publicly disgrace, especially of a recreant knight.
  2. To hoodwink or deceive (someone).
  3. To bewilder completely; to confuse or perplex.
  4. To foil; to thwart.
  5. To struggle in vain.

bail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Security, usually a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial.
  2. Release from imprisonment on payment of such money.
  3. The person providing such payment.
  4. A bucket or scoop used for removing water from a boat etc.
  5. A person who bails water out of a boat.
  6. Custody; keeping.
verb
  1. To secure the release of an arrested person by providing bail.
  2. To release a person under such guarantee.
  3. To hand over personal property to be held temporarily by another as a bailment.
  4. To remove (water) from a boat by scooping it out.
  5. To remove water from (a boat) by scooping it out.
  6. To set free; to deliver; to release.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To exit quickly.
  2. To fail to meet a commitment.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A hoop, ring or handle (especially of a kettle or bucket).
  2. A stall for a cow (or other animal) (usually tethered with a semi-circular hoop).
  3. A hinged bar as a restraint for animals, or on a typewriter.
  4. A frame to restrain a cow during milking or feeding.
  5. A hoop, ring, or other object used to connect a pendant to a necklace.
  6. One of the two wooden crosspieces that rest on top of the stumps to form a wicket.
  7. (furniture) Normally curved handle suspended between sockets as a drawer pull. This may also be on a kettle or pail.
verb
  1. To secure the head of a cow during milking.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To confine.
  2. To secure (a cow) by placing its head in a bail for milking.
  3. To keep (a traveller) detained in order to rob them; to corner (a wild animal); loosely, to detain, hold up. (Usually with up.)

bailee

noun
  1. One who holds bailed property; one who takes possession of the property of another (called a bailor) in order to keep that property safe for the other.

bailiff

noun
  1. (law enforcement) An officer of the court, particularly:
  2. A public administrator, particularly:
  3. A private administrator, particularly
  4. Any debt collector, regardless of his or her official status.

bale

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Evil, especially considered as an active force for destruction or death.
  2. Suffering, woe, torment.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A large fire, a conflagration or bonfire.
  2. A funeral pyre.
  3. A beacon-fire.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A rounded bundle or package of goods in a cloth cover, and corded for storage or transportation.
  2. A bundle of compressed wool or hay, compacted for shipping and handling.
  3. A measurement of hay equal to 10 flakes. Approximately 70-90 lbs (32-41 kg).
  4. A measurement of paper equal to 10 reams.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To remove water from a boat with buckets etc.

ball

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass.
  2. A round or ellipsoidal object.
  3. (mildly, usually in the plural) A testicle.
  4. A leather-covered cushion, fastened to a handle called a ballstock; formerly used by printers for inking the form, then superseded by the roller.
  5. A large pill, a form in which medicine was given to horses; a bolus.
verb
  1. To form or wind into a ball.
  2. To heat in a furnace and form into balls for rolling.
  3. To have sexual intercourse with.
  4. To gather balls which cling to the feet, as of damp snow or clay; to gather into balls.
  5. (usually in present participle) To be hip or cool.
  6. To play basketball.
  7. To punish by affixing a ball and chain
interjection
  1. An appeal by the crowd for holding the ball against a tackled player. This is heard almost any time an opposition player is tackled, without regard to whether the rules about "prior opportunity" to dispose of the ball are fulfilled.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A formal dance.
  2. A very enjoyable time.

befall

noun
  1. Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident.
verb
  1. To fall upon; fall all over; overtake
  2. To happen.
  3. To happen to.
  4. To fall.

biaxial

adjective
  1. Having two axes
  2. Having a value in two perpendicular directions. [In solid mechanics it generally means that normal stresses exist in two of the possible three directions. Note that they do not have to be equal in sign or magnitude.]

bilabial

noun
  1. A speech sound articulated with both lips.
adjective
  1. Articulated with both lips.

billable

noun
  1. Something that is billed for.
adjective
  1. Capable of being billed for.

blab

noun
  1. One who blabs; a babbler; a telltale; a gossip or gossiper.
  2. Gossip; prattle.
verb
  1. To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.

fable

noun
  1. A fictitious narrative intended to enforce some useful truth or precept, usually with animals, etc. as characters; an apologue. Prototypically, Aesop's Fables.
  2. Any story told to excite wonder; common talk; the theme of talk.
  3. Fiction; untruth; falsehood.
  4. The plot, story, or connected series of events forming the subject of an epic or dramatic poem.
verb
  1. To compose fables; hence, to write or speak fiction; to write or utter what is not true.
  2. To make up; to devise, and speak of, as true or real; to tell of falsely; to recount in the form of a fable.

fail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Poor quality; substandard workmanship.
  2. A failure (condition of being unsuccessful)
  3. A failure (something incapable of success)
  4. A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action).
  5. A failing grade in an academic examination.
verb
  1. To be unsuccessful.
  2. Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.)
  3. To neglect.
  4. Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly.
  5. To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert.
  6. To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits.
  7. To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour.
  8. To miss attaining; to lose.
  9. To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence.
  10. To be affected with want; to come short; to lack; to be deficient or unprovided; used with of.
  11. To fall away; to become diminished; to decline; to decay; to sink.
  12. To deteriorate in respect to vigour, activity, resources, etc.; to become weaker.
  13. To perish; to die; used of a person.
  14. To err in judgment; to be mistaken.
  15. To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent.
adjective
  1. That is a failure.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A piece of turf cut from grassland.

falafel

noun
  1. A Middle Eastern food in the form of balls made from chickpeas and other ingredients. Often served in a pita.
  2. A pita with falafel balls inside (like a sandwich or a wrap).
  3. A single falafel ball.

fall

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The act of moving to a lower position under the effect of gravity.
  2. A reduction in quantity, pitch, etc.
  3. The time of the year when the leaves typically fall from the trees; autumn; the season of the year between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.
  4. A loss of greatness or status.
  5. That which falls or cascades.
  6. A crucial event or circumstance.
  7. A hairpiece for women consisting of long strands of hair on a woven backing, intended primarily to cover hair loss.
  8. Blame or punishment for a failure or misdeed.
  9. The part of the rope of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting (usu. plural).
  10. An old Scots unit of measure equal to six ells.
  11. A short, flexible piece of leather forming part of a bullwhip, placed between the thong and the cracker.
  12. The lid, on a piano, that covers the keyboard
verb
  1. (heading) To be moved downwards.
  2. To move downwards.
  3. To happen, to change negatively.
  4. To be allotted to; to arrive through chance, fate, or inheritance.
  5. To diminish; to lessen or lower.
  6. To bring forth.
  7. To issue forth into life; to be brought forth; said of the young of certain animals.
  8. To descend in character or reputation; to become degraded; to sink into vice, error, or sin.
  9. To become ensnared or entrapped; to be worse off than before.
  10. To assume a look of shame or disappointment; to become or appear dejected; said of the face.
  11. To happen; to come to pass; to chance or light (upon).
  12. To begin with haste, ardour, or vehemence; to rush or hurry.
  13. To be dropped or uttered carelessly.
  14. (of a fabric) To hang down (under the influence of gravity).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The chasing of a hunted whale.

fallible

adjective
  1. Capable of making mistakes or being wrong.

fella

noun
  1. (chiefly South US) used to address a male
noun
  1. A colleague or partner.
  2. A companion; a comrade.
  3. A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man.
  4. An equal in power, rank, character, etc.
  5. One of a pair, or of two things used together or suited to each other; a mate.
  6. A person with common characteristics, being of the same kind, or in the same group.
  7. A male person; a man.
  8. A person; an individual, male or female.
  9. A rank or title in the professional world, usually given as "Fellow".
  10. (Aboriginal English) Used as a general intensifier
noun
  1. A person who was a fellow attendee at one's school.

filial

adjective
  1. Pertaining to or befitting a son or daughter.
  2. Respectful of the duties and attitudes of a son or daughter toward their parents.
  3. Of a generation or generations descending from a specific previous one.

fillable

No Definition Found.

fixable

No Definition Found.

flab

noun
  1. Soft, loose flesh on a person's body; fat.

flail

noun
  1. A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.
  2. A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.
verb
  1. To beat using a flail or similar implement.
  2. To wave or swing vigorously
  3. To thresh.
  4. To move like a flail.

flax

noun
  1. A plant of the genus Linum, especially Linum usitatissimum, which has a single, slender stalk, about a foot and a half high, with blue flowers. Also known as linseed, especially when referring to the seeds.
  2. The fibers of Linum usitatissimum, grown to make linen and related textiles.
  3. The flax bush, a plant of the genus Phormium, native to New Zealand, with strap-like leaves up to 3 metres long that grow in clumps.

flea

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A small, wingless, parasitic insect of the order Siphonaptera, renowned for its bloodsucking habits and jumping abilities.
  2. A thing of no significance.
verb
  1. To remove fleas from (an animal).

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).
  2. To frighten; scare; terrify.
  3. To be fear-stricken.

label

noun
  1. A small ticket or sign giving information about something to which it is attached or intended to be attached.
  2. A name given to something or someone to categorise them as part of a particular social group.
  3. A company that sells records.
  4. A user-defined alias for a numerical designation, the reverse of an enumeration.
  5. A named place in source code that can be jumped to using a GOTO or equivalent construct.
  6. A charge resembling the strap crossing the horse’s chest from which pendants are hung.
  7. A tassel.
  8. A piece of writing added to something, such as a codicil appended to a will.
  9. A brass rule with sights, formerly used with a circumferentor to take altitudes.
  10. The projecting moulding by the sides, and over the tops, of openings in mediaeval architecture.
  11. In mediaeval art, the representation of a band or scroll containing an inscription.
  12. A non-interactive control or widget displaying text, often used to describe the purpose of another control.
verb
  1. To put a label (a ticket or sign) on (something).
  2. (ditransitive) To give a label to (someone or something) in order to categorise that person or thing.
  3. To replace specific atoms by their isotope in order to track the presence or movement of this isotope through a reaction, metabolic pathway or cell.
  4. To add a detectable substance, either transiently or permanently, to a biological substance in order to track the presence of the label-substance combination either in situ or in vitro

labia

noun
  1. The folds of tissue at the opening of the vulva, at either side of the vagina.
noun
  1. A liplike structure; especially one of the two pairs of folds of skin either side of the vulva.
  2. The lip of a labiate corolla.
  3. The lip against which pressured air is driven to produce sound in a recorder and in a pipe organ with flue pipes.

labial

noun
  1. A consonant articulated by the lips.
  2. An organ pipe having a lip that influences its sound.
  3. Any of the scales bordering the mouth opening of a reptile.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to the lips or labia.
  2. Articulated by the lips, as the consonants b, m and w.
  3. Of an incisor or canine, on the side facing the lips. See mesial.
  4. Furnished with lips.

labile

adjective
  1. Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
  2. Apt or likely to change.
  3. (of a compound or bond) Kinetically unstable; rapidly cleaved (and possibly reformed).
  4. (of a verb) Able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.

leaf

noun
  1. The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
  2. Anything resembling the leaf of a plant.
  3. A sheet of any substance beaten or rolled until very thin.
  4. A sheet of a book, magazine, etc (consisting of two pages, one on each face of the leaf).
  5. (in the plural) Tea leaves.
  6. A flat section used to extend the size of a table.
  7. A moveable panel, e.g. of a bridge or door, originally one that hinged but now also applied to other forms of movement.
  8. A foliage leaf or any of the many and often considerably different structures it can specialise into.
  9. In a tree, a node that has no descendants.
  10. The layer of fat supporting the kidneys of a pig, leaf fat.
  11. One of the teeth of a pinion, especially when small.
  12. Marijuana.
  13. (4chan) A Canadian person.
verb
  1. To produce leaves; put forth foliage.
  2. To divide (a vegetable) into separate leaves.

liable

adjective
  1. Bound or obliged in law or equity; responsible; answerable.
  2. Subject; susceptible.
  3. Exposed to a certain contingency or causality, more or less probable.
  4. (as predicate, with "to" and an infinitive) likely.