Thursday, August 15, 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: 77

Number of Answers: 20

Points Needed for Genius: 54

Genius requires between 9 and 18 words. You need at least a 6-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 87% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 63% 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 77 was in the 3rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on July 16, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 20 possible answers rank it in the 1st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on August 9, 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 6-letter word for genius.
The last time this happened was on August 14, 2024.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 4.8.
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 177
  • loll 172
  • toot 162
  • naan 158
  • nana 158
  • lilt 128
  • till 128
  • tilt 128
  • tint 119
  • mama 114
  • mamma 114
  • nene 109
  • acacia 108
  • acai 108
  • anal 105
  • onto 105
  • toon 105
  • boob 102
  • booboo 102
  • anon 101
  • onion 101
  • lull 100
  • lulu 100
  • olio 100
  • papa 97
  • call 96
  • calla 96
  • baba 95
  • poop 95
  • mitt 94
  • allay 93
  • ally 93
  • dodo 93
  • tatty 93
  • ratatat 91
  • tact 91
  • tart 91
  • tartar 91
  • attar 90
  • nanny 90
  • cocci 89
  • loon 89
  • mono 89
  • moon 89
  • radar 89
  • tutu 89
  • tattoo 88
  • array 87
  • epee 87
  • peep 87


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 89,220 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,198 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*:

  • blub
  • bubby
  • bubu
  • bulbil
  • bulbul
  • buppy
  • cubicly
  • cully
  • cuppy
  • picul
  • pullup
  • pulpily
  • pupu
  • upby
  • yuppy

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

bubbly

noun
  1. Champagne.
adjective
  1. Full of bubbles.
  2. Cheerful, lively.
  3. Having the characteristics of bubbles.
  4. Having the characteristics of economic bubbles.

bulb

noun
  1. Any solid object rounded at one end and tapering on the other, possibly attached to a larger object at the tapered end.
  2. A light bulb.
  3. The bulb-shaped root portion of a plant such as a tulip, from which the rest of the plant may be regrown.
  4. A bulbous protuberance at the forefoot of certain vessels to reduce turbulence.
  5. The medulla oblongata.
verb
  1. To take the shape of a bulb; to swell.

bull

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An adult male of domesticated cattle or oxen.
  2. A male of domesticated cattle or oxen of any age.
  3. Any adult male bovine.
  4. An adult male of certain large mammals, such as whales, elephants, camels and seals.
  5. A large, strong man.
  6. An investor who buys (commodities or securities) in anticipation of a rise in prices.
  7. A policeman.
  8. A crown coin; its value, 5 shillings.
  9. (Philadelphia) A man.
  10. A man who has sex with another man's wife or girlfriend with the consent of both.
  11. A drink made by pouring water into a cask that previously held liquor.
adjective
  1. Large and strong, like a bull.
  2. (of large mammals) adult male
  3. Of a market in which prices are rising (compare bear)
  4. Stupid
noun
  1. The centre of a target, inside the inner and magpie.
  2. A shot which hits the centre of a target.
  3. The two central rings on a dartboard.
  4. A hard striped peppermint-flavoured boiled sweet.
  5. Thick glass set into the side of a ship to let in light.
  6. A hand-cancelled postmark issued by a counter clerk at a post office, typically done on a receipt for proof of mailing.
  7. The central part of a crown glass disk, with concentric ripple effect.
  8. A convex glass lens which is placed in front of a lamp to concentrate the light so as to make it more conspicuous as a signal; also the lantern itself.
  9. A £50 banknote.
  10. Any of the first postage stamps produced in Brazil from 1843.
noun
  1. The faeces of a bull.
  2. False or exaggerated statements made to impress and deceive the listener rather than inform; nonsense.
  3. A card game in which the object is to bluff about cards laid down and to determine when one's opponents are bluffing.
  4. An object of frustration and/or disgust, often caused by a perceived deception.
  5. Statements that may be true but misleading nonetheless.
  6. Statements made without any particular reference to their truth value.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To force oneself (in a particular direction).
  2. To lie, to tell untruths.
  3. To be in heat; to manifest sexual desire as cows do.
  4. To polish boots to a high shine.
  5. To endeavour to raise the market price of.
  6. To endeavour to raise prices in.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A papal bull, an official document or edict from the Pope.
  2. A seal affixed to a document, especially a document from the Pope.
verb
  1. (17th century) to publish in a Papal bull

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A lie.
  2. Nonsense.
verb
  1. To mock; to cheat.

Etymology 5

noun
  1. (16th century) A bubble.

bully

noun
  1. A person who is intentionally, physically, or emotionally cruel to others; especially to those who are weaker or have less power or privilege.
  2. A noisy, blustering fellow, more insolent than courageous; one who is threatening and quarrelsome; an insolent, tyrannical fellow.
  3. A hired thug.
  4. A sex worker’s minder.
  5. Bully beef.
  6. A brisk, dashing fellow.
  7. The small scrum in the Eton College field game.
  8. Various small freshwater or brackishwater fish of the family Eleotridae; sleeper goby.
  9. An (eldest) brother; a fellow workman; comrade
  10. A companion; mate (male or female).
  11. A darling, sweetheart (male or female).
  12. A standoff between two players from the opposing teams, who repeatedly hit each other's hockey sticks and then attempt to acquire the ball, as a method of resuming the game in certain circumstances.
  13. A miner's hammer.
verb
  1. To intimidate (someone) as a bully.
  2. To act aggressively towards.
adjective
  1. Very good.
  2. Jovial and blustering.
interjection
  1. (often followed by for) Well done!

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.

clubby

adjective
  1. Resembling or suggestive of a social club or clubhouse: congenial and exclusive.
  2. Fond of frequenting nightclubs.

cubby

noun
  1. A small, confined space.
  2. In a school classroom, a cell of a shelf for students to place belongings in.

cubic

noun
  1. A cubic curve.
adjective
  1. Used in the names of units of volume formed by multiplying a unit of length by itself twice.
  2. Of a class of polynomial of the form ax^3 + bx^2 + cx + d
  3. Having three equal axes and all angles 90°.

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.

lull

noun
  1. A period of rest or soothing.
  2. A period of reduced activity; a respite
  3. A period without waves or wind.
  4. An extended pause between sets of waves.
verb
  1. To cause to rest by soothing influences; to compose; to calm
  2. To become gradually calm; to subside; to cease or abate.

lulu

noun
  1. A remarkable person, object or idea.
  2. A very attractive or alluring person.
  3. A very bad mistake or error.
  4. A fixed allowance paid to a legislator in lieu of reimbursement for actual expenses.

pubic

adjective
  1. Of, or relating to the area of the body adjacent to the pubis or the pubes.

public

noun
  1. The people in general, regardless of membership of any particular group.
  2. A public house; an inn.
adjective
  1. Able to be seen or known by everyone; open to general view, happening without concealment.
  2. Pertaining to the people as a whole (as opposed to a private group); concerning the whole country, community etc.
  3. Officially representing the community; carried out or funded by the state on behalf of the community.
  4. Open to all members of a community; especially, provided by national or local authorities and supported by money from taxes.
  5. (of a company) Traded publicly via a stock market.
  6. Accessible to the program in general, not only to the class or any subclasses.

publicly

adverb
  1. In public, openly, in an open and public manner.
  2. By, for, or on behalf of the public.

puli

noun
  1. One of a breed of Hungarian sheepdog with a distinctive thick, corded coat.

pull

noun
  1. An act of pulling (applying force)
  2. An attractive force which causes motion towards the source
  3. Any device meant to be pulled, as a lever, knob, handle, or rope
  4. Something in one's favour in a comparison or a contest; an advantage; means of influencing.
  5. Appeal or attraction (e.g. of a movie star)
  6. The situation where a client sends out a request for data from a server, as in server pull, pull technology
  7. A journey made by rowing
  8. A contest; a struggle.
  9. Loss or violence suffered.
  10. The act of drinking; a mouthful or swig of a drink.
  11. A kind of stroke by which a leg ball is sent to the off side, or an off ball to the side.
  12. A mishit shot which travels in a straight line and (for a right-handed player) left of the intended path.
  13. A single impression from a handpress.
verb
  1. To apply a force to (an object) so that it comes toward the person or thing applying the force.
  2. To gather with the hand, or by drawing toward oneself; to pluck.
  3. To attract or net; to pull in.
  4. To persuade (someone) to have sex with one.
  5. To remove (something), especially from public circulation or availability.
  6. To retrieve or generate for use.
  7. To do or perform.
  8. (with 'a' and the name of a person, place, event, etc.) To copy or emulate the actions or behaviour that is associated with the person or thing mentioned.
  9. To toss a frisbee with the intention of launching the disc across the length of a field.
  10. To row.
  11. To achieve by rowing on a rowing machine.
  12. To draw apart; to tear; to rend.
  13. To strain (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc.).
  14. To draw (a hostile non-player character) into combat, or toward or away from some location or target.
  15. To score a certain number of points in a sport.
  16. To hold back, and so prevent from winning.
  17. To take or make (a proof or impression); so called because hand presses were worked by pulling a lever.
  18. To strike the ball in a particular manner. (See noun sense.)
  19. To draw beer from a pump, keg, or other source.
  20. (rail transportation, of a railroad car) To pull out from a yard or station; to leave.
  21. To pluck or pick (flowers, fruit etc.).
interjection
  1. Command used by a target shooter to request that the target be released/launched.

pulp

noun
  1. A soft, moist, shapeless mass or matter.
  2. A magazine or book containing lurid subject matter and characteristically printed on rough, unfinished paper.
verb
  1. To make or be made into pulp.
  2. To beat to a pulp.
  3. To deprive of pulp; to separate the pulp from.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to pulp magazines; in the style of a pulp magazine or the material printed within such a publication.

pulpy

adjective
  1. Having the characteristics of pulp
  2. Having the characteristics of pulp fiction; thus, having a garish focus on sex and violence

pupil

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A learner under the supervision of a teacher or professor.
  2. An orphan who is a minor and under the protection of the state.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The hole in the middle of the iris of the eye, through which light passes to be focused on the retina.
  2. The central dark part of an ocellated spot.

puppy

noun
  1. A young dog, especially before sexual maturity (12-18 months)
  2. A young rat.
  3. A young seal.
  4. (usually in the plural) A woman’s breast.
  5. A (generic) thing; particularly something that is a nuisance; a sucker.
  6. A conceited and impertinent person, especially a young man.
verb
  1. To bring forth whelps or give birth to pups.