Tuesday, August 20, 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: 91

Number of Answers: 27

Points Needed for Genius: 64

Genius requires between 10 and 25 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 83% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, 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 91 was in the 8th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on August 15, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 27 possible answers rank it in the 19th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on August 18, 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 13, 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 163
  • 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
  • lull 101
  • lulu 101
  • onion 101
  • olio 100
  • papa 97
  • call 96
  • calla 96
  • poop 96
  • baba 95
  • dodo 94
  • mitt 94
  • tatty 94
  • allay 93
  • ally 93
  • ratatat 92
  • tart 92
  • tartar 92
  • attar 91
  • tact 91
  • nanny 90
  • cocci 89
  • loon 89
  • mono 89
  • moon 89
  • radar 89
  • tattoo 89
  • tutu 89
  • epee 88
  • peep 88
  • array 87


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 89,417 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*:

  • epopee
  • hoopoe
  • hoopoo
  • neep
  • pein
  • penni
  • pennine
  • pennon
  • pepino
  • pepo
  • phenix
  • phon
  • phonon
  • pinene
  • pinon
  • pion
  • poon

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

epee

noun
  1. A sharp-pointed dueling sword with a bell-shaped guard, used (with the end blunted) in sport fencing.

expo

noun
  1. An exposition.
  2. An expediter; a restaurant worker who prepares food to be taken to tables.

hippie

noun
  1. (1950s slang) A teenager who imitated the beatniks.
  2. (1960s slang; still widely used in reference to that era) One who chooses not to conform to prevailing social norms: especially one who subscribes to values or actions such as acceptance or self-practice of recreational drug use, liberal or radical sexual mores, advocacy of communal living, strong pacifism or anti-war sentiment, etc.
  3. (modern slang) A person who keeps an unkempt or sloppy appearance and wearing unusually long hair (for males), and because of it, often stereotyped as a deadbeat.
  4. Someone who dresses in a hippie style.
  5. One who is hip.
adjective
  1. Of or pertaining to hippies.
  2. Not conforming to generally accepted standards.

hippo

noun
  1. A large, semi-aquatic, herbivorous (plant-eating) African mammal (Hippopotamus amphibius)

hoop

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A circular band of metal used to bind a barrel.
  2. A ring; a circular band; anything resembling a hoop.
  3. A circular band of metal, wood, or similar material used for forming part of a framework such as an awning or tent.
  4. A circle, or combination of circles, of thin whalebone, metal, or other elastic material, used for expanding the skirts of ladies' dresses; (hence, by extension) a hoop petticoat or hoop skirt.
  5. A quart pot; so called because originally bound with hoops, like a barrel. Also, a portion of the contents measured by the distance between the hoops.
  6. An old measure of capacity, variously estimated at from one to four pecks.
  7. The rim part of a basketball net.
  8. (in plural, metonym) The game of basketball.
  9. A hoop earring.
  10. (metonym) A jockey; from a common pattern on the blouse.
  11. (usually in the plural) A horizontal stripe on the jersey
  12. (usually in the plural) A requirement that must be met in order to proceed.
verb
  1. To bind or fasten using a hoop.
  2. To clasp; to encircle; to surround.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A shout; a whoop, as in whooping cough.
  2. The hoopoe.
verb
  1. To utter a loud cry, or a sound imitative of the word, by way of call or pursuit; to shout.
  2. To whoop, as in whooping cough.

hope

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To want something to happen, with a sense of expectation that it might.
  2. To be optimistic; be full of hope; have hopes.
  3. To place confidence; to trust with confident expectation of good; usually followed by in.
  4. To wish.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The feeling of trust, confidence, belief or expectation that something wished for can or will happen.
  2. The actual thing wished for.
  3. A person or thing that is a source of hope.
  4. The virtuous desire for future good.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A hollow; a valley, especially the upper end of a narrow mountain valley when it is nearly encircled by smooth, green slopes; a comb.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A sloping plain between mountain ridges.
  2. A small bay; an inlet; a haven.

ninepin

No Definition Found.

nope

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A negative reply, no.
  2. An intensely undesirable thing, such as a circumstance or an animal, eliciting immediate repulsion without possibility of further consideration.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (except near Staffordshire) A bullfinch

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A blow to the head.
verb
  1. To hit someone on the head.

open

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Not closed
  2. Not physically drawn together, closed, folded or contracted; extended
  3. Actively conducting or prepared to conduct business.
  4. Receptive.
  5. Public
  6. Candid, ingenuous, not subtle in character.
  7. (of a formula) Having a free variable.
  8. (of a set) Which is part of a predefined collection of subsets of X, that defines a topological space on X.
  9. (of a walk) Whose first and last vertices are different.
  10. (of a file, document, etc.) In current use; mapped to part of memory.
  11. Not fulfilled.
  12. Not settled or adjusted; not decided or determined; not closed or withdrawn from consideration.
  13. (stringed instruments) Of a note, played without pressing the string against the fingerboard.
  14. (wind instruments) Of a note, played without closing any finger-hole, key or valve.
  15. Not of a quality to prevent communication, as by closing waterways, blocking roads, etc.; hence, not frosty or inclement; mild; used of the weather or the climate.
  16. (Of correspondence) Written or sent with the intention that it may made public or referred to at any trial, rather than by way of confidential private negotiation for a settlement. (Opposite of "without prejudice")
  17. Uttered with a relatively wide opening of the articulating organs; said of vowels.
  18. Uttered, as a consonant, with the oral passage simply narrowed without closure.
  19. (of a syllable) That ends in a vowel; not having a coda.
  20. Made public, usable with a free licence and without proprietary components.
  21. Resulting from an incision, puncture or any other process by which the skin no longer protects an internal part of the body.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To make something accessible or allow for passage by moving from a shut position.
  2. To make (an open space, etc.) by clearing away an obstacle or obstacles, in order to allow for passage, access, or visibility.
  3. To bring up, broach.
  4. To enter upon, begin.
  5. To spread; to expand into an open or loose position.
  6. To make accessible to customers or clients.
  7. To start (a campaign).
  8. To become open.
  9. To begin conducting business.
  10. To begin a side's innings as one of the first two batsmen.
  11. To bet before any other player has in a particular betting round in a game of poker.
  12. To reveal one's hand.
  13. (of a file, document, etc.) To load into memory for viewing or editing.
  14. To disclose; to reveal; to interpret; to explain.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. (with the) Open or unobstructed space; an exposed location.
  2. (with the) Public knowledge or scrutiny; full view.
  3. A defect in an electrical circuit preventing current from flowing.
  4. A sports event in which anybody can compete

opine

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To have or express an opinion; to state as an opinion; to suppose, consider (that).
  2. To give one's formal opinion (on or upon something).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Any of a class of organic compounds, derived from amino acids, found in some plant tumours

opinion

noun
  1. A subjective belief, judgment or perspective that a person has formed about a topic, issue, person or thing.
  2. The judgment or sentiment which the mind forms of persons or things; estimation.
  3. Favorable estimation; hence, consideration; reputation; fame; public sentiment or esteem.
  4. Obstinacy in holding to one's belief or impression; opiniativeness; conceitedness.
  5. The formal decision, or expression of views, of a judge, an umpire, a doctor, or other party officially called upon to consider and decide upon a matter or point submitted.
  6. (European Union law) a judicial opinion delivered by an Advocate General to the European Court of Justice where he or she proposes a legal solution to the cases for which the court is responsible
verb
  1. To have or express as an opinion.

peen

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The (often spherical) end of the head of a hammer opposite the main hammering end.
verb
  1. To shape metal by striking it, especially with a peen.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Penis.

peep

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A quiet sound, particularly one from a baby bird.
  2. A feeble utterance or complaint.
  3. The sound of a steam engine's whistle; typically shrill.
  4. A kind of bird; a sandpiper.
verb
  1. To make a soft, shrill noise like a baby bird.
  2. To speak briefly with a quiet voice.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A quick look or glimpse, especially a furtive one.
  2. The first partial appearance of something; a beginning to appear.
verb
  1. To look, especially through a narrow opening, or while trying not to be seen or noticed.
  2. To begin to appear; to look forth from concealment; to make the first appearance.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A spot on a die or domino.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. Person.

penne

noun
  1. A type of short, diagonally cut pasta.

peon

noun
  1. A lowly person; a peasant or serf; a labourer who is obliged to do menial work.
  2. A person of low rank or importance.
  3. A messenger, foot soldier, or native policeman.

phoenix

noun
  1. A mythological bird, said to be the only one of its kind, which lives for 500 years and then dies by burning to ashes on a pyre of its own making, ignited by the sun. It then arises anew from the ashes.
  2. Anything that is reborn after apparently being destroyed.
  3. A mythological Chinese chimerical bird whose physical body symbolizes the six celestial bodies.
  4. A Greek silver coin used briefly from 1828 to 1832, divided into 100 lepta.

phone

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.
verb
  1. To call (someone) using a telephone.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

phono

noun
  1. A phonograph.

pine

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any coniferous tree of the genus Pinus.
  2. Any tree (usually coniferous) which resembles a member of this genus in some respect.
  3. The wood of this tree.
  4. (obsolete except South Africa) A pineapple.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A painful longing.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To languish; to lose flesh or wear away through distress.
  2. To long, to yearn so much that it causes suffering.
  3. To grieve or mourn for.
  4. To inflict pain upon; to torment.

pinion

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A wing.
  2. The joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body.
  3. Any of the outermost primary feathers on a bird's wing.
  4. A moth of the genus Lithophane.
  5. A fetter for the arm.
verb
  1. To cut off the pinion of a bird’s wing, or otherwise disable or bind its wings, in order to prevent it from flying.
  2. To bind the arms of someone, so as to deprive him of their use; to disable by so binding.
  3. (transferred sense) To restrain; to limit.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The smallest gear in a gear train.

pipe

noun
  1. Meanings relating to a wind instrument.
  2. Meanings relating to a hollow conduit.
  3. Meanings relating to a container.
  4. Meanings relating to something resembling a tube.
  5. Meanings relating to computing.
  6. Meanings relating to a smoking implement.
verb
  1. To play (music) on a pipe instrument, such as a bagpipe or a flute.
  2. To shout loudly and at high pitch.
  3. To emit or have a shrill sound like that of a pipe; to whistle.
  4. Of a metal ingot: to become hollow in the process of solidifying.
  5. To convey or transport (something) by means of pipes.
  6. To install or configure with pipes.
  7. To dab moisture away from.
  8. To lead or conduct as if by pipes, especially by wired transmission.
  9. To directly feed (the output of one program) as input to another program, indicated by the pipe character (pipe) at the command line.
  10. To create or decorate with piping (icing).
  11. To order or signal by a note pattern on a boatswain's pipe.
  12. (of a male) To have sexual intercourse with a female.
  13. To see.

pippin

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A seed

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Any of several varieties of eating apple that have a yellow or green skin with patches of red
  2. Any of several roundish or oblate apple varieties
  3. An apple tree raised from a seed (not grafted)

pixie

noun
  1. (fantasy literature, fairy tales) A playful sprite or elflike or fairy-like creature.
  2. A cute, petite woman with short hair.
  3. An upper-atmospheric optical phenomenon associated with thunderstorms, a short-lasting pinpoint of light on the surface of convective domes that produces a gnome.

pone

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A writ in law used by the superior courts to remove cases from inferior courts.
  2. A writ to enforce appearance in court by attaching goods or requiring securities.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A baked or fried cornbread (bread made of cornmeal), often made without milk or eggs.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. The last player to bet or play in turn.

pooh

noun
  1. Feces.
  2. A piece of feces or an act of defecation.
  3. Cannabis resin.
  4. Champagne.
verb
  1. To defecate.
  2. To dirty something with feces.
interjection
  1. Expressing annoyance, frustration, etc.: a minced oath for 'shit'.
noun
  1. Short for shampoo.
noun
  1. An instance of saying "pooh".
verb
  1. To say "pooh".
  2. To say "pooh" to.
interjection
  1. Expressing dismissal, contempt, impatience, etc.
  2. Expressing disgust at an unpleasant smell.

poop

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Fecal matter, feces.
  2. The sound of a steam engine's whistle; typically low pitch.
verb
  1. To make a short blast on a horn
  2. To break wind.
  3. To defecate.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A set of data or general information, written or spoken, usually concerning machinery or a process.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To tire, exhaust. Often used with out.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. The stern of a ship.
  2. The poop deck.
verb
  1. To break seawater with the poop of a vessel, especially the poop deck.
  2. To embark a ship over the stern.

Etymology 5

noun
  1. A slothful person.

pope

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An honorary title of the Roman Catholic bishop of Rome as father and head of his church, a sovereign of the Vatican city state.
  2. (Coptic Church) An honorary title of the Coptic bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his church.
  3. An honorary title of the Orthodox bishop of Alexandria as father and head of his autocephalous church.
  4. Any bishop of the early Christian church.
  5. The ruffe, a small Eurasian freshwater fish (Gymnocephalus cernua); others of its genus.
  6. (Cumberland) The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica).
  7. The painted bunting (Passerina ciris).
  8. The red-cowled cardinal (Paroaria dominicana).
verb
  1. To act as or like a pope.
  2. To convert to Roman Catholicism.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (alcoholic beverages) Any mulled wine (traditionally including tokay) considered similar and superior to bishop.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. (Russian Orthodoxy) A Russian Orthodox priest; a parson.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. The whippoorwill (Caprimulgus vociferus).
  2. The nighthawk (Chordeiles minor).