Saturday, September 14, 2024

Answers to yesterday's Bee

Jump to answers for


The official answers for today's puzzle are:

Click on the arrow to show the definition.
Click outside the pop-up to close it.



Number of Pangrams: 2

Maximum Puzzle Score: 191

Number of Answers: 47

Points Needed for Genius: 134

Genius requires between 20 and 42 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangrams, you need 83% 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 191 was in the 63rd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on September 11, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 47 possible answers rank it in the 71st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on September 12, 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 September 11, 2024.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.0.
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 179
  • loll 172
  • toot 164
  • naan 160
  • nana 160
  • lilt 128
  • till 128
  • tilt 128
  • tint 121
  • mama 114
  • mamma 114
  • acacia 110
  • acai 110
  • nene 109
  • anal 106
  • onto 106
  • toon 106
  • boob 104
  • booboo 104
  • onion 104
  • anon 102
  • lull 101
  • lulu 101
  • olio 100
  • baba 99
  • papa 97
  • call 96
  • calla 96
  • mitt 96
  • poop 96
  • dodo 95
  • allay 94
  • ally 94
  • ratatat 94
  • tart 94
  • tartar 94
  • tatty 94
  • attar 93
  • cocci 93
  • tact 91
  • mono 90
  • moon 90
  • nanny 90
  • epee 89
  • loon 89
  • peep 89
  • radar 89
  • tattoo 89
  • tutu 89
  • array 87


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 90,500 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,239 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
  • ajee
  • ajiva
  • alae
  • alan
  • alane
  • alanin
  • alanine
  • alee
  • alevin
  • alienee
  • aline
  • allee
  • alvine
  • anele
  • anil
  • anile
  • anilin
  • aniline
  • anna
  • avellan
  • avellane
  • elain
  • ilea
  • ileal
  • ilia
  • ilial
  • inia
  • jane
  • jnana
  • lall
  • lallan
  • lavalava
  • leal
  • leva
  • liana
  • liane
  • lienal
  • naevi
  • nala
  • nanna
  • nannie
  • nival
  • vail
  • valine
  • valval
  • veena
  • veinal
  • vela
  • vena
  • venae
  • villae
  • villanella
  • vina
  • vinal
  • vineal
  • viva

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

alien

noun
  1. Any life form of extraterrestrial or extradimensional origin.
  2. A person, animal, plant, or other thing which is from outside the family, group, organization, or territory under consideration.
  3. A foreigner residing in a country.
  4. One excluded from certain privileges; one alienated or estranged.
verb
  1. To estrange; to alienate.
  2. To transfer the ownership of something.
adjective
  1. Not belonging to the same country, land, or government, or to the citizens or subjects thereof; foreign.
  2. Very unfamiliar, strange, or removed.
  3. Pertaining to extraterrestrial life.

alive

adjective
  1. Having life; living; not dead
  2. In a state of action; in force or operation; existent
  3. Busy with activity of many living beings; swarming; thronged; busy.
  4. Sprightly; lively; brisk.
  5. Susceptible; easy to impress; having keen feelings, as opposed to apathy
  6. (as an intensifier) out of all living creatures.
adjective
  1. (only used attributively) Having life; that is alive.
  2. Being in existence; actual
  3. Having active properties; being energized.
  4. Operational; in actual use rather than in testing etc.
  5. Taken from a living animal.
  6. Imparting power; having motion.
  7. Still in active play.
  8. Seen or heard from a broadcast, as it happens.
  9. (of a performance or speech) In person.
  10. (entertainment, performing) Recorded in front of an audience and not having been edited after recording.
  11. Of firearms or explosives, capable of causing harm.
  12. (circuitry) Electrically charged or energized, usually indicating that the item may cause electrocution if touched.
  13. Being a bet which can be raised by the bettor, usually in reference to a blind or straddle.
  14. Featuring humans; not animated, in the phrases “live actors” or “live action”.
  15. Being in a state of ignition; burning.
  16. Full of earnestness; active; wide awake; glowing.
  17. Vivid; bright.

allele

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

anal

noun
  1. Any of the anal scales of a reptile.
  2. Anal sex.
adjective
  1. Of, related to, intended for or involving the anus.
  2. Of the stage in psychosexual development when the child's interest is alleged to be concentrated on the anal region.
  3. Of a person, compulsive and stubborn, obsessed with neatness and accuracy, supposedly from not having progressed beyond the anal stage.
  4. (of a vein) Proximate to the thorax.

annal

noun
  1. The record of a single event or item.

anneal

noun
  1. An act of annealing.
verb
  1. To subject to great heat and then (often slow) cooling, and sometimes reheating and further cooling, for the purpose of rendering less brittle; to temper; to toughen.
  2. To cool glass slowly, to minimize internal stress.
  3. To burn colors onto a glass or other surface.
  4. To make a double-stranded nucleic acid by pairing a single strand with a complementary strand.
  5. To strengthen or harden.

anvil

noun
  1. A heavy iron block used in the blacksmithing trade as a surface upon which metal can be struck and shaped.
  2. An incus bone in the middle ear.
  3. A stone or other hard surface used by a bird for breaking the shells of snails.
  4. The non-moving surface of a micrometer against which the item to be measured is placed.
verb
  1. To fashion on an anvil (often used figuratively).

avail

noun
  1. Effect in achieving a goal or aim; purpose, use (now usually in negative constructions).
  2. Proceeds; profits from business transactions.
  3. An advertising slot or package.
  4. A press avail.
  5. Non-binding notice of availability for work.
  6. A readily available stock of oil.
  7. Benefit; value, profit; advantage toward success.
  8. Effort; striving.
verb
  1. To turn to the advantage of.
  2. To be of service to.
  3. To promote; to assist.
  4. To be of use or advantage; to answer or serve the purpose; to have strength, force, or efficacy sufficient to accomplish the object.
  5. To provide; to make available.

avian

noun
  1. A bird.
  2. A bird-like or flying creature.
  3. (furry fandom) Someone who roleplays or describes themselves as being a bird or bird-like animal character with human characteristics.
adjective
  1. Characteristic of or pertaining to birds, or to bird-like or flying creatures.

eave

noun
  1. Eaves: the underside of a roof that extends beyond the external walls of a building.

elan

noun
  1. Ardor or zeal inspired by passion or enthusiasm.

inane

noun
  1. That which is void or empty.
adjective
  1. Lacking sense or meaning (often to the point of boredom or annoyance)
  2. Purposeless; pointless

jail

noun
  1. A place or institution for the confinement of persons held in lawful custody or detention, especially for minor offenses or with reference to some future judicial proceeding.
  2. Confinement in a jail.
  3. The condition created by the requirement that a horse claimed in a claiming race not be run at another track for some period of time (usually 30 days).
  4. In dodgeball and related games, the area where players who have been struck by the ball are confined.
  5. (FreeBSD) A kind of sandbox for running a guest operating system instance.
verb
  1. To imprison.

java

noun
  1. A blend of coffee imported from the island of Java.
  2. Coffee in general.
  3. A dance popular in France in the early 20th century.

javelin

noun
  1. A light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon.
  2. A metal-tipped spear thrown for distance in an athletic field event.
verb
  1. To pierce with a javelin.

javelina

noun
  1. The peccary, especially the collared peccary.

jean

noun
  1. Denim.

lain

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
  2. To be placed or situated.
  3. To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.
  4. Used with in: to be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist.
  5. Used with with: to have sexual relations with.
  6. Used with on/upon: to be incumbent (on); to be the responsibility of a person.
  7. To lodge; to sleep.
  8. To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
  9. To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To conceal, keep quiet about.

lanai

noun
  1. (Florida) A Hawaiian-style roofed patio.

lane

noun
  1. (used in street names) A road, street, or similar thoroughfare.
  2. A narrow passageway between fences, walls, hedges or trees.
  3. A narrow road, as in the country.
  4. A lengthwise division of roadway intended for a single line of vehicles.
  5. A similar division of a racetrack to keep runners apart.
  6. A course designated for ships or aircrafts.
  7. An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.
  8. An empty space in the tableau, formed by the removal of an entire row of cards.
  9. Any of the parallel slots in which values can be stored in a SIMD architecture.
  10. In MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games, a particular path on the map that may be traversed by enemy characters.
  11. The homestretch.

lava

noun
  1. The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides.
  2. Magma.
  3. A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.

lave

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
  2. To draw, as water; drink in.
  3. To give bountifully; lavish.
  4. To run down or gutter, as a candle.
  5. To hang or flap down.
  6. To wash.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (archaic or dialectal) The remainder, rest; that which is left, remnant; others.
  2. (dialectal) A crowd

lean

Etymology 1

noun
  1. (of an object taller than its width and depth) An inclination away from the vertical.
verb
  1. To incline, deviate, or bend, from a vertical position; to be in a position thus inclining or deviating.
  2. To incline in opinion or desire; to conform in conduct; often with to, toward, etc.
  3. Followed by against, on, or upon: to rest or rely, for support, comfort, etc.
  4. To hang outwards.
  5. To press against.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Meat with no fat on it.
  2. An organism that is lean in stature.
verb
  1. To thin out (a fuel-air mixture): to reduce the fuel flow into the mixture so that there is more air or oxygen.
adjective
  1. (of a person or animal) Slim; not fleshy.
  2. (of meat) Having little fat.
  3. Having little extra or little to spare; scanty; meagre.
  4. Having a low proportion or concentration of a desired substance or ingredient.
  5. Of a character which prevents the compositor from earning the usual wages; opposed to fat.
  6. Efficient, economic, frugal, agile, slimmed-down; pertaining to the modern industrial principles of "lean manufacturing"

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To conceal.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A recreational drug based on codeine-laced promethazine cough syrup, popular in the hip hop community in the southeastern United States.

leave

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To have a consequence or remnant.
  2. To depart; to separate from.
  3. To transfer something.
  4. To remain (behind); to stay.
  5. To stop, desist from; to "leave off" (+ noun / gerund).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The action of the batsman not attempting to play at the ball.
  2. The arrangement of balls in play that remains after a shot is made (which determines whether the next shooter — who may be either the same player, or an opponent — has good options, or only poor ones).

Etymology 3

noun
  1. Permission to be absent; time away from one's work.
  2. Permission.
  3. Farewell, departure.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To give leave to; allow; permit; let; grant.

Etymology 5

verb
  1. To produce leaves or foliage.

Etymology 6

verb
  1. To raise; to levy.

leaven

noun
  1. Any agent used to make dough rise or to have a similar effect on baked goods.
  2. Anything that makes a general assimilating change in the mass.
verb
  1. To add a leavening agent.
  2. To cause to rise by fermentation.
  3. To temper an action or decision.
  4. To imbue; to infect; to vitiate.
  5. To rise or become larger.

lineal

adjective
  1. (family) Of a family relationship that includes mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, grandparents, grandchildren, etc., but not siblings; as opposed to collateral.
  2. Inheriting by direct descent; having the right by direct descent to succeed (to).
  3. Composed of lines; delineated.
  4. In the direction of a line; of a line; of or relating to a line; measured on, or ascertained by, a line; linear.

naan

noun
  1. A type of round, flat bread baked in a tandoor popular in South and Central Asian cuisine.

nail

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The thin, horny plate at the ends of fingers and toes on humans and some other animals.
  2. The basal thickened portion of the anterior wings of certain hemiptera.
  3. The terminal horny plate on the beak of ducks, and other allied birds.
  4. The claw of a bird or other animal.
  5. A spike-shaped metal fastener used for joining wood or similar materials. The nail is generally driven through two or more layers of material by means of impacts from a hammer or other device. It is then held in place by friction.
  6. A round pedestal on which merchants once carried out their business, such as the four nails outside The Exchange, Bristol.
  7. An archaic English unit of length equivalent to 1/20 of an ell or 1/16 of a yard (2 1/4 inches or 5.715 cm).

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To fix (an object) to another object using a nail.
  2. To drive a nail.
  3. To stud or boss with nails, or as if with nails.
  4. To catch.
  5. To expose as a sham.
  6. To accomplish (a task) completely and successfully.
  7. To hit (a target) effectively with some weapon.
  8. Of a male, to engage in sexual intercourse with.
  9. To spike, as a cannon.
  10. To nail down: to make certain, or confirm.

naive

noun
  1. A naive person; a greenhorn.
adjective
  1. Lacking worldly experience, wisdom, or judgement; unsophisticated.
  2. Not having been exposed to something.
  3. (of art) Produced in a simple, childlike style, deliberately rejecting sophisticated techniques.
  4. Intuitive; designed to follow the way ordinary people approach a problem.

nana

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A banana
  2. A fool

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (term of endearment) one's grandmother
  2. A nanny

naval

adjective
  1. Of or relating to a navy.
  2. Of or relating to ships in general.

nave

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The middle or body of a church, extending from the transepts to the principal entrances.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A hub of a wheel.
  2. The navel.

navel

noun
  1. The indentation or bump remaining in the abdomen of mammals where the umbilical cord was attached before birth.
  2. The central part or point of anything; the middle.
  3. A navel orange.
  4. An eye on the underside of a carronade for securing it to a carriage.

ninja

noun
  1. An adult male human.
  2. (collective) All human males collectively: mankind.
  3. A human, a person of either gender, usually an adult. (See usage notes.)
  4. (collective) All humans collectively: mankind, humankind, humanity. (Sometimes capitalized as Man.)
  5. A member of the genus Homo, especially of the species Homo sapiens.
  6. An male person, usually an adult; a (generally adult male) sentient being, whether human, supernatural, elf, alien, etc.
  7. An adult male who has, to an eminent degree, qualities considered masculine, such as strength, integrity, and devotion to family; a mensch.
  8. Manliness; the quality or state of being manly.
  9. A husband.
  10. A lover; a boyfriend.
  11. A male enthusiast or devotee; a male who is very fond of or devoted to a specified kind of thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
  12. A person, usually male, who has duties or skills associated with a specified thing. (Used as the last element of a compound.)
  13. A person, usually male, who can fulfill one's requirements with regard to a specified matter.
  14. A male who belongs to a particular group: an employee, a student or alumnus, a representative, etc.
  15. An adult male servant.
  16. A vassal; a subject.
  17. A piece or token used in board games such as chess.
  18. Used to refer to oneself or one's group: I, we; construed in the third person.
  19. A term of familiar address often implying on the part of the speaker some degree of authority, impatience, or haste.
  20. A friendly term of address usually reserved for other adult males.
  21. A player on whom another is playing, with the intent of limiting their attacking impact.
noun
  1. A person trained in ninjutsu, especially one used for espionage, assassination, and other tasks requiring stealth during Japan's shogunate period.
  2. A person considered similarly skillful to the historical ninja, especially in covert or stealthy operation.
  3. A person considered to look like the historical ninja in some way, including (Mongolia) amateur private miners.
verb
  1. To act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth.
  2. To claim an item through abuse of game mechanics.
adjective
  1. Of or related to ninjas in their various senses.
verb
  1. To appropriate something (before someone else does).
  2. To displace something, or take precedence over something.
  3. To secure (land, etc.) by the right of preemption.
  4. To make a preemptive bid at bridge.

vain

adjective
  1. Overly proud of oneself, especially concerning appearance; having a high opinion of one's own accomplishments with slight reason.
  2. Having no real substance, value, or importance; empty; void; worthless; unsatisfying.
  3. Effecting no purpose; pointless, futile.
  4. Showy; ostentatious.

vale

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A valley.

Etymology 2

interjection
  1. (usually seen in obituaries) Farewell.

valve

noun
  1. A device that controls the flow of a gas or fluid through a pipe.
  2. A device that admits fuel and air into the cylinder of an internal combustion engine, or one that allows combustion gases to exit.
  3. One or more membranous partitions, flaps, or folds, which permit the passage of the contents of a vessel or cavity in one direction, but stop or control the flow in the opposite direction
  4. One of the leaves of a folding-door, or a window-sash.
  5. A vacuum tube.
  6. One of the pieces into which certain fruits naturally separate when they dehisce.
  7. A small portion of certain anthers, which opens like a trapdoor to allow the pollen to escape, such as in the barberry.
  8. One of the pieces or divisions of bivalve or multivalve shells.
  9. One of the two similar portions of the shell of a diatom.
verb
  1. To control (flow) by means of a valve.

vane

noun
  1. A weather vane
  2. Any of several usually relatively thin, rigid, flat, or sometimes curved surfaces radially mounted along an axis, as a blade in a turbine or a sail on a windmill, that is turned by or used to turn a fluid
  3. The flattened, web-like part of a feather, consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft
  4. A sight on a sextant or compass
  5. One of the metal guidance or stabilizing fins attached to the tail of a bomb or other missile

vanilla

noun
  1. Any tropical, climbing orchid of the genus Vanilla (especially Vanilla planifolia), bearing podlike fruit yielding an extract used in flavoring food or in perfumes.
  2. The fruit or bean of the vanilla plant.
  3. The extract of the fruit of the vanilla plant.
  4. The distinctive fragrant flavour/flavor characteristic of vanilla extract.
  5. Any artificially produced homologue of vanilla extract, principally vanillin produced from lignin from the paper industry or from petrochemicals.
  6. (sexuality) Someone who is not into fetishism; a normophile
  7. An unmodded version of a game
  8. A yellowish-white colour, like that of vanilla ice cream.
adjective
  1. (of flavor, etc.) Of vanilla.
  2. (retronym) Standard, plain, default, unmodified, basic.
  3. (sexuality) Not kinky, not involving BDSM.
  4. Plain; conventional; unimaginative.

vanillin

noun
  1. A chemical compound, 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzaldehyde, that is the primary constituent of vanilla.
  2. Synthetic compound used as a substitute for the extract of the vanilla bean.

veal

noun
  1. The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.

venal

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Venous; pertaining to veins.

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. For sale; available for purchase.
  2. Of a position, privilege etc.: available for purchase rather than assigned on merit.
  3. Capable of being bought (of a person); willing to take bribes.
  4. (of behaviour etc.) Corrupt, mercenary.

venial

adjective
  1. Pardonable; able to be forgiven.
  2. Excusable; trifling

vial

noun
  1. A glass vessel or bottle, especially a small tube-shaped bottle used to store medicine, perfume or other chemical.
verb
  1. To put or keep in, or as in, a vial.

villa

noun
  1. (plural "villas") A house, often larger and more expensive than average, in the countryside or on the coast, often used as a retreat.
  2. (plural "villas") A family house, often semi-detached, in a middle class street.
  3. (plural "villae") A country house, with farm buildings around a courtyard.

villain

noun
  1. A vile, wicked person.
  2. In fiction, a character who has the role of being bad, especially antagonizing the hero.
  3. Any opponent player, especially a hypothetical player for example and didactic purposes. Compare: hero.
verb
  1. To debase; to degrade.
noun
  1. A feudal tenant.

villanelle

noun
  1. A type of poem, consisting of five tercets and one quatrain, with only two rhymes.