Monday, September 16, 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: 141

Number of Answers: 38

Points Needed for Genius: 99

Genius requires between 16 and 33 words. You need at least a 6-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 78% of the total points to reach genius. If you get the pangram, you only need 67% 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 141 was in the 38th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this low was on September 10, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 38 possible answers rank it in the 49th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were fewer answers than this was on September 10, 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 September 12, 2024.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 4.9.
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 90,593 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,251 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*:

  • ceil
  • ceili
  • chiel
  • chile
  • chilli
  • chillily
  • chyle
  • cilice
  • cliffy
  • cyclicly
  • echelle
  • elhi
  • felicific
  • felly
  • feyly
  • fille
  • fleche
  • fleech
  • fleecily
  • fley
  • flic
  • heil
  • hili
  • iffily
  • lich
  • lichee
  • lichi
  • lief
  • liefly
  • lycee
  • lych
  • yill

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

cell

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A single-room dwelling for a hermit.
  2. A small monastery or nunnery dependent on a larger religious establishment.
  3. A small room in a monastery or nunnery accommodating one person.
  4. A room in a prison or jail for one or more inmates.
  5. Each of the small hexagonal compartments in a honeycomb.
  6. Any of various chambers in a tissue or organism having specific functions.
  7. The discal cell of the wing of a lepidopteran insect.
  8. Specifically, any of the supposed compartments of the brain, formerly thought to be the source of specific mental capacities, knowledge, or memories.
  9. A section or compartment of a larger structure.
  10. Any small dwelling; a remote nook, a den.
  11. A device which stores electrical power; used either singly or together in batteries; the basic unit of a battery.
  12. The basic unit of a living organism, consisting of a quantity of protoplasm surrounded by a cell membrane, which is able to synthesize proteins and replicate itself.
  13. A small thunderstorm, caused by convection, that forms ahead of a storm front.
  14. The minimal unit of a cellular automaton that can change state and has an associated behavior.
  15. In FreeCell-type games, a space where one card can be placed.
  16. A small group of people forming part of a larger organization, often an outlawed one.
  17. (communication) A short, fixed-length packet as in asynchronous transfer mode.
  18. (communication) A region of radio reception that is a part of a larger radio network.
  19. A three-dimensional facet of a polytope.
  20. The unit in a statistical array (a spreadsheet, for example) where a row and a column intersect.
  21. The space between the ribs of a vaulted roof.
  22. A cella.
  23. An area of an insect wing bounded by veins
verb
  1. To place or enclose in a cell.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A cellular phone.

celli

No Definition Found.

chicle

noun
  1. The milky latex of the sapodilla tree, used after coagulation as the principal ingredient of chewing gum

chicly

No Definition Found.

chiefly

adjective
  1. Of or relating to a chief
adverb
  1. (focus) Especially or primarily; above all.
  2. (focus) Mainly or principally; almost entirely.

chili

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
  2. Powdered chili pepper, used as a spice or flavouring in cooking.
  3. (Indian Chinese cuisine) a spicy stew of chicken or paneer, capsicum and onion, eaten as an appetizer.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A dish made with chili peppers and other ingredients, such as beans and beef.
  2. (Cincinnati) Cincinnati chili.

chill

noun
  1. A moderate, but uncomfortable and penetrating coldness.
  2. A sudden penetrating sense of cold, especially one that causes a brief trembling nerve response through the body; the trembling response itself; often associated with illness: fevers and chills, or susceptibility to illness.
  3. An uncomfortable and numbing sense of fear, dread, anxiety, or alarm, often one that is sudden and usually accompanied by a trembling nerve response resembling the body's response to biting cold.
  4. An iron mould or portion of a mould, serving to cool rapidly, and so to harden, the surface of molten iron brought in contact with it.
  5. The hardened part of a casting, such as the tread of a carriage wheel.
  6. A lack of warmth and cordiality; unfriendliness.
  7. Calmness; equanimity.
  8. A sense of style; trendiness; savoir faire.
verb
  1. To lower the temperature of something; to cool
  2. To become cold
  3. To harden a metal surface by sudden cooling
  4. To become hard by rapid cooling
  5. To relax, lie back
  6. To "hang", hang out; to spend time with another person or group. Also chill out.
  7. To smoke marijuana
  8. To discourage, depress
adjective
  1. Moderately cold or chilly.
  2. Unwelcoming; not cordial.
  3. Calm, relaxed, easygoing.
  4. "Cool"; meeting a certain hip standard or garnering the approval of a certain peer group.
  5. Okay, not a problem.

chilly

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Cold enough to cause discomfort.
  2. Feeling uncomfortably cold.
  3. Distant and cool; unfriendly.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The pungent, spicy fresh or dried fruit of any of several cultivated varieties of capsicum peppers, used in cooking.
  2. Powdered chili pepper, used as a spice or flavouring in cooking.
  3. (Indian Chinese cuisine) a spicy stew of chicken or paneer, capsicum and onion, eaten as an appetizer.
noun
  1. A dish made with chili peppers and other ingredients, such as beans and beef.
  2. (Cincinnati) Cincinnati chili.

cicely

noun
  1. Myrrhis odorata, a plant in the genus Myrrhis, in the family Apiaceae.
  2. Sweetroot, any of several plants in the genus Osmorhiza

clef

noun
  1. A symbol found on a musical staff that indicates the pitches represented by the lines and the spaces on the staff

cliche

noun
  1. Something, most often a phrase or expression, that is overused or used outside its original context, so that its original impact and meaning are lost. A trite saying; a platitude.
  2. A stereotype (printing plate).
verb
  1. To use a cliché; to make up a word or a name that sounds like a cliché.

cliff

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face.
  2. A point where something abruptly fails or decreases in value etc.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A symbol found on a musical staff that indicates the pitches represented by the lines and the spaces on the staff

cycle

noun
  1. An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed.
  2. A complete rotation of anything.
  3. A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence.
  4. The members of the sequence formed by such a process.
  5. In musical set theory, an interval cycle is the set of pitch classes resulting from repeatedly applying the same interval class to the starting pitch class.
  6. A series of poems, songs or other works of art.
  7. A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device.
  8. A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels.
  9. A single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game.
  10. A closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.
  11. (algebraic topology) A chain whose boundary is zero.
  12. An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.
  13. An age; a long period of time.
  14. An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.
  15. One entire round in a circle or a spire.
  16. A discharge of a taser.
verb
  1. To ride a bicycle or other cycle.
  2. To go through a cycle or to put through a cycle.
  3. To turn power off and back on
  4. To maintain a team's possession of the puck in the offensive zone by handling and passing the puck in a loop from the boards near the goal up the side boards and passing to back to the boards near the goal

cyclic

adjective
  1. Characterized by, or moving in cycles, or happening at regular intervals.
  2. (of a compound) Having chains of atoms arranged in a ring.
  3. Having parts arranged in a whorl.
  4. (of a group) Being generated by only one element.
  5. (of a polygon) Able to be inscribed in a circle.

eely

No Definition Found.

feel

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A quality of an object experienced by touch.
  2. A vague mental impression.
  3. An act of fondling.
  4. A vague understanding.
  5. An intuitive ability.
  6. Alternative form of feeling.
verb
  1. (heading) To use or experience the sense of touch.
  2. (heading) To sense or think emotionally or judgmentally.
  3. To be or become aware of.
  4. To experience the consequences of.
  5. To seem (through touch or otherwise).
  6. To understand.

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. Much; many.
adverb
  1. Greatly, much, very
pronoun
  1. Many (of).

fell

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A cutting-down of timber.
  2. The stitching down of a fold of cloth; specifically, the portion of a kilt, from the waist to the seat, where the pleats are stitched down.
  3. The end of a web, formed by the last thread of the weft.
verb
  1. To make something fall; especially to chop down a tree.
  2. To strike down, kill, destroy.
  3. To stitch down a protruding flap of fabric, as a seam allowance, or pleat.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. An animal skin, hide, pelt.
  2. Human skin (now only as a metaphorical use of previous sense).

Etymology 3

noun
  1. (obsolete outside Britain) A rocky ridge or chain of mountains.
  2. (obsolete outside Britain) A wild field or upland moor.

Etymology 4

adjective
  1. Of a strong and cruel nature; eager and unsparing; grim; fierce; ruthless; savage.
  2. Strong and fiery; biting; keen; sharp; pungent
  3. Very large; huge.
  4. Eager; earnest; intent.
adverb
  1. Sharply; fiercely.

Etymology 5

noun
  1. Anger; gall; melancholy.

Etymology 6

noun
  1. The finer portions of ore, which go through the meshes when the ore is sorted by sifting.

Etymology 7

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).

filch

noun
  1. Something which has been filched or stolen.
  2. An act of filching; larceny, theft.
  3. A person who filches; a filcher, a pilferer, a thief.
  4. A hooked stick used to filch objects.
verb
  1. To illegally take possession of (especially items of low value); to pilfer, to steal.

file

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A collection of papers collated and archived together.
  2. A roll or list.
  3. Course of thought; thread of narration.
  4. An aggregation of data on a storage device, identified by a name.
verb
  1. To commit (official papers) to some office.
  2. To place in an archive in a logical place and order
  3. To store a file (aggregation of data) on a storage medium such as a disc or another computer.
  4. (with for) To submit a formal request to some office.
  5. To set in order; to arrange, or lay away.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A column of people one behind another, whether "single file" or in a large group with many files side by side.
  2. A small detachment of soldiers.
  3. One of the eight vertical lines of squares on a chessboard (i.e., those identified by a letter). The analog horizontal lines are the ranks.
verb
  1. To move in a file.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A hand tool consisting of a handle to which a block of coarse metal is attached, and used for removing sharp edges or for cutting, especially through metal.
  2. A cunning or resourceful person.
verb
  1. To smooth, grind, or cut with a file.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To defile
  2. To corrupt

fill

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To occupy fully, to take up all of.
  2. To add contents to (a container, cavity or the like) so that it is full.
  3. To enter (something), making it full.
  4. To become full.
  5. To become pervaded with something.
  6. To satisfy or obey (an order, request or requirement).
  7. To install someone, or be installed, in (a position or office), eliminating a vacancy.
  8. To treat (a tooth) by adding a dental filling to it.
  9. To fill or supply fully with food; to feed; to satisfy.
  10. To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
  11. (of a male) To have sexual intercourse with (a female).

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (after a possessive) A sufficient or more than sufficient amount.
  2. An amount that fills a container.
  3. The filling of a container or area.
  4. Inexpensive material used to occupy empty spaces, especially in construction.
  5. Soil and/or human-created debris discovered within a cavity or cut in the layers and exposed by excavation; fill soil.
  6. An embankment, as in railroad construction, to fill a hollow or ravine; also, the place which is to be filled.
  7. A short passage, riff, or rhythmic sound that helps to keep the listener's attention during a break between the phrases of a melody.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. One of the thills or shafts of a carriage.

filly

noun
  1. A young female horse.
  2. A young attractive female.

flee

verb
  1. To run away; to escape.
  2. To escape from.
  3. To disappear quickly; to vanish.

fleece

noun
  1. Hair or wool of a sheep or similar animal
  2. Insulating skin with the wool attached
  3. A textile similar to velvet, but with a longer pile that gives it a softness and a higher sheen.
  4. An insulating wooly jacket
  5. (roofing) Mat or felts composed of fibers, sometimes used as a membrane backer.
  6. Any soft woolly covering resembling a fleece.
  7. The fine web of cotton or wool removed by the doffing knife from the cylinder of a carding machine.
verb
  1. To con or trick (someone) out of money.
  2. To shear the fleece from (a sheep or other animal).
  3. To cover with, or as if with, wool.

fleecy

adjective
  1. Resembling or covered in fleece.

heel

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
  2. The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel.
  3. The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot.
  4. The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist.
  5. (usually in the plural) A woman's high-heeled shoe.
  6. The back, upper part of the stock.
  7. The last or lowest part of anything.
  8. A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread.
  9. The base of a bun sliced in half lengthwise.
  10. A contemptible, inconsiderate or thoughtless person.
  11. A headlining wrestler regarded as a "bad guy," whose ring persona embodies villainous or reprehensible traits and demonstrates characteristics of a braggart and a bully.
  12. The cards set aside for later use in a patience or solitaire game.
  13. Anything resembling a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob.
  14. The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter.
  15. (specifically) The obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping.
  16. (workman slang) A cyma reversa.
  17. The short side of an angled cut.
  18. The part of a club head's face nearest the shaft.
  19. The lower end of the bit (cutting edge) of an axehead; as opposed to the toe (upper end).
  20. In a carding machine, the part of a flat nearest the cylinder.
verb
  1. To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely.
  2. To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot).
  3. To kick with the heel.
  4. To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, etc.
  5. To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting.
  6. To hit (the ball) with the heel of the club.
  7. To make (a fair catch) standing with one foot forward, the heel on the ground and the toe up.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The act of inclining or canting from a vertical position; a cant.
verb
  1. To incline to one side; to tilt.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To make better from a disease, wound, etc.; to revive or cure.
  2. To become better or healthy again.
  3. To reconcile, as a breach or difference; to make whole; to free from guilt.
verb
  1. To hide, conceal, and keep secret, especially for a secret society (such as the masons).
  2. (now especially in the phrase "hele in") To cover or conceal (a seedling, plant, roots, etc).

hell

No Definition Found.

hill

noun
  1. An elevated location smaller than a mountain.
  2. A sloping road.
  3. A heap of earth surrounding a plant.
  4. A single cluster or group of plants growing close together, and having the earth heaped up about them.
  5. The pitcher’s mound.
verb
  1. To form into a heap or mound.
  2. To heap or draw earth around plants.

hilly

adjective
  1. (of a landscape) Abundant in hills; having many hills.

icicle

noun
  1. A drooping, tapering shape of ice.

icily

No Definition Found.

illy

No Definition Found.

lech

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A strong, lecherous desire or craving.
  2. A lecher.
verb
  1. To behave lecherously

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The capstone of a cromlech.

leech

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis.
  2. A person who derives profit from others in a parasitic fashion.
  3. A glass tube designed for drawing blood from damaged tissue by means of a vacuum.
verb
  1. To apply a leech medicinally, so that it sucks blood from the patient.
  2. To drain (resources) without giving back.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A physician.
  2. (Heathenry) A healer.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To treat, cure or heal.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. The vertical edge of a square sail.
  2. The aft edge of a triangular sail.

lice

noun
  1. A small parasitic wingless insect of the order Psocodea.
  2. (not usually used in plural form) A contemptible person; one who is deceitful or causes harm.

life

noun
  1. The state of organisms preceding their death, characterized by biological processes such as metabolism and reproduction and distinguishing them from inanimate objects; the state of being alive and living.
  2. The animating principle or force that keeps an inorganic thing or concept metaphorically alive (dynamic, relevant, etc) and makes it a "living document", "living constitution", etc.
  3. Lifeforms, generally or collectively.
  4. A living individual; the fact of a particular individual being alive. (Chiefly when indicating individuals were lost (died) or saved.)
  5. Existence.
  6. A period of time during which something has existence.
  7. Animation; spirit; vivacity.
  8. A biography.
  9. Nature, reality, and the forms that exist in it.
  10. An opportunity for existence.
  11. The life insurance industry.
  12. A life assured under a life assurance policy (equivalent to the policy itself for a single life contract).

lily

noun
  1. Any of several flowers in the genus Lilium of the family Liliaceae, which includes a great many ornamental species.
  2. Any of several species of herbaceous flower which may or may not resemble the genus Lilium in some way, and which are not closely related to it or each other.
  3. The flower used as a heraldic charge; also commonly used to describe the fleur-de-lis.
  4. The end of a compass needle that should point north, traditionally often ornamented with the figure of a lily or fleur-de-lis.
  5. (usually in the plural) A royal spade in auction bridge.
  6. The thirtieth Lenormand card, representing calmness and maturity.
adjective
  1. White (as a racial epithet).

lychee

noun
  1. The Chinese tropical fruit tree Litchi chinensis, of the soapberry family.
  2. That tree's bright red oval fruit with a single stone surrounded by a fleshy white aril.
  3. A soft pink-red colour, like that of a lychee rind (also called lychee red).

yell

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A shout.
  2. A phrase to be shouted.
verb
  1. Shout; holler; make a loud sound with the voice.
  2. To convey by shouting
  3. To tell someone off (in a loud and angry manner)

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. Dry (of cow)