Sunday, December 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: 223

Number of Answers: 43

Points Needed for Genius: 156

Genius requires between 23 and 35 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 223 was in the 75th percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on December 7, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 43 possible answers rank it in the 62nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on December 7, 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 December 6, 2024.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.7.
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 187
  • loll 180
  • toot 172
  • naan 165
  • nana 165
  • lilt 130
  • till 130
  • tilt 130
  • tint 125
  • mama 121
  • mamma 121
  • nene 118
  • acacia 115
  • acai 115
  • onto 113
  • toon 113
  • anal 110
  • onion 107
  • anon 106
  • boob 106
  • booboo 106
  • olio 103
  • papa 102
  • baba 101
  • lull 101
  • lulu 101
  • dodo 100
  • mitt 100
  • poop 100
  • tact 99
  • allay 97
  • ally 97
  • call 97
  • calla 97
  • ratatat 96
  • tart 96
  • tartar 96
  • attar 95
  • cocci 95
  • tatty 95
  • tutu 95
  • tattoo 94
  • ammo 93
  • epee 93
  • momma 93
  • mono 93
  • moon 93
  • peep 93
  • loon 91
  • roar 91


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 94,207 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,359 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*:

  • aceta
  • acetin
  • acini
  • acinic
  • acta
  • actin
  • actinia
  • actiniae
  • actinian
  • actinic
  • aecia
  • antiacne
  • atactic
  • ataxic
  • axenic
  • caca
  • caeca
  • cain
  • cannie
  • cantic
  • cate
  • catena
  • catenae
  • catenate
  • cattie
  • ceca
  • centai
  • cetane
  • cete
  • cine
  • ectatic
  • enatic
  • encaenia
  • enceinte
  • encina
  • etic
  • excitant
  • ictic
  • incent
  • incitant
  • nance
  • nictate
  • nictitant
  • nictitate
  • tacan
  • tace
  • taxitic
  • tecta
  • tectite
  • tenace
  • tetanic
  • tictac
  • xenic

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

acacia

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A shrub or tree of the tribe Acacieae.
  2. The thickened or dried juice of several species in Acacieae, in particular Vachellia nilotica (syn. Acacia nilotica), the Egyptian acacia.
  3. A false acacia; robinia tree, Robinia pseudoacacia.
  4. Gum arabic; gum acacia.
  5. Any of several related trees, such as the locust tree.
  6. A light to moderate greenish yellow with a hint of red.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. (history) A roll or bag, filled with dust, borne by Byzantine emperors, as a memento of mortality. It is represented on medals.

acai

noun
  1. Any of several South American palms, of the genus Euterpe, having a dark purple drupe.
  2. The fruit of these trees, harvested for its juice.

accent

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.
  2. Emphasis or importance in general.
  3. A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.
  4. Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.
  5. The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
  6. (sign languages) A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it.
  7. A word; a significant tone or sound.
  8. (usually plurale tantum) Expressions in general; speech.
  9. Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.
  10. A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.
  11. A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.
  12. The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.
  13. The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage.
  14. A mark used to represent specific stress on a note.
  15. A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y', y''.
  16. A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc., as in 12' 27'', meaning twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds.
  17. A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in 6' 10'', meaning six feet ten inches.
  18. Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.
  19. A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.
  20. A distinctive feature or quality.
  21. Utterance.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.
  2. To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent.
  3. To mark with written accents.

acetate

noun
  1. Any salt or ester of acetic acid.
  2. Cellulose acetate.
  3. A transparent sheet used for overlays.
  4. Ellipsis of acetate disc: a disc of aluminium covered in a wax used to make demonstration copies of a phonograph record.

acetic

adjective
  1. Of, pertaining to, or producing vinegar
  2. Of or pertaining to acetic acid or its derivatives

acne

noun
  1. A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
  2. A pattern of blemishes in an area of skin resulting from the skin condition.

ancient

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A person who is very old.
  2. A person who lived in ancient times.
  3. One of the senior members of the Inns of Court or of Chancery.
  4. A senior; an elder; a predecessor.
adjective
  1. Having lasted from a remote period; having been of long duration; of great age, very old.
  2. Existent or occurring in time long past, usually in remote ages; belonging to or associated with antiquity; old, as opposed to modern.
  3. (history) Relating to antiquity as a primarily European historical period; the time before the Middle Ages.
  4. Experienced; versed.
  5. Former; sometime.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A flag, banner, standard or ensign.
  2. The bearer of a flag; ensign

antic

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A grotesque representation of a figure; a gargoyle.
  2. A caricature.
  3. (often in plural) A ludicrous gesture or act; ridiculous behaviour; caper.
  4. A grotesque performer or clown, buffoon.
verb
  1. To perform antics, caper.
  2. To make a fool of, to cause to look ridiculous.
  3. To perform (an action) as an antic; to mimic ridiculously.
adjective
  1. Playful, funny, absurd
  2. Grotesque, incongruous.
  3. Grotesque, bizarre
adjective
  1. Having existed in ancient times, descended from antiquity; used especially in reference to Greece and Rome.
  2. Belonging to former times, not modern, out of date, old-fashioned.
  3. Designating a style of type.
  4. Embossed without gilt.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A pose, often exaggerated, in anticipation of an action; for example, a brief squat before jumping

attic

noun
  1. The space, often unfinished and with sloped walls, directly below the roof in the uppermost part of a house or other building, generally used for storage or habitation.

cacti

noun
  1. Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.
  2. Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

cancan

noun
  1. A high-kicking chorus line dance originating in France.
  2. (motocross) A trick where one leg is brought over the seat, so that both legs are on one side.
verb
  1. To dance the cancan.

cane

noun
  1. A plant with simple stems, like bamboo or sugar cane, or the stem thereof
  2. The stem of such a plant adapted for use as a tool
  3. A rod-shaped tool or device, somewhat like a cane
  4. Split rattan, as used in wickerwork, basketry and the like
  5. A local European measure of length; the canna.
verb
  1. To strike or beat with a cane or similar implement
  2. To destroy; to comprehensively defeat
  3. To do something well, in a competent fashion
  4. To produce extreme pain
  5. To make or furnish with cane or rattan.

canine

noun
  1. Any member of Caninae, the only living subfamily of Canidae.
  2. Any of certain extant canids regarded as similar to the dog or wolf (including coyotes, jackals, etc.) but distinguished from the vulpines, which are regarded as fox-like.
  3. In heterodont mammals, the pointy tooth between the incisors and the premolars; a cuspid.
  4. A king and a nine as a starting hand in Texas hold 'em due to phonetic similarity.
adjective
  1. Of, or pertaining to, a dog or dogs.
  2. Dog-like.
  3. Of or pertaining to mammalian teeth which are cuspids or fangs.
  4. Of an appetite: depraved or inordinate; used to describe eating disorders.

canna

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Any member of the genus Canna of tropical plants with large leaves and often showy flowers.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A measure of length in Italy, varying from six to seven feet.

cant

Etymology 1

noun
  1. An argot, the jargon of a particular class or subgroup.
  2. A private or secret language used by a religious sect, gang, or other group.
  3. A language spoken by some Irish Travellers; Shelta.
  4. Empty, hypocritical talk.
  5. Whining speech, such as that used by beggars.
  6. A blazon of a coat of arms that makes a pun upon the name (or, less often, some attribute or function) of the bearer, canting arms.
  7. A call for bidders at a public fair; an auction.
verb
  1. To speak with the jargon of a class or subgroup.
  2. To speak in set phrases.
  3. To preach in a singsong fashion, especially in a false or empty manner.
  4. Of a blazon, to make a pun that references the bearer of a coat of arms.
  5. To sell by auction, or bid at an auction.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Side, edge, corner, niche.
  2. Slope, the angle at which something is set.
  3. A corner (of a building).
  4. An outer or external angle.
  5. An inclination from a horizontal or vertical line; a slope or bevel; a tilt.
  6. A movement or throw that overturns something.
  7. A sudden thrust, push, kick, or other impulse, producing a bias or change of direction; also, the bias or turn so given.
  8. (coopering) A segment forming a side piece in the head of a cask.
  9. A segment of the rim of a wooden cogwheel.
  10. A piece of wood laid upon the deck of a vessel to support the bulkheads.
verb
  1. To set (something) at an angle.
  2. To give a sudden turn or new direction to.
  3. To bevel an edge or corner.
  4. To overturn so that the contents are emptied.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A parcel, a division.
verb
  1. To divide or parcel out.

Etymology 4

adjective
  1. Lively, lusty.

cantata

noun
  1. A vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement, typical of 17th and 18th century Italian music.

canteen

noun
  1. A small cafeteria or snack bar, especially one in a military establishment, school, or place of work.
  2. A temporary or mobile café used in an emergency or on a film location etc.
  3. A box with compartments for storing eating utensils, silverware etc.
  4. A military mess kit.
  5. A water bottle used by a soldier or camper.

cantina

noun
  1. A drinking establishment, often specifically of the type found in Latin America.
  2. Abbreviated form of cantina truck, cantina wagon or cantina trailer

cent

noun
  1. (money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the main unit of currency in many countries. Symbol: ¢.
  2. A small sum of money.
  3. (money) A subunit of currency equal to one-hundredth of the euro.
  4. (money) A coin having face value of one cent (in either of the above senses).
  5. A hundredth of a semitone or half step.
noun
  1. The point in the interior of a circle that is equidistant from all points on the circumference.
  2. The point in the interior of a sphere that is equidistant from all points on the circumference.
  3. The middle portion of something; the part well away from the edges.
  4. The point on a line that is midway between the ends.
  5. The point in the interior of any figure of any number of dimensions that has as its coordinates the arithmetic mean of the coordinates of all points on the perimeter of the figure (or of all points in the interior for a center of volume).
  6. The subgroup (respectively, subring), denoted Z(G), of those elements of a given group (respectively, ring) G that commute with every element of G.
  7. A place where the greater part of some function or activity occurs.
  8. A topic that is particularly important in a given context.
  9. A player in the middle of the playing area
  10. A player who can go all over the court, except the shooting circles.
  11. A pass played into the centre of the pitch.
  12. One of the backs operating in a central area of the pitch, either the inside centre or outside centre.
  13. A temporary structure upon which the materials of a vault or arch are supported in position until the work becomes self-supporting.
  14. One of the two conical steel pins in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves.
  15. A conical recess or indentation in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe.
  16. The ensemble of moderate or centrist political parties.
noun
  1. A centigrade temperature scale having the freezing point of water defined as 0° and its boiling point defined as 100° at standard atmospheric pressure. Known as the Celsius scale since 1948.
  2. A single degree on this scale.
  3. A unit of angle equal to the hundredth part of a quadrant. Its symbol is gon.
noun
  1. (Sanskrit and other Indian philology) satakam, set of one hundred verses connected by the same metre or topic
  2. Perfect score on a board exam
noun
  1. A period of 100 consecutive years; often specifically a numbered period with conventional start and end dates, e.g., the twentieth century, which stretches from (strictly) 1901 through 2000, or (informally) 1900 through 1999. The first century AD was from 1 to 100.
  2. A unit in ancient Roman army, originally of 100 army soldiers as part of a cohort, later of more varied sizes (but typically containing 60 to 70 or 80) soldiers or other men (guards, police, firemen), commanded by a centurion.
  3. A political division of ancient Rome, meeting in the Centuriate Assembly.
  4. A hundred things of the same kind; a hundred.
  5. A hundred runs scored either by a single player in one innings, or by two players in a partnership.
  6. A score of one hundred points.
  7. A race a hundred units (as meters, kilometres, miles) in length.
  8. A banknote in the denomination of one hundred dollars.

cetacean

noun
  1. An animal belonging to the order Cetacea, including dolphins, porpoises, and whales.
adjective
  1. Pertaining to the zoologic order Cetacea, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.
  2. (by extension, sometimes figurative) Resembling or relating to large aquatic mammals.

cite

Etymology 1

verb
  1. To quote; to repeat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another.
  2. To list the source(s) from which one took information, words or literary or verbal context.
  3. To summon officially or authoritatively to appear in court.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A citation

enact

noun
  1. Purpose; determination
verb
  1. To make (a bill) into law
  2. To act the part of; to play
  3. To do; to effect

entice

verb
  1. To lure; to attract by arousing desire or hope.

exact

verb
  1. To demand and enforce the payment or performance of, sometimes in a forcible or imperious way.
  2. To make desirable or necessary.
  3. To inflict; to forcibly obtain or produce.
adjective
  1. Precisely agreeing with a standard, a fact, or the truth; perfectly conforming; neither exceeding nor falling short in any respect.
  2. Habitually careful to agree with a standard, a rule, or a promise; accurate; methodical; punctual.
  3. Precisely or definitely conceived or stated; strict.
  4. (of a sequence of groups connected by homomorphisms) Such that the kernel of one homomorphism is the image of the preceding one.
adverb
  1. Exactly

exacta

noun
  1. A bet in which the bettor must correctly pick the two runners who finish first and second, in the correct order.

excite

verb
  1. To stir the emotions of.
  2. To arouse or bring out (e.g. feelings); to stimulate.
  3. To cause an electron to move to a higher than normal state; to promote an electron to an outer level.
  4. To energize (an electromagnet); to produce a magnetic field in.

exec

noun
  1. Executive, executive officer
verb
  1. To execute; to run.

extinct

verb
  1. To make extinct; to extinguish or annihilate.
adjective
  1. Extinguished, no longer alight (of fire, candles etc.)
  2. No longer used; obsolete, discontinued.
  3. (of a group of organisms, as a species) No longer in existence; having died out.
  4. No longer active.

incant

verb
  1. To state solemnly, to chant.
  2. To recite an incantation.

incite

verb
  1. To stir up or excite; to rouse or goad into action.

inexact

adjective
  1. Imperfectly conforming; exceeding or falling short in some respect.
  2. Imprecisely or indefinitely conceived or stated.
  3. (of a differential) having a path-dependent integral

intact

adjective
  1. Left complete or whole; not touched, defiled, sullied or otherwise damaged
  2. Of animals, not castrated: an intact bull.
  3. Uncircumcised; commonly used to describe a penis with a foreskin in intactivism.

niacin

noun
  1. A water-soluble vitamin, a component of vitamin B complex, found in meat, yeast, and dairy products; it is essential to metabolism.

nice

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Niceness.
adjective
  1. Pleasant, satisfactory.
  2. Of a person: friendly, attractive.
  3. Respectable; virtuous.
  4. (with and) Shows that the given adjective is desirable, or acts as a mild intensifier; pleasantly, quite.
  5. Silly, ignorant; foolish.
  6. Particular in one's conduct; scrupulous, painstaking; choosy.
  7. Particular as regards rules or qualities; strict.
  8. Showing or requiring great precision or sensitive discernment; subtle.
  9. Easily injured; delicate; dainty.
  10. Doubtful, as to the outcome; risky.
adverb
  1. Nicely.
interjection
  1. Used to signify a job well done.
  2. Used to signify approval.

Etymology 2

verb
  1. To run a process with a specified (usually lower) priority.

niece

noun
  1. A daughter of one’s sibling, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law; either the daughter of one's brother ("fraternal niece"), or of one's sister ("sororal niece").

tacet

No Definition Found.

tacit

adjective
  1. Expressed in silence; implied, but not made explicit; silent.
  2. Not derived from formal principles of reasoning; based on induction rather than deduction.

tact

noun
  1. The sense of touch; feeling.
  2. The stroke in beating time.
  3. Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing.
  4. A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
verb
  1. To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).
noun
  1. A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.
  2. A maneuver used against an enemy.
  3. A sequence of moves that limits the opponent's options and results in an immediate and tangible advantage, typically in the form of material.

tactic

noun
  1. A maneuver, or action calculated to achieve some end.
  2. A maneuver used against an enemy.
  3. A sequence of moves that limits the opponent's options and results in an immediate and tangible advantage, typically in the form of material.
adjective
  1. Tactical; of or relating to the art of military and naval tactics.
  2. Describing a polymer whose repeat units are identical.

tactician

noun
  1. A person skilled in the planning and execution of tactics.

tannic

adjective
  1. Pertaining to, containing, or obtained from tannin.

tinct

No Definition Found.

titanic

Etymology 1

adjective
  1. Having great size, or great strength, force or power.

Etymology 2

adjective
  1. Of or relating to titanium, especially tetravalent titanium