Sunday, December 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: 170

Number of Answers: 39

Points Needed for Genius: 119

Genius requires between 17 and 34 words. You need at least a 7-letter word to reach genius. If you don't get the pangram, you need 77% 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 170 was in the 52nd percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there was a score this high was on December 14, 2024.
The highest score ever was 537 on January 22, 2021.
The lowest score ever was 47 on March 27, 2023.

This puzzle's 39 possible answers rank it in the 51st percentile of all puzzles.
The last time there were more answers than this was on December 14, 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 14, 2024.

Today's puzzle has an average word length of 5.3.
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 189
  • loll 180
  • toot 173
  • naan 165
  • nana 165
  • lilt 130
  • till 130
  • tilt 130
  • tint 126
  • mama 121
  • mamma 121
  • nene 119
  • acacia 115
  • acai 115
  • onto 114
  • toon 114
  • anal 110
  • onion 109
  • anon 107
  • boob 106
  • booboo 106
  • olio 103
  • papa 102
  • baba 101
  • lull 101
  • lulu 101
  • dodo 100
  • mitt 100
  • poop 100
  • tact 100
  • allay 97
  • ally 97
  • call 97
  • calla 97
  • ratatat 97
  • tart 97
  • tartar 97
  • attar 96
  • tatty 96
  • tutu 96
  • cocci 95
  • tattoo 95
  • ammo 94
  • momma 94
  • mono 94
  • moon 94
  • epee 93
  • peep 93
  • loon 91
  • roar 91


How long are words in the Bee?

There have been 94,457 answers ever accepted in the Bee - with 10,364 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*:

  • furfur
  • inrun
  • inturn
  • notturni
  • notturno
  • nuff
  • outfoot
  • outroot
  • outtrot
  • outturn
  • rutin
  • tofutti
  • touton
  • trou
  • trunnion
  • tuff
  • turion
  • turnon
  • turr
  • unroof
  • unroot
  • untorn

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

fount

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Something from which water flows.
  2. A device from which poultry may drink.
  3. That from which something flows or proceeds; a source.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A typographic font.

four

noun
  1. The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof.
  2. Anything measuring four units, as length.
  3. A person who is four years old.
  4. An event in which the batsmen run four times between the wickets or, more often, a batsman hits a ball which bounces on the ground before passing over a boundary, resulting in an award of 4 runs for the batting team. If the ball does not bounce before passing over the boundary, a six is awarded instead.
  5. A power forward.
  6. Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
  7. A four-pennyworth of spirits.
numeral
  1. A numerical value equal to 4; the number after three and before five; two plus two. This many dots (••••)
  2. Describing a set or group with four elements.

froufrou

noun
  1. A rustling sound, as of silk fabric.

fruit

noun
  1. (often in the plural) In general, a product of plant growth useful to man or animals.
  2. Specifically, a sweet, edible part of a plant that resembles seed-bearing fruit (see next sense), even if it does not develop from a floral ovary; also used in a technically imprecise sense for some sweet or sweetish vegetables, such as the petioles of rhubarb, that resemble a true fruit or are used in cookery as if they were a fruit.
  3. A product of fertilization in a plant, specifically:
  4. An end result, effect, or consequence; advantageous or disadvantageous result.
  5. Of, belonging to, related to, or having fruit or its characteristics; (of living things) producing or consuming fruit.
  6. A homosexual man; an effeminate man.
  7. Offspring from a sexual union.
verb
  1. To produce fruit, seeds, or spores.

fruition

Etymology 1

noun
  1. The fulfillment of something worked for.
  2. The enjoyment derived from a possession.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. The condition of bearing fruit.

furor

noun
  1. A general uproar or commotion
  2. Violent anger or frenzy
  3. A state of intense excitement

futon

noun
  1. A thin mattress of tufted cotton or similar material, placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame as a bed.
  2. A round cushion used for Zen meditation, traditionally made of woven bulrush leaves.

intuit

verb
  1. To know intuitively or by immediate perception.

intuition

noun
  1. Immediate cognition without the use of conscious rational processes.
  2. A perceptive insight gained by the use of this faculty.

inurn

verb
  1. To place (the remains of a person who has died) in an urn or other container.
  2. To hold or contain (the remains of a person who has died).

nonunion

noun
  1. Lack of union; failure to become united.
  2. The failure of a broken bone to heal
adjective
  1. Not part of a labor union; not unionized.

noun

noun
  1. (grammar, narrow sense) A word that can be used to refer to a person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality, or idea; one of the basic parts of speech in many languages, including English.
  2. (grammar, now rare, broad sense) Either a word that can be used to refer to a person, animal, place, thing, phenomenon, substance, quality or idea, or a word that modifies or describes a previous word or its referent; a substantive or adjective, sometimes also including other parts of speech such as numeral or pronoun.
verb
  1. To convert a word to a noun.

nutrition

noun
  1. The organic process by which an organism assimilates food and uses it for growth and maintenance.
  2. That which nourishes; nutriment.

outfit

noun
  1. A set of clothing (with accessories).
  2. Gear consisting of a set of articles or tools for a specified purpose.
  3. Any cohesive group of people; a unit; such as a military company.
  4. A business or firm.
  5. A sports team.
  6. An outlier-sensitive fit.
verb
  1. To provide with, usually for a specific purpose.

outro

noun
  1. A portion of music at the end of a song; like an intro, but at the end instead of the beginning.
  2. The closing sequence at the end of a film, television program, video game etc.

outrun

noun
  1. (sheepdog trials) The sheepdog's initial run towards the sheep, done in a curving motion so as not to startle them.
verb
  1. To run faster than.
  2. To exceed or overextend.

rout

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A noise, especially a loud one
  2. A disturbance; tumult.
  3. Snoring.
verb
  1. To make a noise; roar; bellow; snort.
  2. To snore, especially loudly.
  3. To belch.
  4. To howl as the wind; make a roaring noise.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A violent movement; a great or violent stir; a heavy blow; a stunning blow; a stroke.
verb
  1. To beat; strike; assail with blows.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. A troop or group, especially of a traveling company or throng.
  2. A disorderly and tumultuous crowd; a mob; hence, the rabble; the herd of common people.
  3. The state of being disorganized and thrown into confusion, especially when retreating from a fight.
  4. The act of defeating and breaking up an army or another opponent.
  5. A disturbance of the peace by persons assembled together with the intent to do a thing which, if executed, would make them rioters, and actually making a motion toward the executing thereof.
  6. A fashionable assembly, or large evening party.
verb
  1. To defeat completely, forcing into disorderly retreat.
  2. To retreat from a confrontation in disorder.
  3. To assemble in a crowd, whether orderly or disorderly; to collect in company.

Etymology 4

verb
  1. To search or root in the ground, like a pig.
  2. To scoop out with a gouge or other tool; to furrow.
  3. To use a router in woodworking.

Etymology 5

noun
  1. The brent goose.

ruff

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A circular frill or ruffle on a garment, especially a starched, fluted frill at the neck in Elizabethan and Jacobean England (1560s–1620s).
  2. Anything formed with plaits or flutings like a frill.
  3. Senses relating to animals.
  4. A collar on a shaft or other piece to prevent endwise motion.
  5. An exhibition of haughtiness or pride.
  6. Tumultuous or wanton conduct or procedure.
verb
  1. To shape (fabric, etc.) into a ruff; to adorn (a garment, etc.) with a ruff.
  2. Of a falcon, hawk, etc.: to hit (the prey) without fixing or grabbing hold of it.
  3. To ruffle; to disorder.
  4. Of a bird: to ruffle its feathers.
  5. To boast, to brag.
  6. To speak in a loud and domineering manner; to bluster, to swagger.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Arripis georgianus, a fish found in cool waters off the southern coast of Australia; the Australian herring or tommy ruff.
  2. A bottom-dwelling carnivorous fish of the family Sparidae found in temperate and tropical waters; a porgy or sea bream.
noun
  1. Gymnocephalus cernua, a small Eurasian freshwater fish.
  2. Other species in the same genus.

Etymology 3

noun
  1. An instance of ruffing, or an opportunity to ruff, when unable to follow suit.
  2. A game similar to whist and its predecessor.
verb
  1. To play a trump card to a trick when unable to follow suit (that is, to play a card of the same suit as the previous or leading card).
  2. Especially in the form ruff out: to defeat (a card, etc.) by ruffing, thus establishing the master card in the suit led.

Etymology 4

noun
  1. A low, vibrating beat of a drum, quieter than a roll; a ruffle.
verb
  1. To beat a ruff or ruffle, as on a drum.
  2. Of a drum, etc.: to have a ruff or ruffle beaten on it.
interjection
  1. The bark of a dog; arf, woof.

Etymology 5

adjective
  1. Not smooth; uneven.
  2. Approximate; hasty or careless; not finished.
  3. Turbulent.
  4. Difficult; trying.
  5. Crude; unrefined
  6. Violent; not careful or subtle
  7. Loud and hoarse; offensive to the ear; harsh; grating.
  8. Not polished; uncut; said of a gem.
  9. Harsh-tasting.
  10. Somewhat ill; sick
  11. Unwell due to alcohol; hungover

ruin

noun
  1. (sometimes in the plural) The remains of a destroyed or dilapidated construction, such as a house or castle.
  2. The state of being a ruin, destroyed or decayed.
  3. Something that leads to serious trouble or destruction.
  4. A fall or tumble.
  5. A change that destroys or defeats something; destruction; overthrow.
  6. Complete financial loss; bankruptcy.
verb
  1. To cause the fiscal ruin of.
  2. To destroy or make something no longer usable.
  3. To cause severe financial loss to; to bankrupt or drive out of business.
  4. To upset or overturn the plans or progress of, or to have a disastrous effect on something.
  5. To make something less enjoyable or likeable.
  6. To reveal the ending of (a story); to spoil.
  7. To fall into a state of decay.
  8. To seduce or debauch, and thus harm the social standing of.

runoff

noun
  1. That portion of precipitation or irrigation on an area which does not infiltrate or evaporate, but instead is discharged from the area.
  2. Dissolved chemicals, etc, included in such water.
  3. A second or further round of an indecisive election, after other candidates (often all but the last two) have been eliminated.

runout

noun
  1. Something that has been run out.
  2. A run out, a running out. The method of getting out in which a batsman, in making a run, has not reached the popping crease when a fielder breaks his wicket with the ball.
  3. A relatively flat portion at the end of a ski run to slow down, or to connect trails.
  4. Slowing down at the end of a ski run, skiing on a runout.
  5. The end portion of the groove of a phonographic record, after the recorded sound.
  6. A supposed auction employing shill bidders in order to convince legitimate buyers to purchase worthless articles.
  7. Deviation of the axis of rotation of a rotating object (especially a milling cutter or workpiece) relative to that object's centerline; the specific amount of deviation.

runt

noun
  1. The smallest animal of a litter.
  2. (by extension) The smallest child in the family.
  3. Undersized or stunted plant, animal or person.
  4. An Ethernet packet that does not meet the medium's minimum packet size of 64 bytes.
  5. A single word (or portion of a hyphenated word) that appears as the last line of a paragraph.
  6. A breed of pigeon related to the carrier pigeon.
  7. A hardened stem or stalk of a plant.
  8. A bow.

tofu

noun
  1. A protein-rich food made from curdled soy milk.
  2. A box or rectangle, empty or with a question mark or hexadecimal code inside, displayed by some systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts. (such as □ or ժ)

tour

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A journey through a particular building, estate, country, etc.
  2. A guided visit to a particular place, or virtual place.
  3. A journey through a given list of places, such as by an entertainer performing concerts.
  4. A trip taken to another country in which several matches are played.
  5. A street and road race, frequently multiday.
  6. A set of competitions which make up a championship.
  7. A tour of duty.
  8. A closed trail.
  9. A going round; a circuit.
  10. A turn; a revolution.
verb
  1. To make a journey
  2. To make a circuit of a place

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A tower.

Etymology 3

verb
  1. To toot a horn.

tout

Etymology 1

noun
  1. Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
  2. A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.
  3. A spy for a smuggler, thief, or similar.
  4. An informer in the Irish Republican Army.
verb
  1. To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.
  2. To look upon or watch.
  3. To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).
  4. To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.
  5. To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.
  6. To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.
  7. To look for, try to obtain; used with for.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.

trout

noun
  1. Any of several species of fish in Salmonidae, closely related to salmon, and distinguished by spawning more than once.
  2. An objectionable elderly woman.
verb
  1. To (figuratively) slap someone with a slimy, stinky, wet trout; to admonish jocularly.

tuft

noun
  1. A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base.
  2. A cluster of threads drawn tightly through upholstery, a mattress or a quilt, etc., to secure and strengthen the padding.
  3. A small clump of trees or bushes.
  4. A gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.
  5. A person entitled to wear such a tassel.
verb
  1. To provide or decorate with a tuft or tufts.
  2. To form into tufts.
  3. To secure and strengthen (a mattress, quilt, etc.) with tufts.
  4. To be formed into tufts.

tuition

noun
  1. A sum of money paid for instruction (such as in a high school, boarding school, university, or college).
  2. The training or instruction provided by a teacher or tutor.
  3. Care, guardianship.

turf

noun
  1. A layer of earth covered with grass; sod.
  2. A piece of such a layer cut from the soil. May be used as sod to make a lawn, dried for peat, stacked to form earthen structures, etc.
  3. A sod of peat used as fuel.
  4. The territory claimed by a person, gang, etc. as their own.
  5. (with "the") A racetrack; or the sport of racing horses.
verb
  1. To cover with turf; to create a lawn by laying turfs.
  2. (Ultimate Frisbee) To throw a frisbee well short of its intended target, usually causing it to hit the ground within 10 yards of its release.
  3. To fire from a job or dismiss from a task.
  4. To cancel a project or product.
  5. To expel, eject, or throw out; to turf out.
  6. To transfer or attempt to transfer (a patient or case); to eschew or avoid responsibility for.

turn

Etymology 1

verb
  1. (heading) to make a non-linear physical movement.
  2. (heading) To change condition or attitude.
  3. To change one's course of action; to take a new approach.
  4. (usually with over) To complete.
  5. To make (money); turn a profit.
  6. Of a player, to go past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
  7. To undergo the process of turning on a lathe.
  8. To bring down the feet of a child in the womb, in order to facilitate delivery.
  9. To invert a type of the same thickness, as a temporary substitute for any sort which is exhausted.
  10. To translate.
  11. To magically or divinely attack undead.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. A change of direction or orientation.
  2. A movement of an object about its own axis in one direction that continues until the object returns to its initial orientation.
  3. A walk to and fro.
  4. A chance to use (something) shared in sequence with others.
  5. A spell of work, especially the time allotted to a person in a rota or schedule.
  6. One's chance to make a move in a game having two or more players.
  7. A figure in music, often denoted ~, consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again.
  8. The time required to complete a project.
  9. A fit or a period of giddiness.
  10. A change in temperament or circumstance.
  11. A sideways movement of the ball when it bounces (caused by rotation in flight).
  12. The fourth communal card in Texas hold 'em.
  13. The flop (the first three community cards) in Texas hold 'em.
  14. A deed done to another; an act of kindness or malice.
  15. A single loop of a coil.
  16. (rope) A pass behind or through an object.
  17. Character; personality; nature.
  18. An instance of going past an opposition player with the ball in one's control.
  19. (circus, especially physical comedy) A short skit, act, or routine.
  20. A type turned upside down to serve for another character that is not available.
  21. The profit made by a stockjobber, being the difference between the buying and selling prices.

turnoff

noun
  1. A road or path that branches off from a main one.
  2. A distasteful or uninteresting event or practice.

turnout

noun
  1. The act of coming forth.
  2. The number of people who attend or participate in an event (especially an election) or are present at a venue.
  3. A place to pull off a road.
  4. A place where moveable rails allow a train to switch tracks; a set of points.
  5. A quitting of employment for the purpose of forcing increase of wages; a strike.
  6. A striker.
  7. That which is prominently brought forward or exhibited; hence, an equipage.
  8. Net quantity of produce yielded.

tutor

noun
  1. One who teaches another (usually called a student, learner, or tutee) in a one-on-one or small-group interaction.
  2. A university officer responsible for students in a particular hall.
  3. One who has the charge of a child or pupil and his estate; a guardian.
  4. (trading card games) A card that allows you to search your deck for one or more other cards.
verb
  1. To instruct or teach, especially an individual or small group.
  2. To treat with authority or sternness.

tutti

noun
  1. A passage in which all members of an orchestra are playing
adjective
  1. All together; with all playing at once.
adverb
  1. All together. Indicates that the remainder of a group should join in playing after a solo or other passage with a reduced number of voices.

tutu

Etymology 1

noun
  1. A ballet skirt made of layered stiff but light netting.

Etymology 2

noun
  1. Any of the genus Coriaria of shrubs and trees found in New Zealand.

unfit

verb
  1. To make unfit; to render unsuitable, spoil, disqualify.
adjective
  1. Not fit; not having the correct requirements.
  2. Not fit, not having a good physical demeanor.

union

noun
  1. The act of uniting or joining two or more things into one.
  2. The state of being united or joined; a state of unity or harmony.
  3. That which is united, or made one; something formed by a combination or coalition of parts or members; a confederation; a consolidated body; a league.
  4. A trade union; a workers' union.
  5. An association of students at a university for social and/or political purposes; also in some cases a debating body.
  6. A joint or other connection uniting parts of machinery, such as pipes.
  7. The set containing all of the elements of two or more sets.
  8. The act or state of marriage.
  9. Sexual intercourse.
  10. A data structure that can store any of various types of item, but only one at a time.
  11. A large, high-quality pearl.
  12. An affiliation of several parishes for joint support and management of their poor; also the jointly-owned workhouse.
verb
  1. To combine sets using the union operation.

unit

noun
  1. A particular, minute unit of mass, defined differently for different substances, but so that varying substances of the same general type have the property that one international unit of the one has the same effect on the human body as one international unit of the other.
noun
  1. Oneness, singularity, seen as a component of a whole number; a magnitude of one.
  2. A standard measure of a quantity.
  3. The number one.
  4. An organized group comprising people and/or equipment.
  5. A member of a military organization.
  6. Any military element whose structure is prescribed by competent authority, such as a table of organization and equipment; specifically, part of an organization.
  7. An organization title of a subdivision of a group in a task force.
  8. A standard or basic quantity into which an item of supply is divided, issued or detailed. In this meaning, also called unit of issue.
  9. With regard to Reserve Components of the Armed Forces, denotes a Selected Reserve unit organized, equipped, and trained for mobilization to serve on active duty as a unit or to augment or be augmented by another unit. Headquarters and support functions without wartime missions are not considered units.
  10. The identity element, neutral element.
  11. An element having an inverse, an invertible element; an associate of the unity.
  12. In an adjunction, a natural transformation from the identity functor of the domain of the left adjoint functor to the composition of the right adjoint functor with the left adjoint functor.
  13. A volume of rock or ice of identifiable origin and age range that is defined by the distinctive and dominant, easily mapped and recognizable petrographic, lithologic or paleontologic features (facies) that characterize it.
  14. An item which may be sold singly.
  15. A unit of alcohol.
  16. One kilowatt-hour (as recorded on an electricity meter).
  17. A measure of housing equivalent to the living quarters of one household; an apartment where a group of apartments is contained in one or more multi-storied buildings or a group of dwellings is in one or more single storey buildings, usually arranged around a driveway.
  18. A gold coin of the reign of James I, worth twenty shillings.
  19. A work unit.
  20. A physically large person.
adjective
  1. For each unit.
  2. Having a size or magnitude of one.

unto

preposition
  1. Up to, indicating a motion towards a thing and then stopping at it.
  2. To, indicating an indirect object.
conjunction
  1. Up to the time or degree that; until.